How To Tie Down Lumber On Roof Rack

Improper tie down practices are all too common and many accidents and injuries happen because someone didn t take their time loading cargo on the roof of the car.

How to tie down lumber on roof rack.

It s important to use the right tie downs and place the item correctly on the roof rack if you want to avoid damaging your cargo or causing an accident. The complete tie down company. Tie down sizes ranging from 1 inch up to 4 inch wide. But you can also haul items on the roof of your car or suv if you ve got a roof rack obey the rack s weight limits and properly tie down the load.

Here i have the bicycle s handlebars firmly planted on the roof rack s cross bar in the. My car with 4 x8 mdf board on the roof rack. In house testing equipment to ensure our products meet their strength ratings. Don t know if i d carry much lumber on that short front to back rack but i would definitely use at least two good ratchet straps ratcheted very tight around the lumber bundle so nothing could slip out.

Getting building materials home from the lumberyard or home center is easy if you own a pickup truck or a minivan. Most tie downs built or assembled in the usa. With anything you plan on tying down you ll need three preferably four solid points of contact stability. Second trip 16 2 x4 x6 boards on my roof rack.

By using proper methods you can haul your cargo safely to your destination. We use the highest grade products and components. I use 4 hand clamps at the corners to hold the plywood to the 2 x 4 s. Plus the tiedown to the trailer hitch.

4 web ratchet straps in a pair of x formations to hold down the board to the cross bars. Then i use the nylon web tie downs i ve got in the photos of below. For plywood i put two 2 x 4 s on the roof rack and place the plywood on top of those to stiffen the plywood otherwise it flops up and down at highway speeds. If you have side rails and crossbars the straps can be looped around those.

That s in addition to then attaching the bundle securely to the rack. A pair of 20 web ratchets used as a fail safe in case the board slides to the rear of the vehicle.