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Tales of odd car topping?

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Pondering the load stops question got me thinking about other stuff on the roof racks.

Not so much about boats, although there have been inadvisably stacked too-many boat pyramids on short shuttles, stuff strapped on through doors (not, ahem, through open windows), a suction cup roof racks on a VW Beetle roof (not a lot of crossbar spread there), even a boat carried on a Fiat 850 Spider with that suction cup rack on the rear hood and a crude 2x4 frame above the windshield up front. The convertible roof could not be raised, and checking the oil was an issue. Luckily it did not rain but underpass briefly.

The oddest non-boat thing I have strapped to the roof racks was while helping a friend move 400 miles away. We needed to move everything in one trip, with a long bed Toyota and a Celica.

I was Tetris packed in bed up tight to the truck’s cap roof, zero visibility out the back, passenger seat and floor stuffed, with an open tunnel glimpse of the right sideview mirror. Not that I would be passing anyone.

The last thing to go, which wouldn’t fit anywhere else, was an oversized wicker rocking chair, which was tied atop an assortment of bed frames and rails and other long linear stuff on the crossbars. Might as well get tied on upright and facing forward.

It was full on Beverly Hilllbillies. There was a long stretch of Jersey Turnpike on that ride. At every toll booth I asked “Hey, is granny still doing OK up there?” My mileage sucked.

The most inconvenient thing ever strapped to the roof racks was an 18’ long set of vinyl gunwales. On a car with a short roof line. I did not think to bring a ladder to strap them to, or a canoe to stuff them inside.

Tied down as best I could there developed some concrete Turnpike bump harmonics that had both ends madly flapping. Three or four oh-crap pull overs later the ends were duct taped bent near the bumpers. They still flapped a bit, and getting the duct tape residue off the bumpers and gunwales was not easy. Horrible drive, and a lesson learned.
 
I deleted the pic from my phone but we were behind a car cartopping a large stuffed panda which kept doing sit ups as it had but one belly rope between it and splatting on our windshield On the NYS Thruway
 
I deleted the pic from my phone but we were behind a car cartopping a large stuffed panda which kept doing sit ups as it had but one belly rope between it and splatting on our windshield On the NYS Thruway

A stuffed panda with abs of steel. lol
 
Hmmm you don't want to know everything I carried on my roof rack.... But more than once I had five to 7 canoes and that for more than just a short shuttle!!
 
No odd and unusual tales to tell but there have been close calls. The canoe bending twisting sliding on the racks, unsettling me enough to pull over and play with the ropes and straps. This would often happen at the most inopportune time, on busy highways or in torrential rains, or both. Thankfully I can only remember 2 times, the first scary, the second annoying. I am thankful for rack stops though there are none on my rooftop currently. I was once driving home through a city and wondering aloud why the ladder up top was especially noisy, clattering away and shifting at odd angles almost as though it...OMG. Pulling over I was aghast at seeing not a bungee or rope in sight. Had I forgotten to tie down? Had someone mischievously cut them when my truck was left unattended? That aluminum extension ladder had bounced around back and forth for several blocks luckily staying on the racks. Good thing I rectified the situation before I'd gotten on the open highway. Regarding the miscreants, I've heard tell of them doing stuff like that, removing wheel nuts, cutting tie downs etc. I'm usually the type who prefers to see it to believe it, but in this case I usually do a walk around my vehicle for a quick look especially if I've got something tied down on top. And I carry extra straps these days.
Two summers ago I helped a friend renovate his rental property. At the lumber store he insisted leaving the load in his pickup bed unfastened with the tailgate down. I chastised him thoroughly, the end result being that I fastened the load, and subsequent loads thereafter. He chided me every time. He reasoned that he'd driven like this "all the time with no problems whatsoever!" My response was expletive filled. Karma visited my friend later that summer when he'd rented some expensive equipment, some of which "went missing" on his return trip to the rental store. I queried if he'd fastened the load? No. Had he at least driven with the tailgate up? No. Had he at the very least fastened the equipment together? No. His was an expensive lesson to learn. I fought off the I Told You So moment and instead just shrugged my shoulders.
For some seeing is believing, and learning the hard way.
 
I was on a 30 minute shuttle once sitting in a kayak on a trailer. The driver had a kid who needed to be in a rear seat with a seat belt. There was no option to stuff in. Rather than wait for someone to drive back for one paddler, I hopped in my boat on the trailer. It's amazing how much boats move even when tightly strapped. I did wear my helmet and pfd
 
When getting our kids set up in an apartment when they were going to university, my wife and I loaded a queen size hide-a-bed couch (with mattress) at the Goodwill Store onto the canoe rack on our Dodge Caravan, drove it to the apartment building, unloaded it and carried it up the stairs to the apartment. Wouldn't be happening these days! Our kids were not available to help at the time. I always wondered what people thought about the minivan going down the street with a huge couch on top.
 
I was on a 30 minute shuttle once sitting in a kayak on a trailer. The driver had a kid who needed to be in a rear seat with a seat belt. There was no option to stuff in. Rather than wait for someone to drive back for one paddler, I hopped in my boat on the trailer. It's amazing how much boats move even when tightly strapped. I did wear my helmet and pfd

I don't want to brag here, but long time ago(14 years maybe) we were going on a 8 day trip on the lower Stikin river and we were people plus a driver, not enough room in the cab of the truck so me and Karine did 3/4 of an 8hrs shuttle on top go the gear in the truck's box, no canopy, in sleeping bags to stay warm going down the Alaska Hwy, down the Cassiar Hwy and down to Telegraph creek on that crazy rd!!
 
I carried five canoes, totaling about 325 pounds, on my 1982 Ford van conversion on a round trip of 2,400 miles without incident.

On a long shuttle in the mountains of New Hampshire I drove behind a friend's van with two Royalex tandems on top of 2x4 wooden bars, which were completely untied or unsecured by anything. He just forgot tie the boats. No one realized it until the shuttle was over. The canoes stayed put without much movement that I could notice.
 
I don't want to brag here, but long time ago(14 years maybe) we were going on a 8 day trip on the lower Stikin river and we were people plus a driver, not enough room in the cab of the truck so me and Karine did 3/4 of an 8hrs shuttle on top go the gear in the truck's box, no canopy, in sleeping bags to stay warm going down the Alaska Hwy, down the Cassiar Hwy and down to Telegraph creek on that crazy rd!!

Been on those highways including that Telegraph Creek Rd and thank you it was enough for me to do it INSIDE the cab! Youngsters....
 
I've done the Telegraph Creek road twice. That's enough for me. All gravel. Grades of 20 percent. Nothing special to report about car topping. Just very narrow, very steep, with the Stikine River very far below. I'm done going to Telegraph Creek.
 
I sold a 14' cedar canvas canoe that had been fiberglassisized and weighed close to 80lbs. The guy that bought it came to pick it up with a Mercedes C43 AMG. He had bought a Mercedes roof rack (which cost about what I sold the canoe for) and the beam barely fit on the crossbars. They were about 24" apart and he left for Lake Champlain with just the belly straps and no bow/stern lines.
 
I've had one of my 18 ft strippers sproing off the end of the roof racks, fortunately before we got on the highway.
Also had my entire passenger side roof rack and two solo canoes pivot up a couple feet in the air on the highway...I hadn't properly latched that side of the Tracker II mounts.

As for odd stuff on car roofs...MDB and I put an ad on Craigslist for a kitchen full of cabinets and counters that we had removed for a rental rehab. For free, just come and get it but you'd have to take it all or nothing. We're talking 8 ft of base cabinets and 8 ft of wall cabinets and 8 ft of counter, with the double bowl sink.
I kid you not, a grungy couple showed up, carried every piece down the stairs (a 2 story brownstone) and loaded it all in and on their beat to heck Toyota Corolla. Every. Single. Piece.
They had cabinets jammed in the back seat, hanging out the windows, more stuff barely in the trunk, even more on the trunk lid (which of course couldn't possibly close), cabinets on the hood, and of course the obligatory kitchen sink on the roof, on top of more cabinets yet.
We could barely see their car under all of it. When we asked how far they were going to transport it all, they said "Oh, it's only about 80 miles, we'll go slow". I should have taken a photo!!
 
Soon after we moved into the Humble Hovel a friend in VT said he had free countertops for free. On the way home with them strapped to my racks the wind was howling! I was back in NH on I-89 about 4 miles from my exit when a huge gust hit the car, holymotherofGawd, but that countertop acted like a wing and the next thing ya know I hear this horrible sound, the sound of the countertop and racks being ripped off my car, spinning in the air, really, really high in the air and then dropping down in the middle of the two lanes of the highway bursting into many pieces! Thank God there was no one directly behind me but upcoming traffic was dodging all over the place. I pulled over ran back and put as much of the broken stuff as I could in my car including the racks and drove off like a bat outta heck! For windy days I now wrap a strap through the car if I have any doubts and yes I still have those racks!

dougd
 
Doug; I hear you on the factory racks! several years ago I needed to move 3 sheets of 4x10, 1/2" plywood (about 40 lbs on a rack rated for 120). I strapped all three together then put them on the racks and snugged them down. after about 1/2 hour on the highway, I heard this awful tearing sound, and watched the three sheets flying into the ditch complete with the entire, totally intact roof rack. To my surprise I discovered that they had attached the rack at the factory with sheet metal screws into plastic plugs. I salvaged everything, and reattached the racks using stainless bolts, rubber- coated fender washers, and nylock nuts- it never moved again!
Craziest one had to be the time we loaded 2 north canoes on a trailer, and a third on the roof of a pickup- 2-33 footers plus a third one on the tow vehicle equals 66', the legal max at the time. If we hadn't been able to overlap them a couple of feet, we'd have never been able to leave room for the trailer to turn and and still stay under the length (and yes, we did get stopped by the police twice:eek:)
 
As a teen, I used to strap my canoe to my VW Beetle through the door wells, with a sleeping bag for a pad. Drove to South Florida that way, wind, storms, big rigs. Probably adjusted the load 100 times. I wish I had taken a photo. I don't think I even owned a camera until the army.
 
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