Hauling Lumber on an SUV

[Brian Kent]

Can I haul Plywood on a small roof-top carrier?

I don't have a truck.
I can rent a truck or borrow one if I need to haul a LOT of plywood sheets.
I can fit long narrow lumber in my Honda CRV.
I get stuck when I want to get one or two sheets of 4 x 8 plywood.

Is it safe to use a car-top carrier on the CRV (a mini-SUV)?

If so, how do I tie it down safely - just on the rack bars or down to the front bumper area too?

My advantage is I'm only 3-4 miles from my lumber sources and I can take surface streets. I just don't want to stupidly ignore any basic laws of physics and aerodynamics and then say, "O yeah, I should have asked about that!"

[Joe Jensen]

I had an SUV that wouldn't fit a 4 foot wide sheet between the wheel wells, (my suburban does), so I built a knock down rack that was just two simple bridges, one over each wheel well, and then a couple of braces that connected the two bridges. The bridges were just 2 by 4s 8 feet long, with legs about 10" tall to raise the 2 by 4s up. With this I could carry 4 by 8 sheets inside with the rear hatch open.

I personally would not carry on the roof. Too much area for the wind to catch. I'd be worried that it would pull the roof rack off if a semi passed at 70 MPH...joe

[Jim Becker]

Consider a small utility trailer. Even with my mid-sized SUV, it makes a huge difference for this activity and is much safer than trying to use a roof-rack. If you can find one used, great, but if not the cost isn't that outlandish.

[Doug Shepard]

I've carried ply on my Aztek's roof rack without any problems. I've limited it to no more than 2 sheets. I'm sure there's a safety limit somewhere heavier than 2. I've just made multiple trips rather than push my luck. I'd probably not do it on a day with heavy winds either. I usually spend 15 minutes or so tieing it down securely so it cant slip side to side or front to back either. I usually tie at the back tow hook area but dont usually go up to the front bumper area. A few wraps going diagonally around the corners and through the roof rack has been sufficient. My dad has literally yards and yards of some 1/2" and 3/4" wide woven nylon banding from his years at the phone company's cable yards. Not sure what they used it for, but it works great for tieing down loads. For hardwood, I can usually fit stuff inside the Aztek with the seats folded down and if necessary a few feet hanging out the back with the liftgate tied down.

[Scott Loven]

Dont do it like this guy did!

[Lee Schierer]

My roof rack is only rated for 100# max. I probably will never carry a sheet of plywood on it.

The air flow over the car will be quite great even at 40 mph. If you do try carrying it on the roof, run strong ties over the leading edge down to the frame in the front of the car. Go as slow as you can. Remember going 30 mph into a 15 mph wind means the wood is seeing 45 mph wind. Try walking with a sheet of plywood in a 10 mph wind and you will get the idea.

[Brian Kent]

My rooftop load limit is 55 lbs. I may be limited to just one sheet. The small trailor may be the way to go (and a good time to go to Harbor Freight).

The advantage of the roof rack is when I am picking something up without prior planning.

[Craig Kershaw]

If you are buying the plywood for a project and don't need the full 4 x 8, get the HD folks to rip the plywood on their panel saw.

[Brian Kent]

That's what I've done so far. For some reason that part of the store is often a little sparse on help.

[Phil Harding]

I faced a similar dilemma. I opted to buy a small utility trailer from Harbor Freight. I caught it on sale for around $200. It folds up so it doesn't take up too much room in the garage.

-- Phil

[Pat Germain]

While hauling plywood atop a small SUV is something you can away with, it can also be downright dangerous. The problem comes not from the weight, but from the wood acting like a sail. There's an awful lot of force pulling on whatever is holding that plywood down. If it breaks, you could literally kill somebody with a sheet of plywood moving at 40MPH or more.

I'm sure people do this all the time without issues, but the risk is certainly much higher than driving down the road with plywood in the bed of a pickup or in a trailer. Even if it was tied down very securely to a factory roof rack, it's likely the roof rack could pop out of the roof. Those things are pretty lightweight.

[Jim Grill]

The problem comes not from the weight, but from the wood acting like a sail. There's an awful lot of force pulling on whatever is holding that plywood down. If it breaks, you could literally kill somebody with a sheet of plywood moving at 40MPH or more.

Pat's right. I've seen this happen before on a highway during rush hour traffic in Houston, TX about ten years ago. It caused at least a 10 car accident - not to mention others who pulled over (including me) and emergency vehicles and hundreds of motorists stuck on the highway while the police worked the scene.

Don't under estimate the power of 45 mph wind on a 4X8 "sail". It'll snap some rope or even rip your roof rack off, which is what happened in Houston that day.

[Bruce Benjamin]

One of the problems with tying to a factory roof rack has already been explained, the wood blowing off of the rack. If it doesn't blow off of the rack, the rack itself can blow off of the car. A lot of factory racks are only held onto the roof using expanding rubber nutserts through the sheet metal of the roof. Some are probably more secure but I doubt that any are substantial enough to handle the force of an unexpected gust of wind on a sheet of plywood.

The no-brainer obvious choice is to just buy a small flat bed utility trailer. The HF trailers have already been suggested and they will work fine as long as you don't overload them. If you absolutely insist on hauling on the roof of you SUV then buy one of the aftermarket sport racks, like a Yakima. The ones that hook onto your rain gutters, (if you have rain gutters) are the strongest. The racks that only utilize the existing factory rack aren't any stronger than the factory rack. After strapping the plywood to the sport rack, then run some straps over the wood and through the passenger compartment, through the windows. You may have to get creative with this since it will require you to either crawl through the window to get in or tighten the strap in front after you're already in the car. I work at a lumber yard and I've seen this done. The guy secured the rear strap through the rear windows and then kept the front one very loose until after he was in the car. He then used the ratchet to tighten it down. The only way this will fail is if the straps fail or if the roof rips off of your car.

All of that being said, I still think overloading any car or light truck on the roof is a stupid idea so let your own sense of danger be your guide. Just spend a couple hundred bucks on a Harbor Freight trailer with 12" wheels and you won't have to worry about ruining your car, (Your CRV is a CAR, not a truck or an SUV...No Utility) and possibly injuring or killing anyone in the process. That can't possibly be worth the money you saved on a trailer, can it?

Bruce

[John Lanciani]

Brian,

I'll take the other side of the debate. I have a Honda Element fitted up with a Yakima rack rated for 200 lbs, and I don't think twice about putting 2 or 3 sheets of ply on the roof. I use 2 ratcheting tiedowns (good ones, not harbor freight crap) to hold the ply to the rack and two more to bind the ends of the ply together and I have no reservations about driving at normal speeds. (I'd drive in front of my grandmother without second thought).

I have a nice utility trailer, but to me it's a pain in the butt to use for such a small load. I even get baltic birch 5'x5' on the rack, turned on the diagonal. It's super secure this way, but I do get a few looks sometimes.

My belief is that as long as you use common sense, a good rack is plenty safe.

John

[Scott Loven]

I have mine delivered to me from the lumber yard for $15.00. This way I have someone there to help me carry it into the shop!
Scott