Help using soft rack

[BaNZ]

Just bought a soft rack to use on the holiday rental car. Oh god it is so worrying compared to my hard rack. It was making a loud buzzing/vibrate noise and it turns out I need to put a twist on the cable. However the roof of the car is curved and the frame of the car is slightly taller than the roof. So the front pads are actually hovering slightly. Which when I'm driving, it looks like I'm flying a kite. The board shift so much front and back and up and down. I put the fins in the back because of the board sock, I broke my last sock as the fin cut through the sock if you have the fins in front.

Any more tips? Googling seems to suggest that soft rack shouldn't be used above 45mph which I strongly agree in this scenario. But I've seen people driving way more than 70 -80mph with it.

I'm thinking of buying another strap to just strap down the front so the board doesn't move as much. With my hard rack, my board doesn't even move an inch. Where as now it looks like my board is playing bouncy castle when I go above 60.

[billie_morini]

Banz,
Welcome to CA! Happy to know you made it.
Adding additional straps is cheap and effective. You can slso trade the hire car for something different.
Billie

[drowningbitbybit]

Just make sure that they are secure and then forget about it.

I used to drive with softracks 200 miles at 90mph most weekends and they moved around and buzzed and generally worried/irritated the hell out of me... then I forgot about it and just carried on driving (possibly with very loud music to counteract the buzzing noise...)

Twisting the rack (on the inside of the car) helps a bit, as does making sure they're super tight, but nothing gets rid of it completely when you're driving at speed.

[waikikikichan]

I put the fins in the back because of the board sock, I broke my last sock as the fin cut through the sock if you have the fins in front.

If it's not a glass on fin, take the fin(s) off. Silly question but have to ask, you do have the board deck down bottom up right ?

[BaNZ]

Banz,
Welcome to CA! Happy to know you made it.
Adding additional straps is cheap and effective. You can slso trade the hire car for something different.
Billie

Thanks Billie, I was driving up to Huntingdon beach yesterday but got off the highway after driving 10 miles. I was too worried that the board might come off. The waves are small here. Forecast is 1-2 feet and it looks like they have better waves up the North. I couldn't find a good clean break. But I'll let you know when I go up again.

If it's not a glass on fin, take the fin(s) off. Silly question but have to ask, you do have the board deck down bottom up right ?

It's a 2-1 setup. Just the main fin off or everything? Yes, it is upside down. My other half suggested that I put it the other way around.

I used to drive with softracks 200 miles at 90mph most weekends and they moved around and buzzed and generally worried/irritated the hell out of me... then I forgot about it and just carried on driving (possibly with very loud music to counteract the buzzing noise...)

How much movement is "normal"? I would say mine moves back around 5-10 inches when reaching 60mph. Then it moves back to position when I slows down. Then it moves up an down at around 5 inches.

I'm just so used to my hard rack which doesn't move at all. Just vibrates and it's less than an inch of movement.

[oldmansurfer]

My suggestion is take the board sack off. It's just going to catch wind and cause more drag.

[drowningbitbybit]

How much movement is "normal"? I would say mine moves back around 5-10 inches when reaching 60mph. Then it moves back to position when I slows down. Then it moves up an down at around 5 inches.

Mine used to flap up and down several inches, and back and forward by about 6 inches.
When I'd set off, I could see the nose of the board hanging down, but then when I hit the motorway, it would disappear. Scared the willies out of me a few times

[drowningbitbybit]

Oh, just remembered something I used to do for added security -

I'd wrap a bungee around the board(s) passing through the clip where the boardbag strap goes and then around the softrack - then it's not going anywhere.
Also, I'd get the boardbag strap itself and make sure it passed around both the front and the rear softrack.

I'd only do all that for a long/fast journey. Most trips, once I was near the beach, I'd just whack the board on the top with just the softrack without any dramas.

[oldmansurfer]

I have driven 50 mph for 30 miles with board(s) and no bags and no problems. One thing is when you tighten the top strap that goes over the board it tightens the roof strap too. We would sometimes tie the board cord to the front bumper for stability if going faster than 50 mph was going to be involved. I once went to the beach without putting the top strap on. It was a short ride but I guess the air current pushed the board down into the rack and I didn't make any sudden stops or accelerations. Big oops though But if I had a board bag on that would not have had the same outcome.

[BaNZ]

I just ignore it and drove at 60mph. Seems fine today but I still xxxxx myself whenever it starts flapping like mad. I also tried to position the board so the nose is closer to the windshield.

I haven't got a boardbag, just socks. I might get another strap and just give it to a friend after I'm done with the rental car.

On my hard rack, I once forgot to put the strap on and drove at 30mph for a few miles. The board was still intact. Luckily it wasn't windy that day.

[Surf Hound]

Remember to twist your tie down straps before pulling to tighten. The twist in the wrap will prevent the "flapping" noise and you should be able to travel at 60 with minimal flapping sounds. As far as the board moving inches -- I strapped mine down tight and had little movement other than the nose pulling up at times. Twist the straps and crank down, remember to put some cushion where the straps touches the board or you are going to have some severe pressure dings. It sounds as though you are not confident the way your riding now. My advice is to twist the wraps and strap it down good enough until you are not worrying. I did not worry - that board was staying put. Get to that point or ask someone to show you how they do theirs in the parking lot.

[dtc]

There are bunch of people who say you should put your board on backwards ie fins forward (but up). The theory is that air pressure will push down on the nose (because of the rocker) and lift the back of the board, but it wont push the tail.

On the other hand, some say that if you have to brake suddenly, fins at the back will catch on the straps whereas fins at the front and the board slides right out.

But you can always try fins first and see what happens.

Anyway, one thing to remember is that most of the wind drag created from a car goes up over the windscreen. So if you slide your board a bit further back, so the airstream from the windscreen isn't directly hitting the bottom of the board, that may assist.

That said, one major different between soft and hard racks is that soft racks have the board close to the roof. Wind off the car flows up the windscreen and along the roof, not much 'separation'. If your board rack sits flat on your roof rack, you get lift from air flowing up the windshield and into the bottom of your board. If you have racks that are raised above your car's roof, air flows beneath your board, and almost no lift from the flow of air up and over.

Not sure if that has given an answer...

[jaffa1949]

A little aerodynamics about board on racks with the rocker nose down and the same with tail rocker, you have just invented the aero plane wing fluid read air or water moving over the curve side is moving faster than the air going straight through the rack = lift via bernoulli's principle add the curved air coming off the windscreen extra lift!

Rack safety foremost