I took the leap to trade in my gas guzzler for a Vibe. Now, I have a question for those who own this vehicle. How do you tie off the stern of your boat? Have looked under the car to find a tie off point to no avail. I am using a Yakima system instead of relying on the factory rack. BTW, thanks to all who replied to my PM’s about their Vibe.
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http://www.cardomain.com/ride/611625
This Vibe owner, bottom pic, does not seem to tie his stern. Must have had same issue, Guinness.
Now that scares me.
The distance between those two bars look dangerously close together.
Paul
Fabricate something!
Where there’s a will, there’s a way…
tie off points
Pop the rear hatch and look at the mechanism, there might be a loop to pass a strap through. Also check the inside of the hatch itself, is there a handle or a grab loop that you use to pull the hatch closed? If there’s nothing underneath, there might something inside.
As a last resort, you could get a strap like the ones that come on some bike carriers. It’s got a J-shaped hook that will hook to the bottom of the hatch (on the protruding sheet metal).
YAKIMA RACK
I started with a yakima rack on my Vibe but had problems with is not being as secure as it should and later installed a Thule rack. Used the fit kit for a Toyota Matrix without a factory rack and was able to get a nice long bar spread to support my composite kayaks. Did use the factory rack for the back bar location and use Yakima roller system on that area. Has worked out great. With a 58" bar able to get 3 up top.
depends on which setup you get
Yakima has 2 options for the Vibe: the first uses two low-riders attached to the factory rack. The second uses Q-towers in the front, and low-riders in the back.
The second option is the best for boats, you can get a huge spread between the bars. We carry two canoes all the time with no bow or stern tiedowns.
Ok, now I’m scared
Thanks to all replied. I picked up the Yakima set up with the Q83 towers up front and low riders in the back. I already had the crossbars from my old set up. Now I am worried about using the Yakima rack. I am hearing that it works for some and does not work for others. I planned on putting them on tonight. Hmmm…I thoroughly researched buying the Vibe and went so far as PMing other Pnet Vibe owners. Thanks for the input.