Was on a trip to Maine last week on the shore, and when I got to where we stay, I noticed that my rack system had shifted to one side. I did a little more thinking (Yes, I do think every so often), and came to the conclusion that my bow/stern lines allowed the boat to twist sideways, and put pressure on the racks. Here’s why I think that: My car is shorter than all of my boats (Honda Fit), and the tow hook on the front that I have been tying to was directly under the boat on the passengers side of the car. The rear tiedown was to the rear tow hook, which is in the center of the car. And the direction the rack moved is consistent with my theory.
So, I moved the saddles to the center of the racks, and setup tiedown loops from under the hood on both sides, and use separate lines to stop twisting in the wind. We’ll see if I was right. Having the saddles on one side, and a bike rack on the other was really convenient, but now I’ll either have to put the bike rack on in the middle only when I use it (If it fits), or throw the bike in the back with the seat down. Better than having my racks move.
And yes, I’ve been using bow/stern lines for almost 40 years.
I use a Hullavator on my Honda Fit. Stern tie down is attached to the rear tow hook, but I’ve never screwed in the front tow hook. Use a hood loop instead. Mounted sort of on the passenger side. No issues, most likely do to the Hullavator cradles being clamped down tightly.
Wondering if doubling the tie downs would solve your movement issue without having to relocate the saddles.
@Rookie said:
I use a Hullavator on my Honda Fit. Stern tie down is attached to the rear tow hook, but I’ve never screwed in the front tow hook. Use a hood loop instead. Mounted sort of on the passenger side. No issues, most likely do to the Hullavator cradles being clamped down tightly.
Wondering if doubling the tie downs would solve your movement issue without having to relocate the saddles.
Relocating the saddles was no big deal, because if my better half and I both go, we take her car, because her racks are bolted to the car (Subaru), and ain’t going’ nowhere. This was the first time in 4 years that my racks have even budged, but since they clip on, two bow lines will likely keep it from ever happening again. My last car was a Jetta Wagon, and the racks attached directly to the side rails, so they weren’t going anywhere. But, we’ll see…
I had a similar issue carrying boats on my rack. Short roof (Mazda CX5) so the crossbars are barely past the kayak coaming (I carry my boats upside down). The bow lines are fastened to under-hood loops and the stern lines go to the trailer hitch. So of course there is a tendency for the boats to want to splay out in the bow away from the center, especially with the wind pressure at highway speed. The rack won’t move since it is clamped to the vehicle factory lateral rails. But I could see the boats themselves slowly shifting to the right and left as I drove.
I solved it by connecting the bows of each boats to both front loops. (attached pic only shows one on the car). Could also do this by tying the the bows together independent of the hood loops.
@willowleaf said:
I had a similar issue carrying boats on my rack. Short roof (Mazda CX5) so the crossbars are barely past the kayak coaming (I carry my boats upside down). The bow lines are fastened to under-hood loops and the stern lines go to the trailer hitch. So of course there is a tendency for the boats to want to splay out in the bow away from the center, especially with the wind pressure at highway speed. The rack won’t move since it is clamped to the vehicle factory lateral rails. But I could see the boats themselves slowly shifting to the right and left as I drove.
I solved it by connecting the bows of each boats to both front loops. (attached pic only shows one on the car). Could also do this by tying the the bows together independent of the hood loops.
I had the problem once. In my case the pads under the towers had degenerated. They were clear plastic. The replacements are black and I’ve had no trouble with them. Yakima towers.
