Not so much faith as bounce in my case
- I use the tie-down mostly to minimize the bounce of the boat up and down and to some extend sideways as my rack is narrow (the two bars are less than 30" apart).
So I actually use front and sometimes AND rear tiedown for this purporse alone. The boat wobbles less this way I have noticed. I do not put much tension though - just enough to eliminate wind wobble of the rope and not too much as to bend the kayak ends down (round rope works best, with knots at both ends, no hooks or ratchets).
And usually a third/fourth strap as redundancy on the rack itself, just for the extremely unlikely event that the buckle on one of the primary straps fails -
it’s only an argument
…if you take the bait.
Thanks a lot!!!
Wow! This is fast responds. I knew this community has lots of experience and I wasn’t wrong. Appearently others had thought of the issue and had multiple solutions that are easy to do!
I will replace the hook with a caribiner, which seems to be the easiest solution.
Not gonna …
Not gonna get into another rope vs straps, no tie downs, bow tiedown only, bow & stern tie downs dialogue.
Don’t care if you like/dislike the use of caribiners.
BUT…if for “whatever reason” you are going to use caribiners…use real ones, not some cheap, piece of crap. Note P.S.
BOB
P.S. Don’t be like the “park ranger” who told me he used caribiners & climbing rope for pulling vehicles out of mud & ditches, and kept the same biners & rope in his vehicle… just in case he had to do some sort of “rope rescue” work with people.
Can you say D-O-O-F-U-S-S!
JackL - What is spread on your bars?
I have Matrix with only 32" spread between the bars. I find that without front and rear tie-downs I get side-to-side movement that kind of looks like Vortex shedding. It puts quite a strain on my racks. I did not notice the problem with my Bronco or truck where I had the 5-6 ft spread between the bars. Probably could have gotten along fine without tie-downs then, but as anal as I am I still used them.
Do you think there are benefits to tie-downs with narrower bar spreads?
Mark
Or snap hooks
as they are cheaper and will be fine for this.
jim
get rid of the hook
Rope works fine all by itself if you know how to tie knots. (Written by somebody who didn’t know any knots himself three years ago.)
improper hook placement
You’ve got some good advice so far, but if for some reason you do reuse the hook, be aware that there are two ways (a right way, and a wrong way) to attach it. The wrong way, if the strap looses tension, the hook could easily fall out. The right way, the odds of the hook falling out would be like one in a million.
If you look at it and play with it for a while it will make sense.
…either of these might be better…
Try either:
- bungee-rubber straps with hooks(match length to desired length)
** OR **
- plain rope
** OR **
- straps with buckles(put soft foam(*not what sometimes comes with straps) pads underneath to prevent scratching)
__________________________________________
*The commercial(hooks with non-stretching rope/cord) is asking for trouble…
$.01
Faith
FAITH is belief with evidence.
BLIND FAITH is belief without evidence.
Can you post a pic fo this?
Thanks.
Hey, what can I say !!
I guess I can only add: it keeps the guys, with the tie downs that don’t have faith from tailgaiting me.
Cheers,
JackL
By all means:
if I was getting side to side movement, or any movement I would be using them.
Take a look at my first sentence: I use them when I have the long overhanging light weight Comp Cruiser on just to keep the bowe from sideways movement.
I can add also that I have a home made cantilevered (out front) set of bars for the front of a 23 foot long boat that I carry, and even with that I use the front tie downs to keep the bow from moving sideways.
Cheers,
JackL
Rope, rope an’ rope
– Last Updated: Jul-01-08 9:26 AM EST –
fer stem end tiedowns. Foolproof an' nuttin' ta break yer winder like flailin' buckles, hooks, carabiners or a racket assembly if yer do screw up wit de tiedowns.
Try dis here ol' trick...
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2098431630094647494bXuMnE
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2181863250094647494kHiViN
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2686766340094647494uMslHr
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2130012830094647494RPGTfY
P.S. Thaar be no such thing as a "foolproof" rack system. Hence bow an' stern tiedowns as backup.
FE
Sure Thing
– Last Updated: Jul-02-08 7:59 AM EST –
I'll post one later today when I get home.
Edit to add link to photos:
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/563976561eGrOfA
Pics
Edit above post to add a link to some pics; also adding here so it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle. Sorry for the duplication.
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/563976561eGrOfA
I second or third , or whatever ,
the ropes on the front and also the rear of the boats . Call me chicken but I can not stomach seeing any movement of my boats while flying down the interstate in traffic. I stop as many times as necessary to adjust accordingly to eliminate any movement .
garyg
Understood
The first time I took mine on the Thruway it kind of freaked me out too. The big rigs blowing by at 80 cause a lot of turbulence. I pulled over at the first rest stop to tighten everything down.
I don’t sweat it so much anymore though.
RedRockStore Top Ties
I bought and use these simply little tie down tabs from
http://redrockstore.com/Catalog/index.php?crn=97&rn=773&action=show_detail
The work as claimed. Since I bolt down the grommet side, I know it is very strong (stronger than the grommet itself), and the nylon loop is as srong, or stronger, than most other clips (look what most higher-end dining tarps use for tie-out points). This nylon strap is much heavier and wider than those.
When not in use you can just flip them over so they’re hidden underneath your hood. Actually you definitely want to do that so they don’t get unnecessary UV exposure when not in use.
truckers hitch
Rope and truckers hitch helps my peace of mind…