Tie-downs, some folks just want to go..

baffles me why some would take the risk
When I read this, I shake my head in wonder and amazement. Someone wants to trust such an expensive investment without fully securing it to the vehicle?



Maybe I’m just odd but I don’t believe there is such as thing as securing a load too much, regardless of the kind of load. Taking some extra time and money at the beginning, saves a lot more money should something bad happen.



I brought home a new Tupelo this week in my F150. I had the tailgate down and it was laying flat in it. I had a total of four ratchet straps attached to it to ensure it wouldn’t move an inch, then though it was out of the wind with the tonneua down. Even the red flag I had on it barely moved. I did this to ensure the safety of my investment, and that of the other motorists on the road.



Now I am prepping to haul the Tupelo and a Karma or Traverse on the wife’s CRV when shuttling from takeout to put in points. I will have roof racks ratchet strapped to the CRV, a couple of straps securing the middle of the boat to the rack, then a ratchet strap on the bow and stern of each boat. When I am done, the boats will not move. Even if one strap fails or loosens, I have them secured at several other points.



Again this is just for shuttling which at most will be 20 miles. The main hauling will be in my pickup, again with 4 straps to each boat.



Some may see it as overkill, I see it as being responsible.

I just remembered an incident.
It didn’t involve boats. I was driving on a city street where the road had a slight curve and the speed limit was 35 mph. A pickup with a trailer full of lawn-mowing equipment was coming the other way, and a small lawn mower rolled off the back of the trailer, and of course when it hit the pavement, it was traveling nearly the same speed as the trailer had been going. The road curved and the lawn mower went straight - glancing off the side of my company pickup. The damage was minor and it was, after all, just a work truck, so I didn’t make a fuss, but I did chew the guy out about securing his stuff on the trailer. He replied that “it was tied on”. I said no way was it tied, “because it’s over there in the ditch.” I looked at his “tie-down” method. There had been a length of packing string (like kite string) tied to the handle, and it had frayed at the attachment point and broken. Talk about a case of “logical consequences”, what else COULD he have expected the thing to do after bouncing around and rolling back and forth on the trailer for a while?

precisely, and it’s sad
Subaru is not a huge seller in the U.S. but previously they filled a niche: low, carlike AWD vehicles with low center of gravity and relatively efficient on gas. There were plenty of things that catered genuinely to outdoors-minded people. The rails AND rack on my 99 OB were rock-solid.

Nowadays the lift height for an OB is about the same as for an old Jeep Cherokee, the cars are bigger, taller, and heavier, and the racks have been repurposed as sales gimmicks. So they’ve become more mainstream and the only thing keeping them in the market is the AWD lineup. Problem with that is crossovers taking market share.

I used to think of Subaru as akin to a niche brand like Saab or Volvo with the customer loyalty of VW. Lately I hear more and more longtime subaru owners switching to other brands.

Rant over.

you reminded me of 2 incidents
First one, I was driving home from work and a pickup lost it’s cap. It was on the other side of the freeway but it soared probably 25’ in the air before landing in the median. I did not see the driver stop!



Second incident, driving on the very same stretch of freeway when I see the car ahead of me has a loose fender, all rusted at the bottom, flapping a bit in the wind. So I sped up to get past him and no sooner was I past when the fender tore off and went up into the air, landing on the road. That one made my heart skip a beat.

court
court is a bitch and worse is to hurt anyone. I double and triple check everything and check again when I stop. It is usually recommended after driving a bit to stop and check a load when trucking items or kayak / canoe in this case. You should always have enough tie downs so if one fails the boat will not fly off. If you use straps front and rear put some twist in them it keeps them from fluttering side to side like a flat strap does.

Flying Grumman…
The only instance where I actually saw a canoe separate from a vehicle involved a 17 foot, standard model, aluminum Grumman.



Boat in question separated from vehicle when front tie down broke. When canoe started airborne, the back tie down broke too. No straps, or rack were being used.



The Grumman got to about 20 feet in altitude, and about 40 feet in distance before it started losing forward momentum & gravity kicked in. Came down in ditch on opposite side of highway from where it “took off”. Narrowly missed front end of a semi; passed right in front of it.



Being in the vehicle behind the Grumman when it went airborne sure got my attention. My vehicle left some very long skid marks…



BOB

Outback, Forester, roof racks, etc.

– Last Updated: Mar-16-16 11:44 AM EST –

We used Volvo V70 and 240 wagons to haul kayaks, skis, solo/tandem bikes, and cargo boxes for over 15 years. Volvo eventually priced themselves out of our range.

Once we ran our 2001 V70 AWD into the ground we started looking at alternatives. I've evaluated a lot of new vehicles for their roof-rack potential, AWD, and hopefully a price tag of no more that $30k. The list is pretty short. Subaru (Forester, Crosstrek, older Impreza wagon) always ends up near the top with the exception of newer Outback (2010-2016). As Celia has indicated Subaru marketing wanted to appeal to 'soccer moms' with the abomination of a rack system they placed on the newer Outbacks.

At the moment we happen to own both a Forester and Outback (2015). In fairness my wife and I much prefer the ride and comfort features of the Outback, but when it comes to hauling gear on the roof, including kayaks, bikes and a cargo pod we only use the Forester (full factory euro rails and adequate bow and stern tie-down points).

I would love to see Subaru go back to euro-rails on the Outback, but I do not see it happening. I'm just thankful they are still available on the Forester and Crosstrek.

Sorry I went off topic with Subaru
The OP’s message is a great reminder.



Under hoop straps cost $5, or can be made for free. I secure my stern to a tow hitch, but strap options are wide spread. For the extra 3 minutes it takes to always secure bow and stern, I can avoid a tragic accident. It seems like time well spent.



My lines are pre-tied with a trucker’s hitch so it is really only 3 minutes to secure bow and stern. What we are guarding against isn’t sloppy fastening, but rather a snapped bolt, failed rack, etc.



Incidentally, I just replaced a few bolts on my Thule saddles as they were showing the effects of weather after four years of year round use.



Thanks for the annual reminder.



ABZ

there was always a reason to walk away
…from Subarus, but reasons that outdoorspeople would overlook. Not any more IMO.

No skid marks…
… in your pants?

Outback owner worried now.

– Last Updated: Mar-16-16 2:08 PM EST –

Being new last year to kayaking I had no idea the Outback factory rack on my 2013 was a death trap. I hauled two kayaks at a time, alternating between three kayaks, a 10 ft sot, a 12 foot and a 14 foot Dagger poly day tourer. They each weigh around 55 pounds. I never drove them on interstate or over about 55 mph.

The one thing I wasn't expecting was the crossbars to pull out of the side rails. Does this happen often? Ugh, what do I do now?

Possibly Yakima system

– Last Updated: Mar-16-16 4:41 PM EST –

I think it is Yakima came out with a system that does not rely on factory crossbars, it's own towers (l guess actually landing pads) and cross bars, that fit on the current Outback rails. Check it out.

By the way, if you ask any official subaru person about hauling three boats of 10 to 14 ft on their cross bars, you will be told you are exceeding the recommended load. Should get a same answer as l got asking about a sea kayak (let alone 2).

I only take two at a time, never three.
It’s interesting that the Subaru magazine they send out had a cover story about urban paddling in last summer’s edition. The only time you see a kayak on the car it is a single one on a custom outback with an ACA paint job. It looks like the rack may be aftermarket.

I’m using Yakima Landing Pads
I have a 2013 Outback and had to wait about 1.5 years before Yakima made landing pads that fit the 2013. They work OK. I don’t carry a lot heavy boats very often now but have loaded up the rack quite a bit and had no issues. I’ve driven thousands of miles with lightweight waveskis, SUPs and surf kayaks no issue.

Can you post a pic of you wheel well…
Interested to see how you pad the hooks and straps to keep from damaging the trim and paint on the Subie. Also if a strap loosens at Highway speed can this get tangled in the wheel? I guess I am worried about driving on bad roads off road where the straps take a lot of movement going in and out of deep ruts etc.

Check out the Subie User Group
You can mount Yakima Landing pads and a Yakima rack. It works.



The real problem is when people mount a rack that attaches to the swing out rails. they are flexible and fail with time. If you just put your kayak on surf board pads it should work find on the factory rails, but there is nothing to tie down to that will hold the kayak down if the rails fail. The landing pad mounts give you something a little better to tie down to.

Dumped
Subaru when they came out with that new bogus rack system on the Outback. Had a VW Jetta Sportwagon TDI for 3 years but that had low ground clearance. So I traded that for a Hyundai Sante Fe which uses the Yakima Rail Grab system, could not be happier.

Subaru offers no naked roof options
anymore?

Bummer My 2009 Nekkid Roof Forester is clad in Yakima racks. I bet they are stuck there; they’ve been on so long.



Maybe I better keep this car till I die

Forester and Impreza come bare roof

JackL set up a Forester
I think he just found perfectly aligned bolts in the roof he could get to from the top. Check with him.