How To Tie Lumber To Roof Rack

Second trip 16 2 x4 x6 boards on my roof rack.

How to tie lumber to roof rack.

Assess your rack situation. Place 2 pieces of wood about 8 foot long on the roof rack on the lengthwise. A pair of 20 web ratchets used as a fail safe in case the board slides to the rear of the vehicle. My car with 4 x8 mdf board on the roof rack.

With the third option crossbars with side rails you can secure an item to the side rails and run tie downs from front to back securing them to the crossbars. My car with roof rack with cross bars installed. 4 web ratchet straps in a pair of x formations to hold down the board to the cross bars. Plus the tiedown to the trailer hitch.

Then i use the nylon web tie downs i ve got in the photos of below. On each side of the roof you ll see a rack that runs the length of the roof of the vehicle. That prevents the bundle from sliding forward backward or side to side. Then secure the front and back ends of each lumber bundle with ratchet straps to prevent movement photo 1.

Load your sheet of plywood on the roof rack. That s in addition to then attaching the bundle securely to the rack. Next secure the load to the rack using ratchet straps photo 2. Start by loading dimensional lumber onto the rack with the narrow edges resting on the crossbars.

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. Wood also advises against bungie cords as they re too prone to flex when driving at speed and causing loads to shift and possibly escape. Ask for help from friends if the sheet is too. I use 4 hand clamps at the corners to hold the plywood to the 2 x 4 s.

Remember to place a distance of about 3 to 3 foot in between. Oh and remember to prepare two other pieces of wood for later use. Nylon rope also works but be prepared to tie some trucker s knots. Use a tie down that wraps around the item and the rails.

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. Secure it to the roof rack. The second option is the side racks.