I've had a few personal PM's asking me about my car board support that sits on my tow-bar on my car from people who also drive small cars with only about two feet between the roof racks and concerned about the amount of rocking or sea-sawing that these big boards do when you hit a bump in the road and the stress it puts on the car/roof and racks.
Each time I've been asked about it I've said that I'll take some pictures one day and send them to them but I think it's just easier to just post them here in case there's others also interested.
When I first bought my little zook I was told by the car salesman that the roof racks can be positioned where ever I want them along the roof but they lied.. There is very specific points where the roof racks attach and they are very close together.. I was sooo pissed off about this and a bit worried about carrying my new 14' Glide so it got me thinking (ouch).
I had a tow-bar fitted to my car and was looking at buying on of those bicycle racks and somehow modifying it.. I then started thinking about the stress on it.. With the board tied to the roof racks it just needs to take down force load and there would be no need for side to side or forward/back strength.
It also needed to be adjustable due to different board shapes.. I came up with the idea of using a stainless steel adjustable height IV pole that mounts on the end of the beds at my work (I work in a hospital).. We have heaps of old ones laying around in our bed store in the hospital basement and many don't even fit our current beds.. So I used one of those (after asking first).
My friend Jonathan was able to make a stainless steel mount that fits onto my tow-bar that the IV pole slips over and he was also able to get a spring clip thingie to hold it on.
My next challenge was what to do at the top.. It needs to be firm but not damage the board and not too soft that the board could still move.. I cut the T piece off the top of the IV pole and glued on a wooden ball that I got at Bunnings and I wanted to stretch a tennis ball over it so it wasn't the hard wood.. I couldn't find a tennis ball the right size (my wooden ball was a bit too big) so I found a rubber cricket ball that was a perfect fit.. So I glued it on.
It works perfect.. It also fits in the back of my car when not using it.. The board.. even the 14'er is solid as a rock.. I'm sure that even the 17'er would be ok on there..
Here's some pictures.
DJ
Hey, thanks mate, was gonna e-mail you about it.
Clever work. So, how much to make me one and have you a Patent Pending ?
BTW, I saw an advert for SHQ on one of those shots.....oh no, start ducking, the messages will start firing thru anytime now.
Thanks DJ I may have to look into this set up as well ...... we just bought a 2008 Honda Odyssey and you wouldn't believe it the roof racks can only go in one place because the airbags are in side roof .
Your'd think Honda would of put rails in then put the airbags in.
So the problem I'm facing is the roof racks are to close togeather ,and my 11 6 Naish and 14ft C4 Vortice aren't stable enough .The guy at the roof rack place said if I was doing over 100k's the whole lot could come flying off.
So I'm stuck...
Anyone else got any suggestions?
Cheers
Boylos
Hey Boylos,
I had a Honda Odyssey a few years ago, there were factory roof rails that I had fitted by the dealer, then you can buy cross rails from Thule or Rhino that fit perfectly and can be placed anywhere along the rail. I think you will find that Honda will be pleased to sell you rails for about $700 !! Annoyed me at the time because so many cars come with rails as standard.
Thule show cross rails for your car - with factory rails, so they must exist. I'd check with the dealer.http://www.thule.com.au/vehicleguide_detail.php?car_brand_id=11420&car_model_id=274257
Trouble with the DJ set up that we did is that you can't open the tail-gate with the post in place, it is super quick to take on and off though.
Sounds like I should make up half a dozen and sell them to Breezers....
Craig.. Don't worry about Honda dealers.. Go to a specialized roof rack shop.
I know Roller Racks will have tracks that they can mount and allow you to position them anywhere along the roof that you want..
I realize now that I could have even done that with mine.
DJ
DJ trouble with that is that you have to drill holes through the roof, don't know how that goes with salt water dripping on the mounts. Certainly worth looking at as an option though.
Hey thanx for that set up DJ we have just bought a new swift I have just gone with a set of proracks and was wondering how to get more support for the boards we went to Fingal a couple of weekends ago with sup,wife,5yo,7yo,mini foxie,2 boogie boards and snorkelling gear I am sure we set some kind of record fitting all that into the zook but I am totally stoked with the zook after getting rid of 4.2 pet gq patrol 30 litres 100ks
Greg