Thread: Choosing roof rails for paddleboard

This pic is of my long rails with crossbars (spaced to mount a roof pod) and a 2.5m awning. With a >4m kayak I reckon you might want long rails to set the front cross bar further forward...

RRP is pretty steep but with a bit of shopping around I bought mine from a dealer for ~$700 (still a bit steep, yes)

OR as another option, you can also put a crossbar at the front with just short rails i.e. bolt front feet directly into nutsert in roof. There is a thread specifically about this - I'll dig out a link. Edit: here it is, but unfortunately the pics are gone Third Roof Cross Bar on Lower Section of Roof

David

IMG_6758.jpg

I've mounted a Rhino Vortex bar at the front, mounted into the nutsert in the roof.
Don't need any rails for it at all.
Alan

Originally Posted by l00kin4

This pic is of my long rails with crossbars (spaced to mount a roof pod) and a 2.5m awning. With a >4m kayak I reckon you might want long rails to set the front cross bar further forward...

RRP is pretty steep but with a bit of shopping around I bought mine from a dealer for ~$700 (still a bit steep, yes)

OR as another option, you can also put a crossbar at the front with just short rails i.e. bolt front feet directly into nutsert in roof. There is a thread specifically about this - I'll dig out a link. Edit: here it is, but unfortunately the pics are gone Third Roof Cross Bar on Lower Section of Roof

David

IMG_6758.jpg

Originally Posted by Scullers

Given where the cross bars will sit on the shorter rails, I'm wondering if the board is likely to sit just too far back? or, is it going to sit roughly where it does now on the VW (the front cross bar sitting just behind the drivers seat?

Hi - Welcome to the forum!

From my experience, if you have a choice (which you do at this moment) you wouldn't want to rely on two cross bars that sit only on the upper/back section of the roof. I regularly carry sheet goods (plywood) that measure 2.4m long, and when I only use two cross bars on the rear there is already too much overhang for my comfort. I usually attach a 3rd cross bar to the front nutserts and this allows the sheet to be fully centred over the entire roof. (It was my thread that was linked to, and yes, the pictures got corrupted by the forum move a while back. )

Originally Posted by Aussie Jeepster

I've mounted a Rhino Vortex bar at the front, mounted into the nutsert in the roof.
Don't need any rails for it at all.
Alan

Um, yes, that is what my post says.. short rails would be at the back. Unless you have also mounted rear bars into nutserts?

Originally Posted by l00kin4

Um, yes, that is what my post says.. short rails would be at the back. Unless you have also mounted rear bars into nutserts?

The rear bars are mounted on Rhino Rack rails, but if I did it again, I'd use the nutserts in the roof at the rear as well - all it holds is a solar panel, and an Oztent RV4. It is more bulk than weight.

Thanks for the replies everyone!

Are we saying that I could consider having no rails at all and just mount cross bars directly using the nutserts?

I'm assuming that if I did this, there would be a height difference between a crossbar mounted at the front and any mounted at the rear?

I don’t have the short or long roof rails and my roof racks are both mounted on the high part of the roof with the front one just before the dip in the roof.
I carry surfboard regularly but nothing close to 14’

At that length I would probably want one further forward but looking at your picture the spacing doesn’t seem any different in my set up to what you have there. What is the distance?

Watching this one , I have short rails and cross bars and wondering if they will take my 16ft canoe.