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Date:         Mon, 3 May 2004 04:45:25 -0700
Reply-To:     "P. Stanhope" <napszeerf@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "P. Stanhope" <napszeerf@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: wisdom of strapping surfboard to westy roof, no rack
Comments: To: John Runberg <jrunberg@MAC.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <10857013.1083559843663.JavaMail.jrunberg@mac.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

I agree with what John and Steven said. Once while on a trip to Baja our surfboards AND surf-racks got ripped off the top of our 1970 VW bus w/ no pop-top. I can still see our boards spinning up in the air behind us. Amazingly my two boards survived without major damage(they were stuffed inside a board bag) The reason they came off was the same....we got passed by a Big Rig going 85 MPH while we were going 65MPH. Interesting note: these racks that failed were solidly attached to the rain gutters! the surf racks got ripped off by the truckers wind and the weight/size of our boards.

On another note, once I travelled from San Diego to FLorida with two longboards and 3 shortboards attached to my THULE racks on my Westy. My boards AND surf racks survived that trip OK and i still use these racks today.

Phil

--- John Runberg <jrunberg@MAC.COM> wrote: > With even a decent used longboard going for $300+ > making sure it stays on top is important. What you > describe could possibly work, although pesonally I > wouldn't drill through the top. Seattle's a wet > place and unless it's perfectly sealed (and stays > that way) you're inviting water to collect up top > and cause mold. Only takes a little. > > Other thought: imagine the amount of lifting force > your log will have while traveling 55mph down to the > beach! This may not be the best place to save a few > dollars - Yakima 1A towers are common and cheap on > *bay and you can use galvanized plubming pipe > instead of the $$$ yakima cross bar. That just > leaves the fake gutters to abuse your bank account > (and maybe a used set of locking cores, too). > > While you're saving for all those bits you can carry > the board inside if no-ones riding in back. I > suspend a wooden dowl on the front coat hooks with > some old climbing rope. With a little padding on the > sides (to keep it from banging back and forth) and a > little foam pipe insulation on top it makes a great, > quick carrier for boards over 8'. Anything smaller > can just rest with it's nose on the floor. > > john > > > I'm considering strapping a long surfboard to the > top of my westfalia > > roof and am wondering about the wisdom of this. I > want to avoid the > > $200 or more cost of a Thule of Yakima racks, > which I've heard works.

===== Phil 84' Westy...Tiico'ed 00' Cannondale MTB 95' S9 Skateboard 04' New Balance 705 All Terrain's

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