May 18, 2011

Well, That Ain’t Good…


This roof rack that I got has been a fairly good investment. It was a little over $40 at Walmart and it got a bunch of stuff out of the car so I don’t have to clear off the bed every night. Unfortunately, three drawbacks have been discovered.

1. Every time I open a door I have to reposition and retighten the straps that hold the rack on.
 
2. It has these cheap plastic plug-like covers for the end of each bar on the rack, but they don’t fit well and some are missing already. Rust is sure to follow.
 
3.  If the clip is not positioned just so, water can run into the car through the top of the door (this was a recent discovery and the last straw).

 Needless to say, I’m soggy enough without being actively rained on at night, so the rack is being returned. I’m not sure what the new solution is going to be (suggestions are welcome), but removing that front passenger seat may be the first step towards more permanent (and less conspicuous) storage.

7 comments:

  1. Maybe it's time to retire Rusty and get a Vanagon or V-Dub Bus?

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  2. It's a dream, Steve, but in my state of extreme brokness, one that may have to wait. Some girls have binders filled with dream wedding pictures, I have one filled with box van designs and solar setups.

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  3. for some reason this is the best picture i can find: http://www.flickr.com/photos/atriviaco/4838243473/in/set-72157626719815918

    that is our car during our road trip last summer. the roof bag came with its own clips and ties, like the roof rack. we basically folded up one of our tarps, laid it on the bottom of the bag, threw all our shit in it, folded the tarp over the shit, and zipped the bag shut. the only downside is that anytime we needed anything from the bag we had to unclip it from the car.

    we didn't use the roof racks at all, until we almost ran out of gas in texas, and then we filled our gas can and strapped it to one of the racks. anyway! if you look at the picture closely you'll see that we have little ledges that run along the length of the car, above the windows (i don't know what you'd call that). it looks like your car doesn't have those? that seems weird to me, i feel like all cars should be equipped for things like roof racks.

    as far as your condensation problems go, we were afraid of killing our dogs in the heat for the whole trip. in tennessee or so we stopped in wal mart and bought a battery powered fan which turned out to be awesome when all four of us had to sleep in the back of the car in the pouring rain.

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  4. Victoria, I was looking at a bag very similar to that! I have no idea why my car wouldn't have that ledge (I know what you're talking about), she was, I think, built for a much posher lifestyle than she is currently living.

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  5. well, as you can see, the straps on the bag go *over* the bag and clip onto the ledge, so my only recommendation would be to find one where the straps don't do that, because having to detach the whole bag to bust out the tea kettle or an extra blanket is a bummer.

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  6. Maybe a craigslist trade for a van or bus. Anything is possible when we dream :-)

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  7. I recommend a set of Thule Load Bars, and a Solid Cargo Pod. You can move in onto a bigger car later. If you want a cheap car. I recommend the Volvo 240 wagon. They are built solid, have tons of space, and you can move your cargo pod onto it easily if you are so inclined.

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