soft racks maximum speed

ratticus

Hey there,
I boight my first board up in Bundoran this weekedn ( 9 ft CircleOne Southern Swell ) and drove home to Greystones with it on my roof secured by soft rack straps. I noticed quite a lot of lift and movement once I went above 80 km and was wondering if anyone could advise on a safe top speed.
Obviously I won't be going 180 with the board on the roof but I have been unablwe to find any suggested top speed info anywhere.

Your help is appreciated. :-)

RW

promethius

for those kind of trips you need a hard rack to be honest. soft racks grand for short little trips off main roads. i've used both types and with the hard rack you can put 4 boards up there and forget about them. i would hate to think what would happen if you lost a board on the road at speed and it hit another car.

prob not what you wanted to hear but there you go

i don't know what speed is safe which is what your question was.

keryl

When I was in OZ, we (Car pool) would go down the motorway to Philip Island/Ocean Road etc and they had soft racks, possibly 4/5 boards and mostly side by side so say 2 and 2.

That's 110kph with that much on, never had a problem but I would be cautious doing it myself.

spaceHopper

What car do you have, have you got roof rails if so keep an eye on Lidl and Aldi as they my have rack coming up for cheap, they often do about this time of year. Otherwise get a hard rack it will save you no end of water dripping into your car, noise and marking your car.

Decos

ratticus wrote: »

Hey there,
I boight my first board up in Bundoran this weekedn ( 9 ft CircleOne Southern Swell ) and drove home to Greystones with it on my roof secured by soft rack straps. I noticed quite a lot of lift and movement once I went above 80 km and was wondering if anyone could advise on a safe top speed.
Obviously I won't be going 180 with the board on the roof but I have been unablwe to find any suggested top speed info anywhere.

Your help is appreciated. :-)

RW

My friend and I used to regularly drive with 2-3 boards on the roof of either of our cars on the motorway to lahinch, often travelling at 110-120kph. There was never any lifting, the boards were well secured down. Used to regularly see lads driving with the boards lifting half off the top of car. V dangerous looking. Id say you might need to look at how you are tying them down as it doesn't sound right. Also, make sure the nose of the board is pointed down towards the bonnet.

Soft racks are a pain in the hole. Noisy and let in water and take time to set up.Get a hard rack if ya can.

ratticus

ok, so on to the next question. I have been told that the absolute best way to secure the board is fins first by one person and fins at the back by the next.
Any opinions on this?
RW

Decos

ratticus wrote: »

ok, so on to the next question. I have been told that the absolute best way to secure the board is fins first by one person and fins at the back by the next.
Any opinions on this?
RW

Personally I always used to secure the board nose first. Aerodynamically it made sense to me. However I read somewhere recently (maybe here or another forum) that in a lot of other countries, surfers put the board tail first. Not sure why this is but I'm sure someone else here will know? Must be a good reason. Most people in Ireland do it nose first from what I have seen. There's not a huge difference either way I'd say

Decos

ratticus wrote: »

ok, so on to the next question. I have been told that the absolute best way to secure the board is fins first by one person and fins at the back by the next.
Any opinions on this?
RW

Just thinking, maybe ppl do it fins ahead coz in the event of the strap loosening a bit and the boards would slide backwards, the fins might catch a bit on the strap and stop sliding, maybe it would give you a bit extra time before you stop and re-secure them?

loctite

Have driven many a mile with the soft roof racks. Like the others I'd recommend getting solid racks (or a van). Nothing worse than listening to MMmmmmmmmbbbbbbbbbbbb for 3 hours straight accompanied by Chinese water torture.

If someone hasn't already given you this advice Ratticus, before you do up the straps twist the **** out of them to avoid the sound like you are being chased
by a 6ft bumble bee as soon as you get over 40 mph.

SuprSi

Sorry for slightly hijacking the thread, but I'm just about to pick up my first longboard and need a roof rack. I have been looking at the soft ones but the problem is that I only have a 3 door Polo, so don't have a rear window to fit the second pad to. Could I put the pad between the boot and the roof instead?

Mickeroo

SuprSi wrote: »

Sorry for slightly hijacking the thread, but I'm just about to pick up my first longboard and need a roof rack. I have been looking at the soft ones but the problem is that I only have a 3 door Polo, so don't have a rear window to fit the second pad to. Could I put the pad between the boot and the roof instead?

Not too sure how you'd work it. I'm not sure it would fit right if you use the boot.

Mick's garage usually have good deals for hard racks, cheaper than halfords: http://www.micksgarage.ie/roof-racks-bars-carriers/roof-racks-roof-bars/volkswagen/polo/

SuprSi

Yeah that's what I was worried about. The hard versions are around £100 and considering the isn't worth much more than that I'm not keen on spending it!! I'll just keep my eyes out for a 2nd hand one.

keryl

There's a way to do it, it's on the net somewhere.
Just google soft racks hatch back or the likes.

promethius

SuprSi wrote: »

Sorry for slightly hijacking the thread, but I'm just about to pick up my first longboard and need a roof rack. I have been looking at the soft ones but the problem is that I only have a 3 door Polo, so don't have a rear window to fit the second pad to. Could I put the pad between the boot and the roof instead?

i'd try and see if it fits inside the car with passenger seat down.
a 9'6" easily fits ina golf (bigger fair enough) but you might get away with it.
otherwise you could put both pads on through front windows as far apart as possible. this is not an ideal way to be honest and wouldn't go far like that, nowhere near a motorway etc.

i used do this with a longboard on a honda prelude which is essentially a 2 seater coupe. very small distance between the pads but i put the board slightly forward and then put the leash into the boot and closed it down, when moving the leash became tought and it was grand for short trips. totally lazy and not very secure and probably damaged the leash as well but it wasn't a keeper of a board and i didn't care at the time.

SuprSi

Well I rarely go above the speed limit here, which is 40mph, and I only have 12 minutes to drive to the beach. I know it definitely won't fit in the car, unless I keep the boot someway open but you're right keryl, seems there are a few people who bought softracks with 3 door cars and didn't have any problems.

loctite

Yep...
Just make sure the you strap below the hinges and above any wiring.

put my 11ft paddle board on a starlet once..... driving home after a savage off shore session was like motorized parasailing.:D

xxyyzz

Decos wrote: »

Also, make sure the nose of the board is pointed down towards the bonnet.

What he said
+1,000,000

This is a real bugbear of mine. The number of muppets I see driving on the motorway with the board almost vertical is scary. Try walking down the beach with a longboard under your arm in a decent breeze - its nearly impossible. Now imagine the wind is over 120km/h like on the roof of your car. Use common sense tying down your board or you will end up killing someone and if you can afford it buy proper roofracks - soft racks are only a temporary and will probably destroy the seals on your doors.

Low Pockets

xxyyzz wrote: »

Use common sense

Ah come on now, your in Ireland, common sense left a LONG time ago.

Ronnie Beck

and soft racks are for ****.

loctite

Ronnie Beck wrote: »

and soft racks are for ****.

Wrong, but still pretty awesome....:D