How To Tie Down Lumber On Roof Rack

My car with 4 x8 mdf board on the roof rack.

How to tie down lumber on roof rack. Improper tie down practices are all too common and many accidents and injuries happen because someone didn t take their time loading cargo on the roof of the car. In house testing equipment to ensure our products meet their strength ratings. A pair of 20 web ratchets used as a fail safe in case the board slides to the rear of the vehicle. Here i have the bicycle s handlebars firmly planted on the roof rack s cross bar in the.

Most tie downs built or assembled in the usa. We use the highest grade products and components. In the case of a naked roof you should be looping the rope through the car through the doors not the windows and around the object on the roof and a towel or blanket should be used to protect the roof of your car from the object. With anything you plan on tying down you ll need three preferably four solid points of contact stability.

For plywood i put two 2 x 4 s on the roof rack and place the plywood on top of those to stiffen the plywood otherwise it flops up and down at highway speeds. Don t know if i d carry much lumber on that short front to back rack but i would definitely use at least two good ratchet straps ratcheted very tight around the lumber bundle so nothing could slip out. Plus the tiedown to the trailer hitch. It s important to use the right tie downs and place the item correctly on the roof rack if you want to avoid damaging your cargo or causing an accident.

The complete tie down company. I use 4 hand clamps at the corners to hold the plywood to the 2 x 4 s. Then i use the nylon web tie downs i ve got in the photos of below. If you have side rails and crossbars the straps can be looped around those.

Getting building materials home from the lumberyard or home center is easy if you own a pickup truck or a minivan. Tie down sizes ranging from 1 inch up to 4 inch wide. But you can also haul items on the roof of your car or suv if you ve got a roof rack obey the rack s weight limits and properly tie down the load. That s in addition to then attaching the bundle securely to the rack.

Second trip 16 2 x4 x6 boards on my roof rack. 25 years experience building tie downs.