Roofrack or Softrack??

kayasurf

I've got a roofrack at the moment but find it a lot of hassle taking it on and off the car all the time.. i'm looking for a good quick and easy way to get surfboards around.. i've got a 3door hatchback and was wondering if this sort of car is suitable for a softrack? if so whats the best place and kind to buy? Thanks for all the advice in advance

spockety

Stick with the roof rack. Soft racks wreck the paintwork on your roof if you use them a lot.

Shane_C

I don't understand softracks. You tie the boards to the rack and tie the rack to the roof: thats 2 points of failure. I have had no trouble just strapping the boards directly to my roof. Just put a towel down first to save the paintwork. But in your case I would stick with the proper roof rack.

Enygma

why not just leave the roofrack on all the time?

kayasurf

because after a drive back from the west the 4 hours of that noise from the roof rack was doing my head in.. ha ha. and my fingers were raw from staping the board on and off.. Was just wondering if there was an easier way

learnerplates

you can't put the softracks on a 3 door hatchback, I have this problem, Opel Astra 3-door. 4 doors are required because 2 straps, one front and one back.

kayasurf

can the softracks not go thruogh the windows? them poppie out ones?

learnerplates

ah yeah sure they can, good for you

theo4130

you can also get soft racks which stick into to the gutters on the roof, ocean earth do them, maybe check out the boardroom.com for surf racks. (not meant to be advertising, meant to be a helpful hint :)

learnerplates

I don't recommend the sticky ones, I've heard the don't always hold.
A guy in the surfshop in Strandhill told me one of his customers rang him one morning with his board in bits half way between Dublin and Sligo, the stickys failed at hight speed, the stickys are not to be trusted, the guy was lucky not to have killed someone.

spockety

I think anyone who truly values their boards (and car!) will use a proper roof rack with ratchet straps holding the boards to it.

theo4130

learnerplates wrote:

I don't recommend the sticky ones, I've heard the don't always hold.
A guy in the surfshop in Strandhill told me one of his customers rang him one morning with his board in bits half way between Dublin and Sligo, the stickys failed at hight speed, the stickys are not to be trusted, the guy was lucky not to have killed someone.

i agree with you, ive never tried them so i dont really know about them, the guy was looking for quickly removable racks and they were the ones i thought of,
i feel sorry for the guy who lost his board going to sligo, im always nervous about boards on the roof even if i check it a hundred times.

paddyb

im looking for a roof rack in dublin for a micra
anyone know where i would get one?

aodhu

Could you not pad the roof rack, change it's shape and stop it whistling?

Griff77

I use a soft roof rack. Drove home from lahinch at the weekend and got up to 125ish without a bother. There was no whistling. I made sure the straps were very tight by tying off the ends inside the car to the handles in the car ceiling which pulled the straps at an angle and took away any remaining slack i couldn't remove by brute force!! This allowed me to put extra tension into the straps and stop any movement or whistling of the straps/board. Also i put a twist in the straps which greatly reduces whistling.

Enygma

Soft racks are grand until it's pouring rain....

spockety

Enygma wrote:

Soft racks are grand until it's pouring rain....

haha, this is true..

memories of taking my filthy socks off and wrapping them around the rack inside the car to soak up the water that was coming in... mmmm steamy stink.

learnerplates

right so I'm off to buy a soft roofrack from where though?

Also I see Haslfords are doing a deal on hard roof racks, supposodly fit 1000 different cars, anyone tried these?

vesp

learnerplates wrote:

right so I'm off to buy a soft roofrack from where though?

Sunset Watersports in Sligo has them. 071 9162792

learnerplates

Good news for me, softracks work on my 3-door Astra no problem, one pad on the front door the other through the boot, I've put it on the drivers side of the roof, no problem, makes a buz above 60mph. 58euro in Great Outdoors, Galway.

learnerplates

Soft roof-racks let water into your car with heavy rain, as I found out this morning when I sat into the car, nice little puddle on the seat:o

It's best to remove all before heavy rain or else stuff plastic bags or something into where the door rubber meets the rack's strap.

cornbb

learnerplates wrote:

Good news for me, softracks work on my 3-door Astra no problem, one pad on the front door the other through the boot, I've put it on the drivers side of the roof, no problem, makes a buz above 60mph. 58euro in Great Outdoors, Galway.

You can get rid of the buzz by putting a twist in the straps between the padding and where it goes through the doorframe. Haven't found a fix for the leak problem yet unfortunately!

learnerplates

Yeah the twist works a treat alright, huge difference.

It'll be grand, it'll be scorching for the next 3 months after all of this water has passed us by:cool:

lightening

The soft rack is ok for short journeys. They do let in water in heavy rain as leaner plates says. They also can spoil the paint work where there is friction between the strap and the ridge of the roof (particularly if there is some sand in between the car and the strap) I got some plumbers pipe insulation and pushed the stap through and taped it in place. This stopped any road noise (even at 140kmph)

The plumbers insulation is applied wherever there is exposed flat strapping as flat straps will vibrate. Twisting is fine, but it will never be as tight.

Safe driving...

paulie.walnuts

"you can't put the softracks on a 3 door hatchback, I have this problem, Opel Astra 3-door. 4 doors are required because 2 straps, one front and one back."

Not true, I use a soft rack on a honda prelude coupe which is a 3 door hatch back to hold a 9 foot long board. Driven up to 70 mph no worries with it on.
The thing with the water seeping in if it rains is a pain alright. The straps can also damage the door seal over time if you're not careful. Best way to transport a board is drop the passenger seat and put it inside the car. Not always practical though

learnerplates

Paulie,
Yes, I corrected my earlier statement about the 3-door astra, it does work.

The board in the car (hatchback) does work alright but then you can't bring passangers, also on a sunny day (last year not this year) the wax melts inside the car all over your lovely seats.