… and don’t rust!!!
I get a lot of salt on mine. Aluminum’s better. The clips are (coated) steel - where it counts.
Thule and Yakima make very good racks - but they’re crude and complcated compared to a Saris.
Rack and Locks
I leave my rack on and locked to the car during most of the season, on and off in winter when I need them. I used one of those expensive fancy locking thingys for each saddle and roller, so for one boat I use four locks and four wing nut thingys. I always either remove my straps or shut them in the door with the vehicle locked so they can’t be pulled out. In backcounty parking lots I remove the racks and lock them in the vehicle. I had a friend who went canoeing for a couple of hours and found the entire rack gone upon their return (not locked to vehicle). There are a lot of rack parts for sale on eBay. Go figure. Better safe than sorry.
do your posessions own you?
if you worry about it why not sell it all and get a really cheap system you can afford to lose
Because somtimes…
…decent equipment works better and provides more enjoyment that more than balances any added concern over potential loss?
Just a thought.
I suppose you could be right though. We could skip the expensive racks and boats entirely and all just lash us up some Huck Finn style rafts from local flotsam on site! Then leave 'em thar when we be done. That’d be a hoot! Sometimes, mightn’t hafta make one ‘tal. Ther’d be one thar waitin’ fer us from the last feller!
NOT SUPPOSED TO!
You are not supposed to leave a removable rack system on the car for too very long. At least this is what Yakima instructs. I remove mine after every week end use.
Yup, love my Saris rack
– Last Updated: Oct-15-04 11:33 AM EST –
It goes on and off easily, enough so that I take it off whenever I'm not carrying boats. With my old Thule rack, it was too much of a hassle to do that, so it stayed on the car, eating into my gas mileage, whether I was using it or not.
The T-slot arrangement of the Saris rack makes it relatively simple to construct other accessoris for it or modify accesssories to fit. I made a pair of simple mounts for my paddle tube. I wasn't too keen on the Saris cradles and I already had 4 pairs of Thule's, so I modified them to fit. MEC sells some Thule-esque cradles that are designed for T-slot racks at a pretty reasonable price.
leave it on
I always leave my rack on my car. I honestly don’t see a lot of people being interested in stealing it. The majority of people where I live don’t have or use roof racks. The way I see it, is they mainly something cyclists, paddlers, and skiers use. I would be more worried about someone trying to steal the CD player out of your car.