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Is your kayak properly secured while transporting it?

The rope I found is at HomeDepot and is not the yellow type, which I know is quite slippery. It looks more like mountain climbers rope, but far from being as strong. I don't think it will slip as easily and I will also learn how to make a trucker's hitch knot.

Tying the bow to the opposite side rack leg should help, and there is less chance that I rip my bumper appart. The stern will be tied to one of the towing loops. That way if the whole thing goes flying off, there is a chance that the car behind me doesn't get it. Unless he follows to closely. :twisted:
 
Regarding the cheap home-depot rope that looks good, be warned that it looks better than it is. The stuff I have had stretches a lot and it's not nearly as strong as it's thickness would suggest. It has a nice smooth outer covering of woven fibers, but seems to have some sort of paper-like stuff to give it thickness on the inside with no strength. Additionally, it seems to kink and is stiff. Once used for a while the outer shell has developed gaps which have allowed the inner paper-like strands to bulge out. It's cheap in the short term and will work for a while though.

I use webbing loops which attach to the fender bolts and when in use stick up in the gap between the hood and fender top. I then tie off the bow(s) to these loops. These are pretty much the same as the loops that Dan linked to, but I made my own by melting a hole through some good quality webbing, no grommet, then bolting them in place. Note that they do not attach to the hood, I don't think you'd want to tie anything like that actually to your hood!

I've hauled up to 5 sea kayaks stacked on their side on top of my CRV with 78" Thule bars. Not my preferred method but the welder only finished my kayak trailer last night and you do what you gotta do.

Bryan
 
Andre, realize that while the line to the rack on the front may offer some cross-wind stability (and only in one direction) it is going to do nothing to secure your boat to your vehicle in the event of a rack failure. The whole point of attaching bow and stern lines is to give additional security to the boat from all movement, lateral and vertical. I'd still be looking for somewhere/somehow to attach bow lines to the front of your vehicle.
 
Ok HomeDepot rope is out of the question. Will go to MEC. And please don't tell me their Mountain Climbing rope isn't good. I am having a very unlucky week. GP problems and the rope I find is as good as dental floss. :cry:

How long do the Kayakers growing pains last? :?

Dan,
I am sure I mentionned, somewhere up there, that I was still going to set a vertical tiedown to the bumper. I am just trying to find a more convenient location. Maybe just behind the plastic cover. There must be some anchoring there, somewhere.

I have to look under the hood to see where the fender bolts are. I don't want that webbing loop curling up my hood. I had an accident 2 yrs ago and they replaced the hood. Of course they don't put the original factory parts. It's basically painted aluminum foil.
I promise I won't leave the driveway without proper tiedowns. Saw enough of those last weekend. Worst was 2 poly's on saddles with no bow or stern tiedowns.
 
AndreG said:
Ok HomeDepot rope is out of the question. Will go to MEC. And please don't tell me their Mountain Climbing rope isn't good. I am having a very unlucky week. GP problems and the rope I find is as good as dental floss. :cry:
Andre, that rope will be better than dental floss, just keep an eye on it. You may very well have different stuff than I have had anyway. Sorry to come across as dismissing the rope you bought as crap. I do believe better rope is worth it but if you have this stuff, then use it and judge it for yourself. My comments were intended more toward those that are shopping for rope.
Cheers,
Bryan
 
On no, don't worry. I didn't buy it yet. I just said I had found some. I should of been clearer, sorry. I was looking more at MEC rope but came across HD's. I don't mind spending the extra and having peace of mind.
 
Well I made it to the lake, and hardly a wobble. As you can see in the photo below, the bow is tied to the crossbar and the bumper. I found good anchoring, behind the plastic cover. I think it is part of the frame, or it is a square tubing, bolted to the frame. There is a hole in it, just perfect to set a hook in. I will have a better look, when I am in less of a hurry, to see if I can put a loop.

kayak_transport1.jpg


When I started out, instead of rope to the crossbar, I had webbing. I used that because I thought it was stiffer, and so better for what I wanted. Boy was I wrong :shock: After 50 km's I had to stop on the side of the road(highway with lots of traffic). The strap was flapping like a flag and the exposed buckle was knocking and rubbing against the bow. I had wrapped and tied the excess webbing, around it, but it didn't hold.

I tightened the webbing. Rewrapped the buckle and took off. After a couple of km's the webbing was getting loose again. There wasn't much wobble, in the bow, but I didn't want to take chances. So 5 k's from my first stop, I take an exit and go fix the tie down. I had more rope, in the trunk, and took one out. Removed the webbing and set the rope. After that, 200k's at an average of 110 KmH. The wobbling was more like a small wiggle. So I found my sweet spot for tying my boat, on my car.

Oh and met a semi at 100 k's and the bow only moved a couple inches. I am happy with that.

As you can see, the kayak is properly centured, on the rack. I am sure that had alot to do with stablizing everything.

kayak_transport2.jpg


So this setup worked great and my girlfriend's faith has returned.
 
Looks good, Andre. Glad you found out about the hassles of webbing for bow and stern lines. Sometimes you can stop or reduce that vibration by twisting the webbing a couple of times but using rope works too.

Just one question: will that line from the bow to the opposite end of the front bar be in the way when you put a second kayak up there?
 
After looking more closely, it would depend on the hull shape. In my case, with the 2 Epsilons, there would be some contact. I did put both on the rack yesterday, but I didn't tie the bows to the crossbar. Mostly due to the fact that I didn't have extra rope. Since I was going on country roads, I thought it would be ok. And guess what? Neither wobbled excessively.

I will at least tie both bows together, if I plan on taking the highway or if there are string winds

About the webbing. I'm not sure but when I was a truck driver, I was warned against twisted strapping(Webbing). In my course and other truckers told me that the strap lost strength. Wouldn't that be the same with the webbing?
 
Might lose some strength but any webbing used should have more than enough safety factor. Besides, you only need one or two twists and they are going to be 'free' (ie, not pressed tightly against a load of lumber or whatnot). Knots weaken rope too so it's "half a dozen of one and six of the other".
 
That is so true Tootsall. I should of thought of that. Also in our case, we can't use rope without making knots. So what ever we use, best get it as strong as possible. Better to have overkill on the tiedown, than kill the people in the car behind you.

Comes down to: Centre the cockpit on the rack, properly. Strap in the kayak, on the rack. Tiedown bow and stern to good anchoring, on the car. Use proper rope or webbing, and you will have a pleasant drive down the highway, like I did. :)

Thanks for your patience and especially the great advice.

Andre
 
Does anyone have a PT Cruiser to transport their Kayak?
What system do you use?
Thank you for your reply.
 
Don said:
Does anyone have a PT Cruiser to transport their Kayak?
What system do you use?
Thank you for your reply.
Don, a quick search at Rackattack.com seems to find a couple of options from Thule & Yakima to fit your vehicle. A 4-door PT Cruiser should work very well to carry kayaks with one of the good gutterless roof rack systems. The only issue I can foresee with that vehicle is that the roofline seems to slope forward. That may mean your bow is fairly low in the front, or that the stern is fairly high in the back. That may not be an issue though as it could be with a canoe where the bow can curve down quite a bit and really block your view.
I greatly favour roof racks over foam saddles directly on the roof.
Bryan
 
JMO - I don't like the gutterless rack mounts. They depend on side pressure on the door jambs to hold them in place. Although I don't like drilling holes in the exterior of an automobile, I'd look for a permanent mount rack.
 
I have a PT Cruiser , and carrry kayaks regularly with a Yakima rack (Q tower). My rack has likely seen a couple hundred days with boats on the roof.
Due to the fact that I dont ever remove the rack, and it is used so frequently, next time I would opt for a permanent mount drilled into the roof. However, this is only due to the high use and wear and tear that is specific to this type of mount. The "in the door" style of towers could lead to leaks in sealing around doors after VERY hard use for many years. However, for most , a regular yakima or thule gutterless mount is excellent.
 
My opinion differs from Roy. While I have had troubles with SportRack gutterless racks, I've never had a problem with Thule gutterless racks. I have literally lifted a Nissan Micra by it's Thule gutterless racks (not that I recommend that). I didn't have a car with gutters or any built-in rack attachments from about 1997 through to 2010. I changed cars several times during that period, simply buying the appropriate Thule fit kit to match the new used vehicle and using the same bars and towers. I now drive an '05 CRV and Thule has a very slick system for that vehicle allowing the racks to clip into permanent mounts. I chose Thule but Yakima's reputation is also very good.
 
Back to webbing:
I stop webbing from vibrating with short piece of rope ( about 8 ") tied at the maximum point of vibrating on the webbing. Doing this will take all the hum out a web tie down. The mass of the knot brakes up the harmonic.

Roy
 
Putting a twist or two in the webbing will stop it from vibrating and requires nothing extra.
 
I have a bow and stern line question.

I have recently started using the THULE Quick draw bow and stern lines (they came with the cradles, but I never used them) and I wanted to know how everyone deals with the extra line? They are excessively long so I wanted to cut it and leave a little bit extra so that I can still deal with longer boats (But I don't need 10' of extra rope at the front!). Now what do you do with your extra line? I've just been using some creative knots so that it doesn't dangle, but I would like to see what everyone else does.

Also what is your favorite way of dealing with extra cam strap webbing? I've tried many different approaches, but again I'm sure there is a better way.
 
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