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Re: Strip: roof top setups
By:Charlie
Date: 4/1/2009, 12:06 pm
In Response To: Strip: roof top setups (kirk briggs)

How you get a boat up/down depends on the details. The weight of the boat and how high/low the roof is. Body type also makes a difference. Small wagons are ideal for loading from the back if you can get the boat up without scratching the paint. I can't load from the end on my pickup because the crossbars are too far apart.
The cheap roofrack is easier to come up with. The simplest setup I've seen is two contured minicell foam saddles with long straps to hold the boat on. It's very universal. They come in a net bag with all the necessary bits and pieces. The shortcoming is the blocks aren't locked down so you can't skid the boat up onto them and the straps are usually fed thru' the doors or windows and connected on the inside.
I use an old set of roofracks that have wooden crossbars and suction cup feet. It's easy to modify these with homemade saddles or blocks to keep the load centered. My crossbars even have mods that allow a pair of the above mentioned minicell saddles to be used for cushening a kayak. You can make long or short crossbars from 2 x 4s to suite different situations and glue/screw all kinds of junk to them. The suction cup feet (four to each bar) spread the load around which is very helpful on some modern cars that have rather thin roof sheetmetal. The rubber feet will go to hell from heat and sunlight so they have to be replaced every few years.
I have had these racks for over 30 years and I have yet to find a car/pickup I couldn't use them on.

: I am almost done with my 1st wooden kayak(expedition single).What kind of
: roof carrier.I mean kayak upright or,on the side? Which is easyer to
: unload and load with on person? And are there and good cheep home made
: setups for a car with no racks?

Messages In This Thread

Strip: roof top setups
kirk briggs -- 3/31/2009, 8:52 pm
Re: Strip: roof top setups
Paul G. Jacobson -- 4/4/2009, 9:12 pm
Re: Strip: roof top setups *LINK*
Anson -- 4/2/2009, 7:45 am
Re: Strip: roof top setups *Pic*
John F Monroe -- 4/2/2009, 5:09 am
Re: Strip: roof top setups
FrankP -- 4/2/2009, 5:18 pm
Re: Strip: roof top setups
James Kingston -- 4/2/2009, 5:24 pm
Re: Strip: roof top setups *LINK*
Pawistik -- 4/1/2009, 12:57 pm
Re: Strip: roof top setups *LINK*
James Kingston -- 4/2/2009, 4:38 pm
Re: Strip: roof top setups
Ross Leidy -- 4/2/2009, 10:26 pm
Re: Strip: roof top setups *Pic*
Pawistik -- 4/1/2009, 1:11 pm
Re: Strip: roof top setups
kirk briggs -- 4/1/2009, 9:41 pm
Re: Strip: roof top setups
Charlie -- 4/1/2009, 12:06 pm
Like this?
Jay Babina -- 4/1/2009, 10:51 am
Re: Strip: roof top setups
Brian Nystrom -- 4/1/2009, 9:12 am
Re: Strip: roof top setups
JohnK -- 3/31/2009, 10:36 pm
Re: Strip: roof top setups
PatrickC -- 3/31/2009, 9:54 pm