RealSurf Surfers' Forum

Hi guys,

I've downsized my car so need to invest in a roof rack. I've looked at Rhino Rack but I think that might be a bit of overkill. Any suggestions for a good rack that will hold a board on the M1 (110km/hr). Thanks.

honestly....buy a good board bag that has tie down thingos fitted

i love em cause they work and tranfer from car to car

other than that , and given u not concerned by looks, get a cheap pair out super cheap auto

so long u install em proper they will work great it's more about the quality occy strap u buy imo

p.s fins should always be towards the bonnent

only kooks place boards on nose 1st

Definitely Thule - can buy conversion kits for about $20 each time you switch cars - used to transport my windsurfer to Pt Stephens with them and never had a prob. Bombproof.

Rola Racks http://www.rola.com.au/ . They are pretty robust and don't look as chunky as other roof racks.

everything mkmw didn't say
i've got rola racks and they look good and work well.
you shouldn't use occy straps to tie down things to roof racks. they are elastic, so when the air at >110km/h hits the large surface area of your board, bad stuff can happen.

Thule are pretty good. I've got them on my car and am pretty happy with em
The four wheel drive near my old place has pairs of rhino metal jaw straps for $10 a set. Pretty good bargain

there's a dude on the gumtree selling some soft racks $20.

I've had a set of Rhino racks on my old small car. They were drilled into the roof. I used to stack them up with double board bag (filled with all the family's stuff and both my boards), pram, my bike with my daughters seat on the back, and a duffle bag stuffed to the brim. Then I'd drive off at 110ks + up the highway without ever having a problem.

I changed cars and now have Rola racks. They're just like the Rhinos only more expensive. These aren't drilled into the roof because of curtain airbags. I rate these roof racks as well. I've loaded them right up and always arrived with everything still there. Thule racks are the recommend but they looked a bit too bulky for what was needed.

macca202 wrote:everything mkmw didn't say
i've got rola racks and they look good and work well.
you shouldn't use occy straps to tie down things to roof racks. they are elastic, so when the air at >110km/h hits the large surface area of your board, bad stuff can happen.

Fcukin A. I remember driving behind a mate with his brand new Rabbidge long board on the roof held down with occy straps... we were cruising at about 110 when a big truck went past - whoosh, up went the board, occy straps breaking... it did about 4 flips, twenty feet into the air and came to rest on the side of the road on some big (half brick sized) rocks. The holes in it were impressive. He wasn't real happy about us laughing either.

Thule (pronounced Tula by the makers in Scandinavia) are pretty good but Rola racks are more aerodynamic (ie quieter).
They'll both cost you though.
Someone mentioned Supercheap. They have a brand called "Pro Rack" which is Kiwi and they are pretty cheap but sound. (On special for around $160 ish when they have catalogues out every few months).
I have Rola Racks but bought Pro Rack adapters for my Kayak and had to ring them about something. Got a young lady who knew what she was talking about and gave me an answer in about 2 minutes).

BTW. What sort of car. I have some Rola racks for a Subaru Liberty. Also a set of older style gutter mounts which would fit some cars.

Whatever you do don't waste your $'s on the square tube pro racks.
They are fuggin noisey as.
The more expensive model is touted as being the quietest around however. (wishbar or something)
You can buy adapters for the feet on them to transfer to different cars.
The Rola sportsbars I've had were model specific fitment so that was annoying when changing ones ride.
Have a look on Evil bay for some used ones first.
Reduce, reuse rather than automatically buy a new pair.
Save $'s and help the environment.

hey....i paid $5 for my new occys ,bit a spurge but i had a good pay.....beats the old broken leggies i was using

sides...i just leave my board in the car 99% the time

other 1% i take it surfin

Just show us your racks!!!!

Cuttlefish wrote:Whatever you do don't waste your $'s on the square tube pro racks.
They are fuggin noisey as.
The more expensive model is touted as being the quietest around however. (wishbar or something)
You can buy adapters for the feet on them to transfer to different cars.
The Rola sportsbars I've had were model specific fitment so that was annoying when changing ones ride.
Have a look on Evil bay for some used ones first.
Reduce, reuse rather than automatically buy a new pair.
Save $'s and help the environment.

Yep. You're probably right about the noise. I've only ever used their adapters for other rack profiles.
And re-use is the way to go except that since the demise of roof gutters, every car has a different fitment.

Wow. Thanks guys. So much helpful information there. The car I have now is just about as small as you can get outside of a hatchback - a 2001 Lancer Coupe. Thule look good, I like the feature on their website about what racks match each model of car. I'll look into all the others too though.

Just as an aside, I am unfortunately still a bit of a noob re surfing. I have quite a small board atm as I got it free from a mate but two months on I'm still not having much success. What type of board would you recommend from someone in the early stages of surfing.

P.S. Why can't the white water be FURTHER AWAY from the shoreline and the big waves closer??? I can only take so much humiliation being dominated by 1 foot foam clouds in front of beautiful women in bikinis. Then when I eventually become half decent, I half to paddle all the out to the bigger waves where they'll barely be able to see me! Sigh.... damn you mother nature!

don't stress, everyone was a noob once, shit, dinos still is

take ya board cashconverters and trade it in on something longer

get a mini mal for summer

have fun, u may want find a more gentle break as well

p.s hey trev....how much more room is there in my rig with the boards placed on there side

only took us 400 odd k firgure that one

I got the ones made specifically for my car, probably could have got cheaper ones elsewhere, but after 3 years they've never let me down and will happily carry my 8'6" board at over 120km/h so I'm not bothered if I paid more.

What kind of car have you got?

mustkillmulloway wrote:p.s hey trev....how much more room is there in my rig with the boards placed on there side

only took us 400 odd k firgure that one

Yeah. And we could actually get 1st and 2nd gear.