Board Rails up or down on your Roof Rack?

Does it matter? I keep my rails down b/c someone told me a long time ago that if you tie your board down with the rails up it could or have a better chance to damage them b/c the straps put pressure on the rails. Especially on long journeys. Better the deck to take the pressure than the rails?

If you put them rails down then wind has a better chance of getting under your board to rip it off (with or without the roof racks)

Thanks, Phil

Rails down and butt first is how I load them - never a problem.

Tom - Chicago

I usually do rails up, nose down, facing the front of the truck.... when I'm not using my trailer, that is. I've heard a story about a guy who put his Equipe with the rails down, and the nose up facing forward, and when he got to the launch, the board had bent in half from the wind pushing up the nose.

I've never had a problem with my rails, but I'd bet that most of the wind there is disrupted by my truck. I think the amount of pressure involved to hurt the rails would have to be extreme.

Brian

I see strap & buckle damage on rails a lot, either from crunching the rails when the bottom is up, or from the straps fluttering on the flat bottoms and causing ripples. So I recommend placing boards decks up (so the straps can follow the natural contours of the deck), and tail first (to cut down on the lift)

I recommend deck up, rails down, especially if you are not using a bag, and especially especially if the boards will be sitting out in the hot sun for any length of time. I've seen some nasty rail gouges from straps, just as Eva describes. As for long boards, wind getting under them seems to be worse if you have a shorter distance between your rack bars. It is a good idea to tie down the front of the board to the front of the vehicle to keep some of that lift under control. Ellen

I've heard advice that nose forward, even down, can cause weakness in the nose, especially on newer boards that are thinner and wider and have more scoop. Just what I heard, don't know for sure, but it makes sense.

This is something that I have had happen. Some of the early straps on the market didn't have stripping under the buckle, and occasionally I'd have a buckle humming against my boards while driving down the road. I'd usually stop and wrap the extra strap around the buckle to stop it. My newer straps have stripping under the buckle, so no worries about that problem anymore. You'd have to be an idiot to tighten your straps with the buckle hinged against a rail. Buckles work best an inch or two from the rail, or in the center.

How hard are the folks that are coming in looking for repairs strapping down their boards? If the placement of the strap in relation to the board from the rack is directly below the board, there shouldn't be a need to really crank the thing down. If you and a couple friends are pulling on the tightening strap, sure.. you'll see some issues. But if it's just you, and you're only using enough pressure to stop the board from lifting up more than an inch or so, then I doubt that you'll see rail damage on most boards.

Damage due to fluttering srtaps is easily remedied. The straps flutter because they resonate with the wind (provided they are tight enough). A simple and single twist at the top and at the sides (3 twists) will kill any vibration that might develop. Been working for me for years.

JJS

Tail first and deck up is how I was told to do it by former Corpus board builder Mark Bassett. I figure if he said that's the way to do it- then that's the way to do it. Make sure the rack pads do more than look good also and you won't hurt the board at all when cartopping it.

Here's a wonderful thing about Tuttle boxes. You can string a line through the bolt hole and just let the board dangle off the back, attached to the rear bar, flapping in the breeze. It's a certain way to keep tailgaiters at a distance!