Roof racks

ratticus

Hard racks or soft racks? Do any of you have experience with either? Any major upsides?downsides to either choice?

Mickeroo

Hard rack all the way, much safer. Soft rack only good for short distances and only 2 boards max i would think. make sure you pad a hard rack or at least have a board bag on though. The best thing is try and fit them inside your car if you can, saves petrol that way!

conman78new

PM me if you're looking for hard racks for a golf or mondeo in Dublin

stevire

Hard rack as long as they are designed for the car, the universal hard racks aren't up to much and I found the soft rack to be safer in comparison. You might be able to pick up a universal hard rack quite cheaply, I picked up a Thule rack for 40e a few years ago, if you do you can buy the feet for it to fit your car.

tonyfillony

i found the soft ones marked the roof of my car

I dont know

I have a soft rack.
It’s handy as you can throw it on anyone’s car, and its cheap. But I’m never too confident driving with it on.
About 4 years ago the boards came off when a friend was driving. He had forgot about the boards and was going too hard
90% of the time I fire the boards inside the car as you can drive much faster.

OldGuysRule

Do a search of the forum, it has been discussed previously. For what it is worth, I would always recommend OEM racks.

Wopp

I know people hate them but get some good ratchet straps in halfords or homebase. They would hold a cow on the roof during a rally race. So if you have a soft rack or whatever, they will secure the boards for the long haul and make sure you can drive with confidence.

However, be very very careful not to tighten them too much as you could damage your board!

Last time I checked they were less then 20 euro and I have used them many many times from dublin to the west with no problems!

spaceHopper

Wopp wrote: »

I know people hate them but get some good ratchet straps in halfords or homebase. They would hold a cow on the roof during a rally race. So if you have a soft rack or whatever, they will secure the boards for the long haul and make sure you can drive with confidence.

However, be very very careful not to tighten them too much as you could damage your board!

Last time I checked they were less then 20 euro and I have used them many many times from dublin to the west with no problems!

Maybe there is a good reason everybody else hates them? Alway go hard rack, soft racks mark your car, let in rain and make a ton of noise if you go over 80kph. A good hard rack with a deacent set of straps will always be better. Soft racks are only for holidays on a rental car

promethius

this has all been done already.
i'm definitely on the hard rack side on this one.
I have thule aero bars, they're brilliant, you put a few boards up there and you can forget about them. secure. end of.

Morf3h

tonyfillony wrote: »

i found the soft ones marked the roof of my car

+1

I could help you with an Opel Astra or Jeep hard racks. pm for specifics

Macaonbhuit

Thule or in a pinch, mont blanc hard racks (of which I have a pair for an 06 corolla if interested). Use pipe insulator as cushioning. Soft racks only for rental cars ;-)

killedsirius

Wopp wrote: »

I know people hate them but get some good ratchet straps in halfords or homebase. They would hold a cow on the roof during a rally race. So if you have a soft rack or whatever, they will secure the boards for the long haul and make sure you can drive with confidence.

However, be very very careful not to tighten them too much as you could damage your board!

Last time I checked they were less then 20 euro and I have used them many many times from dublin to the west with no problems!

a ratchet is going to wreck the rails of your board. and the big metal ratchet thing isn't great on the deck either. D ring straps are totally safe, and ive never had a problem with clamp straps either.