Roofbars for surfboards/kayaks

[julianev]

Hi there,

 

If anyone is looking to transport surfboards or kayaks on the roof of their Alphard then hopefully the following might be helpful. Doing this is more expensive than standard roofbars, but a heck of a lot cheaper than a decent Mercedes Vito or VW Transporter which were my other options.

 

So roofbars for surfboards or kayaks need to be spaced as far apart as possible, otherwise the uplift from wind catching under them at motorway speeds could result in the anchor points being ripped out. After a lot of research online, the best option I could find was Thule artificial gutters - they are a drill through fixing into the roof with support plates to spread the load (there are also various options that use rivnut fixings, but I didn't trust anything without a spreader plate). The downside is that to do this requires the roof liner to be dropped. I was going to try this myself but thankfully thought the better of it and ended up taking the vehicle to Andy at Surrey Sunroofs, who was really great. He dropped the liner, then we had a look inside at the best side or roof mount placement for the anchor points. Due to the roof support bars and door runner structures, a roof mount set slightly in as in the pics looked like the best option - we left a 30cm gap at the back to ensure there was enough overhang for strapping down boards, etc without impeding the tailgate opening. He also additionally bonded the gaskets to ensure that if there is any future rubber shrinkage then the roof will remain fully watertight. The liner then went back up, the air-con and wiring was reconnected and everything looks spotless once more. I attached aerobars from my previous vehicle using a Thule 9512 footpack. I'm super happy with the results.

 

cheers

 

Julian

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dezufo]

Nice solution, some one else fitted roof rails from a vw caddy long wheel base which allowed him to fit 4 cross bars for a rooftent box, He only dropped the roof liner at the edges and used spreader plates as well