Acquire ropes and straps.

Tying lumber to roof rack. Hi this is the way i use my ratchet straps to secure loads of planks to my roof rack. I use 4 hand clamps at the corners to hold the plywood to the 2 x 4 s. Remove your rack when not in use to avoid the added weight drag and noise. Then i use the nylon web tie downs i ve got in the photos of below.

Use ratchet or cam straps to tie the roof rack through the doors not the windows. Which is why we spoke with jonny wood one of yakima s four road warriors who travel around the us educating the masses on how to properly rack up their vehicles and asked for some advice on how to properly secure a load to a car s roof. On each side of the roof you ll see a rack that runs the length of the roof of the vehicle. According to wood ratcheting systems apply a significant amount of crushing force on whatever you re moving so.

Then secure the front and back ends of each lumber bundle with ratchet straps to prevent movement photo 1. Next pull the long end of the strap under the crossbar on the. Use a tie down that wraps around the item and the rails. Start by loading dimensional lumber onto the rack with the narrow edges resting on the crossbars.

Next secure the load to the rack using ratchet straps photo 2. Leaving your rack on all year will increase the price you at the pump. Wood recommends a webbing strap with a fastening buckle that doesn t use a ratcheting system. For plywood i put two 2 x 4 s on the roof rack and place the plywood on top of those to stiffen the plywood otherwise it flops up and down at highway speeds.

Not only that but the cost of a roof rack is easily 5 10 times more expensive than a one day truck rental. Roof racks have been known to fail at high speeds with lots of updraft so take the extra precaution of tying the roof rack down to the roof of the vehicle as well. With the third option crossbars with side rails you can secure an item to the side rails and run tie downs from front to back securing them to the crossbars. First loop the strap under the roof rack s crossbar and drape the loose ends over your oblong load i e.

I ve been doing it this way for years after trying many different path. Quickly and easily strap cargo to roof rack or trailer using ratchet straps. For infrequent use though truck rental is a better option.

• Thule Roof Bar Dimensions