Any idea or tips on how to secure a paddle board to the JK's roof (no rack or rails)?

[jorgelrod]

I have a camping trip in the stages of planning that will be at the beach, This beach is inaccessible without a 4x4 so my girlfriend's escape is out of the question and she really wants to take her paddleboard so I'm throwing this out there to see if any of you guys do this and what pointers can you guys give me. All help, greatly appreciated.

Jorge

 

[jhires]

ratchet straps through the window frames. Not sure how well this would work at freeway speeds, but last time I visited Hawaii, there were rental Jeeps running around all over the place like this.

 

[jorgelrod]

ratchet straps through the window frames. Not sure how well this would work at freeway speeds, but last time I visited Hawaii, there were rental Jeeps running around all over the place like this.

That's what I was thinking but, my main concern as you state is highway speeds as the beach is a three hour drive away...

 

[HighwayTrout]

Roof rack...

I've done the ratchet straps and it doesn't hold for crap. Not to mention you have straps hanging inside and if you want any tension at all it will crush the drip rails of a hard top.

My 8'8" mini long board will fit inside. I'm sure her paddle board is a lot bigger though. Let is know what you end up doing. I'm curious.

 

[HighwayTrout]

I knew I would have a pic somewhere. All loaded up for a 3 week camping, surfing, fishing, mtn biking trip.
8'8" seems to be the max. All the way to the windshield and just about touching the rear glass.

 

[cwmt3]

Unless you have a paddleboard already, grab an inflatable. Check out the starboard Astros. I have the whopper, it's stiff enough and I can carry it anywhere. I also have installed a roof rack on my hardtop (2 door) and used a pair of Yakima rain gutters for the front and drilled in a landing pad 6 with control towers on the back part of the roof. Happy paddling

 

[jorgelrod]

Unless you have a paddleboard already, grab an inflatable. Check out the starboard Astros. I have the whopper, it's stiff enough and I can carry it anywhere. I also have installed a roof rack on my hardtop (2 door) and used a pair of Yakima rain gutters for the front and drilled in a landing pad 6 with control towers on the back part of the roof. Happy paddling

yes she already has two, that's why I'm looking at ways to strap them to the roof...

Thx for the pointers on the rain gutters

Jorge

 

[machinegunmedic]

I have a 2 dr, and when I take my 12' canoe, I have 4X foam blocks to put under it,and secure it from the front and rear to the bumpers. My wife's surf board, take out rear seat and keep the rear window up.

 

[cwmt3]

Are you running a hard top or the softy? And do you have a trailer hitch? I work in an outdoor store I may have a solution.. So long as you don't say soft top and no hitch..

 

[gtony12]

I made my own racks and rails, using unistrut and ridge conduit with some padding and racket straps. :idontknow:

 

[jorgelrod]

Are you running a hard top or the softy? And do you have a trailer hitch? I work in an outdoor store I may have a solution.. So long as you don't say soft top and no hitch..

Hard top but no hitch, still would love to hear the idea though...

 

[cwmt3]

Don't use ratchet straps on foam core boards.. Cam is the way to go. Ratchets can easily damage a board. If you use 2 foam blocks ( or pool noodles) place them under where your straps are over the board, so as to tighten the board directly on the foam. Since you have a 4 door with a hardtop 2 cam straps are enough. One over the board and through the front door frames and one over the board and through the rear door frames. Note, unless your driving NASCAR on your days off open the doors when tying down don't just open your windows ( I've actually witnessed this). NOTE board placement under the straps is important. Have the WIDEST part of the board between the 2 straps REGARDLESS of how far behind or in front of the jeep it is. So, finally in my personal experience this works fine up to canadian highway speeds (100km approx 60ish miles). Or find your self the raingutter towers from Yakima, I'm not too sure if they are being made anymore..

 

[Woody3]

I bought some A pillar light mounts, welded some rectangle tube to those that ran up the A pillar. Fabbed a cross bar between the two uprights that were welded to the A pillar mounts. For the rear I built a rack that slid into my trailer hitch. It worked great!! Sorry no pics on my phone. And my comp is down for the moment.


Keep your head low and your powder dry.

 

[HighwayTrout]

So how long are they and do you use bags? Tie the thing down in the back to the spare tire and tie the front to the bumper.

 

[RJEEPO]

I bought some A pillar light mounts, welded some rectangle tube to those that ran up the A pillar. Fabbed a cross bar between the two uprights that were welded to the A pillar mounts. For the rear I built a rack that slid into my trailer hitch. It worked great!! Sorry no pics on my phone. And my comp is down for the moment.


Keep your head low and your powder dry.

have you posted pics? I'd love to see the setup!

I took a quick basic welding class and waiting for the fall session to start to continue learning. so have been resisting buying an external rack for my softtop JKU but really miss being able to load up our 2 kayaks to go out. If I leave the top down I think I can mount up the Thule bars to the rollbar but don't like leaving the Jeep all open while away. So looking for alternatives.

 

[Woody3]

have you posted pics? I'd love to see the setup!

I took a quick basic welding class and waiting for the fall session to start to continue learning. so have been resisting buying an external rack for my softtop JKU but really miss being able to load up our 2 kayaks to go out. If I leave the top down I think I can mount up the Thule bars to the rollbar but don't like leaving the Jeep all open while away. So looking for alternatives.

You know, I completely forgot about this thread and I didn't post pics. Thank you for reminding me. I'll do my best to post some up tomorrow evening.


Keep your head low and your powder dry.

 

[Woody3]

As requested: pics of my "old jeep"

If I were to do it all over again, I would make it a little shorter.

KC light windshield mounts. I cut the mount tabs off and got to welding. They turned out very stout. For the rear I welded up a piece that slid into my receiver went up and "T"d. It worked great for hauling my kayaks.


Keep your head low and your powder dry.

 

[RJEEPO]

thanks Woody3 that came out great. would love to see the hitch part too, I think the key to the whole shebang. did you have to add anything special to prevent rocking or twisting, etc. 2 yaks plus the loader and crossbars is quite a bit of weight.

 

[Woody3]

I didn't have to add anything other than what was previously mentioned. I still have part of the rear rack. If I can find the rear part, I'll snap some pics tomorrow. I did use ratchet straps on the outboard sides of the "T" in the rear to keep it from shaking in the receiver. They ran from outboard to my shackle mounts. Worked great, I could shake the entire jeep with the mounts and they wouldn't budge.


Keep your head low and your powder dry.

 

[Woody3]

I tracked down some of the pieces. I had more than I thought.
Receiver end

Top "T" (I've since cut the down part of it off)

There once was a long piece here

That went down to here

They were pinned together with a normal receiver pin.

Here is the receiver end on my current jeep. It doesn't have enough offset for it but you get the idea

You can see the end caps that I ran the ratchet straps from in this pic

Hope those help

Jason


Keep your head low and your powder dry.