Rosco862003
Adventurer
Update..
So I've done a few things to my little car since the last post which include, throwing rims and tires from a Forester XT on (215/60/16) which gave me a bit more clearance under the car and more flotation once aired down, which helped out on the sand. I also made a very primitive roof rack system that is comprised of 7/8" unistrut and an old radio flyer wagon that serves as my roof basket. I went this route because after analyzing what I typically use a roof rack for I didn't find myself needing one that took up the whole roof since I carry my kayak quite a bit. After having it on for about a week and just getting back from the beach with it I can say that I am very pleased with how it's worked out so far. The multiple holes provide a variety of options for mounting a number of items such as a shovel, ax, etc. Also a good thing about the 7/8" vs 1 5/8" strut that I like is that I was still able to use my Yakima kayak mount as the dimensions aren't that far off from other roof cross bars. I started off with two 8' sections of strut and cut them down to 5' to be conservative, as I can always cut more off if they're too long, but I can't add anymore if it was too short. I had my rack loaded up as much as I would want it loaded and I've determined that I can cut about another foot off and still be fine. Another benefit to cutting down the bars is that I won't have to worry about hitting my head on the bars when getting out of my car. I then attached the two 5' sections to the factory roof rails with stainless steel U-bolts. The other 3' length was used to serve as a mount for the radio flyer, and worked perfectly as there was one hole on either side of the wagon to tie into the cross bars.
The head of the shovel wedges itself into the channel perfectly..You can also see where I secured the wagon to the cross bar with strut nuts (The gold colored nut resting beside the wagon).
While the handle is secured with a u bolt courtesy of your local hardware store. Throughout the trip it remained in place and didn't move one bit.
A not so good picture that show's everything mounted on top of the rack.
So I've done a few things to my little car since the last post which include, throwing rims and tires from a Forester XT on (215/60/16) which gave me a bit more clearance under the car and more flotation once aired down, which helped out on the sand. I also made a very primitive roof rack system that is comprised of 7/8" unistrut and an old radio flyer wagon that serves as my roof basket. I went this route because after analyzing what I typically use a roof rack for I didn't find myself needing one that took up the whole roof since I carry my kayak quite a bit. After having it on for about a week and just getting back from the beach with it I can say that I am very pleased with how it's worked out so far. The multiple holes provide a variety of options for mounting a number of items such as a shovel, ax, etc. Also a good thing about the 7/8" vs 1 5/8" strut that I like is that I was still able to use my Yakima kayak mount as the dimensions aren't that far off from other roof cross bars. I started off with two 8' sections of strut and cut them down to 5' to be conservative, as I can always cut more off if they're too long, but I can't add anymore if it was too short. I had my rack loaded up as much as I would want it loaded and I've determined that I can cut about another foot off and still be fine. Another benefit to cutting down the bars is that I won't have to worry about hitting my head on the bars when getting out of my car. I then attached the two 5' sections to the factory roof rails with stainless steel U-bolts. The other 3' length was used to serve as a mount for the radio flyer, and worked perfectly as there was one hole on either side of the wagon to tie into the cross bars.
The head of the shovel wedges itself into the channel perfectly..You can also see where I secured the wagon to the cross bar with strut nuts (The gold colored nut resting beside the wagon).
While the handle is secured with a u bolt courtesy of your local hardware store. Throughout the trip it remained in place and didn't move one bit.
A not so good picture that show's everything mounted on top of the rack.