Roof rack adapted to carry 4x8 sheets?

[Dan Karachio]

I'm sorry, this is a weird one. I need to carry home plywood or even drywall once in a while and I'm tired of asking my neighbor who has a truck. Nothing like being self sufficient. Meanwhile I have a (paid for) station wagon and a not inexpensive Yakima rack system for carrying bikes and kayaks. The thing certainly holds all that securely, so why not a couple of 4 x 8 sheets of plywood? I searched the web thinking someone somewhere must have sorted this out, but nothing. Seems a few clever adaptations would allow me to clamp down some wood and haul it on my own. Anyone here every made their own or know of some commercial adapters?

P.S. I know about wind and sheets like this when you try to carry things on a car without a rack (never a good idea), but it seems you could tilt the wood on the rack in some way to deal with aerodynamic forces. Also, the rack holds a 18 foot sea kayak quite sturdily, so if clamped down securely is this still a dumb idea to think about 4x8 sheets of wood?.

[Daniel Hillmer]

Suggestion:

Buy a used truck.

I have a '97 ford ranger - it's the smallest truck you can buy, it has a short and narrow bed, gets 24 MPG, and last weekend I hauled over 100 board feet of hardwood and four sheets of 3/4 inch plywood in it no problem. I just lean then in the bed they stayed in there just fine for a 100 mile trip no problem.

You could prob pick one up for under a grand.

By the way, Plywood and drywall is so heavy, I don't think you need to worry about them blowing away unless you are driving through a hurricane, or are hauling some very thin stuff. Friction between sheets helps you out too. I never have to tie down my plywood, although I do bungee in my hardwood planks.

BUT, if you really want to tie it to your roof rack, you could use these:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95106


The problem with hauling plywood on your roof, plywood is very heavy, I myself would be worried about putting that much weight on my car roof that is not designed to carry that much weight. You will end up denting it unless you get some kind of really custom designed rack that will hold the weight and for that much money you can buy a truck that will haul 30 times times more.

Heck, for a grand you could probably buy an old beat up rusty ford F150 maybe a mid to late eighties, with a bed 4x8 or over, and stack sheets 20 high, haul three times what you could haul in a mini truck or a rooftop rack, and haul them all day long. Just use it to carry your lumber, and park it where your neighbors can't see it hehe.

I think for the price of a well built kind of roof top lumber rack you are looking for, it might be custom, you could buy a whole used truck!

[Brian Penning]

All you need are the straight Yakima utility crossbars, no?

BTW I think the buying a used truck isn't such a good idea -maintenance, registration, licence, insurance, fuel, etc.
If you buy lumber often enough a utility trailer would be a better idea imho.

[Daniel Hillmer]

All you need are the straight Yakima utility crossbars, no?

BTW I think the buying a used truck isn't such a good idea -maintenance, registration, licence, insurance, fuel, etc.
If you buy lumber often enough a utility trailer would be a better idea imho.

Yes that's a good point a trailer would be cheaper definitely!

[Marcus Ward]

Heh, a yakima rack can carry many sheets of plywood just fine. Find out what the rating is, I think mine is 200 lbs. Don't exceed it. Take the bike/kayak carriers off and strap it directly on the rails, you'll be fine. I do it all the time.

[John Ricci]

If you buy lumber often enough a utility trailer would be a better idea imho.

Your suggestion would be a much wiser choice Brian. I have a full size pickup as well as a utility trailer and there are times I manage to fill both at the same time.

J.R.

[Robert Eiffert]

I've carried a few sheets of thinner stuff on top of Protege 5's factory installed rack. The x-bars are closer together than bike wheelbase (we have the full length racks for bikes)

I take 4 8' 2x4s and sandwich the sheet goods between them and strap it all down with two long straps, looping under the crossbar.

No problems, at least to 45 mph.

[Matt Wolboldt]

If you're going to load it on the rack, remember the book load ratings are for both the rack and load. To help control the side you could look into gunwale brackets, which could be used for a canoe as well as side control on the sheets of plywood.
Matt

[Duncan Horner]

I had a Suzuki Sidekick once (Remember those, lightweight SUV's, made of tinfoil?)

I made a rack out of 3/4 ply, one rail each side, curved to fit into the raingutter/drain channel, flat piece across the top (4' wide) with angle brackets on the edges to line things up as I was loading.

Angle brackets were cheap and easy, and they don't really do anything after the load is strapped down.

I made two slots thru the side rails for a couple of straps for when it was empty, and coated the whole thing in spar urethane.

After loading, open the back doors, and run straps over the whole lot and ratchet tight inside the vehicle. Never ever had a problem hauling ply or sheetrock, hauled home more lumber on that rack in the two years I used it than you could imagine. :D But I drove slowly too lol

[Brian Kent]

I asked the same question here about a roof rack for my SUV. Check out all of the experiences and warnings:

http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=59644&highlight=plywood+roof+rack

[Michael Pauly]

I carry lumber on my vw passat all the time using a thule rack. As others have said, you just need to be very careful on how you load it and strap it down and obviously are conscious of the weight. I always just use ratcheting tie downs for lumber, but sheet goods can be issues due to the length/width exceeding that of the rack.

I saw this aux rack on another forum that fits over your own roof rack to help secure sheet goods. Never tried to build it, but looks interesting.

Michael

http://i18.tinypic.com/6ntmj4m.jpg

[Dave Lehnert]

Hey! It works for this guy.

http://johnandloripowers.com/LittleCar/LittleCar.jpg

[John Ricci]

Hey! It works for this guy.

http://johnandloripowers.com/LittleCar/LittleCar.jpg

"On a string and a prayer":D

J.R.

[Jake Helmboldt]

Dan, I'm with Marcus on this one. I've used my Yak to bring home a couple 4x8 sheets of 3/4 maple ply, no problem. I used ratcheting tie downs to make sure it didn't go anywhere and didn't have a problem, including at 55 MPH. I just took the trays off and used the load bars.

[John Gornall]

When I had a car with Thule racks I set up 2 - 4 foot 2x4's that bolted flat on top of the cross bars. I would lay sheets of plywood on these bars and then use a C clamp at the end of each 2x4 to clamp the plywood to the 2x4's. No ropes required. Hauled a lot of plywood that way - even put longer 2x4's on once and carried a 10 foot wide garage door.

Once I watched a guy with a sheet of plywood on roof racks tied on with rope when he came across a police officer directing traffic around an accident. He breaked and his car stopped but not the plywood. The plywood slid along the road to the cop that had now turned around, hit the cop right in the heels, took him off his feet and laid him down and carried him about 40 feet down the road lying neatly on the plywood. Cop was shaken up but fortunately not hurt. This event then continued in that the next vehicle which had stopped was towning a boat on a trailer. He hadn't tied the boat down. When he accelerated the winch let go and the boat stayed still. When the winch cable got to the end there was a great noise as the bow eye pulled out of the boat and the cable cracked like a wip slicing a neat slot right down the middle of his car's roof. And there was his boat sitting on the highway. So be safe - tie those loads down!

When I carry long thin stuff like mouldings on the roof racks I tie them on with electrical tape - a few wraps pulled tight and it's not moving. At home I cut it off. Buy the bulk packs of cheap tape at the borg and keep it under the car seat.

[Bob Slater]

Whenever I carry drywall on my sedan, I put an 8 foot 2X4 on each side to help secure the load.

[Peter Quinn]

"On a string and a prayer":D

J.R.

What many fail to note in that picture is that the entire back seat is filled with sakrete, which at least partially added to that cars demise.

I work for a business that sells lumber and plywood retail, mostly to contractors, but people show up in all kinds of vehicles with all kinds of improvised racks to buy a little wood. Seems if you keep it light and secure it well it should work. Just please, don't pull out in front of me if you would!

At 75 pounds per sheet, just how many sheets of plywood would you think prudent on a 200# roof rack? I once hauled 11 sheets of plywood, three anderson windows and 7 bundles of arc comp shingles in an Isuzu trooper with the back door open and a few 1000# compression straps holding things together. I now use a 1 ton van which makes the other methods moot for me. Even with the van I find delivery a preferable option for sheetrock in most cases.

[Dan Karachio]

When I had a car with Thule racks I set up 2 - 4 foot 2x4's that bolted flat on top of the cross bars. I would lay sheets of plywood on these bars and then use a C clamp at the end of each 2x4 to clamp the plywood to the 2x4's. No ropes required. Hauled a lot of plywood that way - even put longer 2x4's on once and carried a 10 foot wide garage door.


Hey John, That sounds like one amazing adventure you saw that day. Like something out of a cartoon or a comedy. Unbelievable! I think your suggestion is the ticket. I was thinking clamps and not ropes/straps as well, but you made it clear as to how it could work. Thanks! Still, my cross bars are round and Thule are square right? I think I can do something to make this work. I think the good old trusty C clamp is the most reliable clamp for this job too!. By the way, Yakima does have one little product for hauling - see: http://www.yakima.com/Product.aspx?Number=8005000 Doesn't take care of hold down though.

As for weight, the rack is rated to hold 200 pounds so I am in pretty good shape. I have had the 90 pound kayak and a 20 pound bike on it and not a sign of stress, so two three sheets of plywood should be fine. The car is a Subaru and those things are built like little tanks. It's a nice 35 mph route to the various lumber yards, so I guess I need to make a test run!

Trust me, the spare truck would be my first choice, but I have this thing in the house that would make doing that very difficult. It's called a wife! :)

[John Ricci]

What many fail to note in that picture is that the entire back seat is filled with sakrete, which at least partially added to that cars demise.

Peter, I know the pic and the connected story well...800lbs. of cement in the back seat, punched the tops of the shocks through the floor:rolleyes: etc. I was making a joke, that's all:D Fools, like suckers are born every minute!

J.R.

[Peter Quadarella]

I carry sheets on the rack of my Expedition. The most I've done is 4. Two or 3 is better and I try to avoid any long trips or the highway. I use 4 ratchet straps - 2 each way, and it seems pretty secure to me. It's a bit of a pain though as it takes time to get the straps on properly.

[Daniel Hillmer]

All you need are the straight Yakima utility crossbars, no?

BTW I think the buying a used truck isn't such a good idea -maintenance, registration, licence, insurance, fuel, etc.
If you buy lumber often enough a utility trailer would be a better idea imho.

One thing to remember, even with a trailer, you still have to get a license plate for it, register it and insure it (although it's cheaper than for a vehicle) and also your gas mileage will go down will cost more if you go on long trips. So you still have factor all that in with your costs even with a trailer.

[John Ricci]

One thing to remember, even with a trailer, you still have to get a license plate for it, register it and insure it (although it's cheaper than for a vehicle) and also your gas mileage will go down will cost more if you go on long trips. So you still have factor all that in with your costs even with a trailer.

I guess it depends on where you live...I'm in Ontario, Canada and a utility trailer registration is a one time $15 fee, the plate is permanent and transferable, no insurance hit and behind a full sized pickup the mileage loss is inconsequential. That would be the reality in my world but I don't know how it works where you live:confused:

J.R.

[Don Bullock]

I guess that station wagons are smaller than they used to be. We used my dad's Ford station wagon wagon to haul plywood sheets when I was a kid. Now several full size sheets fit in my Chrysler van.

[Steven DeMars]

A 4' X 8' light weight utility trailer is the best way if you do not have a truck. Some fold or store upright. . . .

The roof top method will always leave you wishing you had another way to haul. Also with a trailer you can carry anything within the weight limits of the trailer . . .

http://www.newmansinc.com/light-duty_utilitytrailer.html

http://www.newmansinc.com/images/light-duty.jpg

[Jim Becker]

One thing to remember, even with a trailer, you still have to get a license plate for it, register it and insure it (although it's cheaper than for a vehicle) and also your gas mileage will go down will cost more if you go on long trips. So you still have factor all that in with your costs even with a trailer.

Trailer registration in PA is $60 for 5 years and there is no additional insurance required...the normal auto policy covers utility trailers.

Ultimately, a small utility trailer is a better solution for this kind of transportation need than using the roof rack if there is generally going to be somewhat regular transportation needs. Tying a couple sheets on top once in a blue moon and driving slowing isn't really a bad issue, but it's not as safe as a small trailer and you have to consider both the weight limits of the roof rack AND the roof. In many cases that's not much weight at all.

When I sold my Tundra in favor of the Highlander Hybrid to better meet our family needs, I invested a grand in a nice 5'x8' tilt-bed utility trailer. It was well invested money, IMHO, and I've used it a lot more than I expected. My particular trailer also has a 2160# cargo capacity (2950# Gross) and that also means I could put my Kubota on it (sans backhoe) if I needed it to be serviced in the shop, rather than on-site, as well as carry heavier landscaping materials. But for general lumber and sheet stock hauling, a few hundred dollars can buy a very functional solution...and don't discount looking for a used trailer, either, on Craig's List. (Of course, there is the cost of a hitch receiver if your vehicle doesn't have one...)

[Brian W Evans]

I second the idea that you can do this with Yakima racks. I do it all the time also. I don't go on the highway with sheet goods, however, and the lumber yard is less than 10 miles on 40 mph or less streets. I also tend to avoid doing this on windy days. That being said, I have put at least 3 sheets of 3/4" and 2 sheets of 1/4" material on at one time with no problems. I tie them down with clothesline. When I got my racks I got cross bars that were 55" or so (don't remember the exact measurements) so I would have some sticking out the side to tie the rope to. The law in my VT says that cross bars can't extend beyond the side-view mirrors, which works on my Subaru.

So, I say go for it. Just err on the side of caution and go slow.

Edit: Just wanted to add something since we're talking about racks. I recently had to buy some molding and casing material and bring it home using my roof racks. Needless to say this stuff was quite long and would break easily if tied down to a roof rack. I read somewhere about using an aluminum extension ladder as a support. I can tell you it works great. The ladder is light enough and rigid enough and there are obviously plenty of places to tie down to. I tied the ladder down securely after extending it to the right length, then tied or taped the molding to it.

[Don Morris]

Like several above, I've brought home a bunch of sheet goods on an SUV supported on 2 X 4's to keep the sheet goods from flexing and catching the wind. On one SUV I had a Yakima rack, on the other SUV I just had the factory rails. I secured the 2 X 4's to the rails or rack, clamped the sheet goods to the 2 X 4's plus used strapping. Didn't go over 55 and watched it carefully. Worked.

[Anthony Watson]

Dan,

I ran into this same problem years ago. We don't own a truck, but I often need to haul lumber and other items. I considered buying a truck, but didn't want the extra gas, maintenance, licensing, insurance, etc. I opted for a small utility trailer. It was a 4'x8' kit trailer I bought from a local department store. I think I only paid about $150-200 for it, and maybe another $100 or so in wood for the floor and sides. It costs me roughly $30 a year to license and is covered by my regular car insurance at no additional cost.

I pull the trailer with my old 1976 Rabbit, even up our steep mountain road with no problems. I can carry three passengers (in addition to myself), a weeks worth of groceries in the back of the car, and up to 1000 pounds of cargo in the trailer. All while getting 25mpg on average. Try that with a truck! :)

I haul full sheets of plywood, long boards up to 12' long (I've even carried a few 16's over the years), long pipes, etc. I also carry lots of things you would never get on a roof rack, like bark dust, sand, firewood, garbage, furniture (a full couch), finished woodworking projects, large tools (table saw, air compressor, etc.), and much more.

Anthony

[Greg Cole]

I'd worry more about the roof rack than what the actual vehicle can with hold. Ever seen a car upside down? (I've put one upside down so I've seen it from the inside) The door posts and reinforced areas around the doors hold up the weight of the vehicle, granted the sheet metal is dented to hell... but the roof doesn't totally collapse.
I drive a truck, always have and will... so seeing loads on a car roof are somewhat a source of entertainment for me.
And I seem to recall a story to go along with the crushed Jetta pics, as in it was intentional..... least I think I remember that. Anyone to honestly try to load out that much stuff in that car has no business trying to build what ever all the materials are for, nevermind drive a car.

[Bruce Benjamin]

I'll just repost what I posted in that old thread linked earlier...I want to point out that the key is that most factory roof racks are weak...

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. http://sawmillcreek.org/images/smilies/eek.gif

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, (A 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

http://sawmillcreek.org/images/buttons/quote.gif (http://sawmillcreek.org/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=601421) http://sawmillcreek.org/images/buttons/multiquote_off.gif (http://sawmillcreek.org/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=601421)

[Charles P. Wright]

I have a Thule rack and I've carried two 3/4" 4x8 sheets several times on it no problems. I just tie it down using one ratcheting tie down in the front and another in the back. If you try to lift or shove around the sheet goods with your hands, you move the car instead not the rack or the plywood. They've never shifted or anything for me. I just take it slow, and probably feel safer with that on my car then going out buying a hitch and trailer and having another 10 feet of vehicle I'm not used to.

[Eric DeSilva]

I carried loads of ply on my old Yak rack without any problem or mishap--heck, I've carried a lot heavier things than that, and my rack was secured to the factory rails.

Yes, wind can catch a 4x8 sheet and generate some force, but if the load is properly secured, what is "catching" the wind is 3/4" x 4', not 4'x8'. If you somehow managed to bow the ply into a wing, you might get some lift, but that seems far-fetched. If it really worries you, invest in a wind deflector that will direct airflow above your load.

When I was doing this, my crossbars were over 4', so I could secure the ply down to the rails, and then I'd run a set of straps preventing the front of the ply from moving forward, and a set preventing the back of the ply from sliding backwards. Worked fine...

Now I just throw it in the back of the pick up...

[Larry Rasmussen]

The questions are how far and how fast. I normally figure the one cut lengthwise I need done and have them rip it at the yard. If I need full sheets of thicker ply I remove the little canoe brackets and just strap the ply down with a two long webbing straps to the two cross bars. Back roads only which is all I have between me and most yards. Sheetrock or thin plywood you would need maybe a piece of 3/4 ply underneath and 1/2 inch or so on top. I haul anything and everything with that rack for occasional use. Would not haul plywood on the free way though. I did just get a new wood sliding glass door from Home Depot a couple weeks ago, got it on and off the roof by myself but just barely.
Good luck,
Larry