How to avoid cracking your windshield while strapping down a kayak
I have an 18 ft. fiberglass sea-kayak, which I mount to the roof-rack of my junky old station wagon with Yakima "Sweetroll" saddles - ratchet straps around the saddles and bow and stern to the bumpers. Unfortunately, while on a recent trip I suddenly noticed a 3-inch crack materialize in my windshield, which rapidly grew to an 18-inch crack.
I didn't see any impact that started the fracture and no part of the mount or the straps actually rests on the windshield - so I'm concerned it was the tension of the bow and stern guy-lines flexing the roof and putting too much pressure on the glass. The windshield is fixed, but I'm a little gun-shy about putting it up there again. Is there a better way to distribute the pressure on the roof? Should I just not ratchet the bow guy line down as hard? (I generally ratchet it down pretty tight to keep the strap from vibrating madly)
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I've hauled pretty much everything you can imagine on the tops of my vehicles through hurricane force winds. Southern Alberta is one of two places on Earth where Chinook winds regularly occur. Winds in excess of 100km/h are a common thing here, I used to fight constantly with my 17' Canoe before I finally installed a roof rack. I used to use foam canoe blocks and 4 ratcheting cargo straps to clamp the bow and stern down so hard onto the top of my truck that the roof would collapse, the hull would flex, and it still wouldn't be enough to keep it down, but I've never cracked a windshield before.
I actually happen to be an independant Yakima rack dealer now. While I very much doubt that the cause of your crack was the rack system, I can't speak for the integrity of your station wagon.
The bow and stern lines aren't meant to be cranked down either way, just firmly and evenly snug so that they can help reduce whatever wiggle your kayak may have. What @Pepi says is right about putting a few twists in your strap to reduce vibration, you'll notice every trucker you see on the highway does the same thing.
I wouldn't worry too much about your windshield, there's no way that you should be able to generate enough force to flex the steel frame of your vehicle using your kayak and a boat strap.
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I see lots of people using bow and stern lines but really they are not required.
I have travelled 600kms in a single journey with my 18ft sea kayak on the roof using only two centre straps. Bow and stern lines have more chance of causing your kayak serious damage imho.
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The problem probably won't happen again, assuming you tighten down the kayak with reasonable force.
The glass in most cars is (was originally) installed with some flexible material around the edges (rubber or urethane sealant in my experience). That stuff probably hardened on your junky old station wagon, allowing more stress to get to the glass. Also, many years of heat cycles doesn't make glass any stronger. Then when you put the kayak up there, it was the straw that broke the camels back.
Hopefully your new windshield was installed with new rubber/sealant/whatever, and is now isolated from the flexing of the roof.
Also, try putting a knot or twist in the straps instead of tightening the !@#$! out of them. It'll look sloppy, but vibrate much less than a perfectly flat strap.
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/7872. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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