Advice: Soft RoofRack or not

Triangle

Hey all I'm looking for advice on roofracks. Especially Soft tracks.

I'm wondering on the impact the soft roofracks have on cars out there.

i.e. do thay all scrape the paintwork, are there any out there that don't loose less than others? What are peoples preferences when looking for these types and why.

I'm thinking of using them on my car - but don't want any damage done so I use them or resort to using my wifes car (last resort, it's like a road worthy ship)
Any advice is welcome.

Thanks in advance.
Trig

Seth Brundle

I had never heard of them and googled it and came up with this
http://www.surfmagic.co.uk/forum/forummessages/mps/dt/4/UTN/1172/last/1/V/1/SP/332444698952328177236
After reading that there is no way in hell Id use one!

wet-paint

Hey Triangle,
I've a lot of experience with these things. The best ones on the market by far are these babies.
They're stronger than the foam ones sold by surf shops, which aren't designed to take much weight. For instance, I brought an 18KG creeker (kayak) from Galway to Limerick, and the damn thing had slid half way off the roof by Gort, whereas we used the Handirack to carry four such boats around the French Alps for two weeks.
Check out Buffalo Bill's post here for more info and pix.

What's important is how tightly you tie the roof rack on in the first place - if they're not tight enough, they're loose, and the sh1t you tie on will slide round on it.
What are you planning on putting on the roof?
Also a point of info - any system that involves tying in the passenger cabin will leak, as it pulls tight enough to disturb the rubber seals around the doors.
If you don't faff about with the gear you're carrying, and take a care when (un)loading, you should be grand. Keep a ground mat or something in the boot if you're not sure, and put it under your load.
I really only recommend the inflatable ones, as the foam ones are NOT designed for heavy loads, only light surfboards.
Lettuce know if you've any more questions,
WP

Triangle

Thanks for the replys guys.

i'm thinking of using it with a surfboard - but the problem with leaks in the rain is worrying!

I'm thinking i may just get them for dry times.

Kbannon - I really have no other choice as i see it. Either i use them or i don't surf.

maidhc

Get a set of real roofracks or don't surf. That is the option I gave my sister

Genuine Toyota ones are only €125.

wet-paint

The foam ones would be fine for a board, a lot of friends just tie theirs to the roof with a towel or something underneath.
And for the much lighter load, you might not have to tie the rack on as much. It doesn't leak like a mofo, in heavy rain you'll get a drop in every five or six seconds, it's not exactly a running tap.
I doubt you need to go for a real rack, it's a bit excessive.

Triangle

I'm gonna go get a set - not as if they'll break the bank.

I'll check them out and see how it goes. Just wanted to make sure they wouldn't ruin the paint work and/or inside.

Thanks again all.

maidhc

wet-paint wrote:

I doubt you need to go for a real rack, it's a bit excessive.

But they are cheap.

After spending €1k on a surfboard and a wetsuit why not get a proper roof rack!

wet-paint

Real racks, if you do a lot of driving, can affect your fuel economy, I've noticed it a lot recently.
It's major hassle putting on real racks just to head to Lahinch for a weekend, as opposed to taking the fold up ones from a bag that sits in the boot. The real rack takes up a lot more space in your boot if you want to leave them off when not carrying a board.
Also, your own post can be twisted to suit my point - After shelling out a lot of money on a board, it's nice to be able to save a bit on other things, when the foam ones are perfectly safe for a board. And come on, while cheap, they're a significant increase on the lower price, can be often double.

maidhc

wet-paint wrote:

Real racks, if you do a lot of driving, can affect your fuel economy, I've noticed it a lot recently.
It's major hassle putting on real racks just to head to Lahinch for a weekend, as opposed to taking the fold up ones from a bag that sits in the boot. The real rack takes up a lot more space in your boot if you want to leave them off when not carrying a board.
Also, your own post can be twisted to suit my point - After shelling out a lot of money on a board, it's nice to be able to save a bit on other things, when the foam ones are perfectly safe for a board. And come on, while cheap, they're a significant increase on the lower price, can be often double.

But they are going to scratch the car, especially when you consider it is almost impossible to prevent sand getting between the "soft racks" and the body work.

"Real" roof racks just require you twist a key 4 times to remove or to attach. You can leave them in garage too!

Then again, each to their own.

CJhaughey

My friend sells kayaks, a guy from Kilkenny came down to W.Cork to pick one up and all he had was a pair of those soft foam racks.
We tied them down to his roof at his insistence and then put the kayak on top of his spanking 06 octavia. There was two dents in his roof before he even started to drive away.
The other issue that I have with softracks is that they are in direct contact with your painted roof, beaches being beaches there is usually sand around and sand+paint+friction = Bare metal/scratches
Proper roofracks have more uses than just carrying surfboards or kayaks.

wet-paint

maidhc wrote:

But they are going to scratch the car, especially when you consider it is almost impossible to prevent sand getting between the "soft racks" and the body work.

"Real" roof racks just require you twist a key 4 times to remove or to attach. You can leave them in garage too!

Then again, each to their own.

I'd agree with you there Maidhc, if all I had was a foam rack, I'd be fairly sure to put a camping mat or somethign beneath the rack to protect the roof.
I have a Thule rack that takes an awful lot more than four turns of a key to remove, more like two or three minutes turning the tightening handle things, and it's a damn sight longer putting back on. But aye, if you can plan ahead, you shouldn't need to carry the rack all the time in the car.

CJhaughey wrote:

My friend sells kayaks, a guy from Kilkenny came down to W.Cork to pick one up and all he had was a pair of those soft foam racks.
We tied them down to his roof at his insistence and then put the kayak on top of his spanking 06 octavia. There was two dents in his roof before he even started to drive away.
The other issue that I have with softracks is that they are in direct contact with your painted roof, beaches being beaches there is usually sand around and sand+paint+friction = Bare metal/scratches
Proper roofracks have more uses than just carrying surfboards or kayaks.

I'm not too up on boards, but I'd presume one would leave it in the case on the roof, go surf, come back, put back in case, and bang back up on the roof, which would minimise the amount of contactwith the sand. I don't relaly see what you're getting at in your post.

I've used my rack for moving beds, pallets, boats, loads of ****.