Highway speed with gear on top of the car

[techno900]

With racks attached properly (not dealer racks), I have carried three boards stacked upon one another at 70 mph with no problems.

HOWEVER - play close attention to the straps - age, friction/wear points, twists on the sides to prevent whistling, and to be sure, double up a second (safety) strap on the front bar just in case. I broke my front strap once just after exiting a highway after a 250 mile drive at 70. I was going 30 at the time and all three boards shifted about 45 degrees off to the side, but didn't come off. 5 minutes earlier and the freeway would have been a mess. After that, I always used a second strap on the front bar.

A friend while crossing a dam in a strong cross wind has his racks and boards come off and land on the downslope grass of the back side of the dam. Lucky, but I don't know the type of racks and how they were attaced.

[isobars]

[cgoudie1]

Say......... that's right, and it appears (from the outside ) to be more green also ;*).
Yup that's why I bought a residence in Hood River, because I
wanted to do my worldly duty. ;*) .

How selfless of me.

-Craig

[AndreiA]

On my Murano I used Thule crossbars and later factory Nissan crossbars. Would stack 2 boards - travel around speed limit - no problem.

Factory crossbars are very flat - not much noise nor air resistance, therefore I leave them on all the time. Thule were wider, but I would take them off them in the end of the season.

Just keep an eye on straps tightness - sometimes they settle and may get loose. There is no need to tighten very hard - not worth risk damaging the board. I make sure the board isn't moving anywhere and that's enough.

I put the boards on the standard crossbar pads bottom up, no damage to rails so far.

[GURGLETROUSERS]

Do agree that some factory anchor point fittings are not fit for high speeds, or aerodynamic uplift loadings.

I have no qualms about the strength of my current cars fitting points. (Arched part of the recessed section of the steel body, beneath the rubber roof strips, to which the rack anchor points are bolted down.) I also brace the the back and front bars to prevent any rocking forces or wobble by bolting on old Thule bars, from back to front, on each side. (Handy for extra strapping points.)

I'm always satisfied if my system stands the gorilla test (checks my astounding muscular development also ) by grasping a side bar and rocking the car side to side so violently that it almost lifts the wheels off the ground. (Well it used to, in my prime - nowadays there's too often an accompaniment of rude bodily noises after such exertions. But such comes to us all! )

[isobars]

My Subaru says it in no uncertain terms right on the crossbars: Do not carry anything on the crossbars. Use only Subaru-approved mounting systems before placing any load on racks. About the only thing I'd carry up there is my mother-in-law. No tie-downs; just the MIL.

[J64TWB]

A friend of mine took my old pickup with a cap on back for a beer run, 60 miles an hour down the highway thinking my old ft comet slalom was tied down. It wasnt. It stuck to the roof like glue in the slipstream, fin up, nose forward and made it back!

[cgoudie1]

So yur say'n the OP doesn't need tie down straps at all, right?

-Craig

[Sailboarder]

No, he's just warning ISO that the MIL might not fly away and survive to tell the story!

[J64TWB]

I would advise some serious tie downs.