[Airtime]

Hey all,
What roof rack do you guys use, just a regular or one with special mountings for the gear? I'm looking at hitchanything.com/Thule-Roof-Racks/ and heard Thule is quite an ok brand… anybody got better idea?
Thanks!

[Nudsh]

[FPeel]

All my vehicles have had Yakima' racks, but Thule's are fine, too. I've considered kayak saddles and seen then used, but they would limit the number of gliders that could be carried.

What kind of vehicle is it and how many gliders do you need to carry?

[llempart]

I drive a Jeep Wrangler so the rack was quite tricky, but I needed it for kayaking and skiing as well. I went with a Kargo Master with a Safari Basket and Yakima load bars attached to it. I also have a front bumper with a hitch receiver so I added a Thule truck bed extender for a third post. It worked out quite well.

[FlyingFelix]

I have a Thule rack on my car (bmw) and saw some picture of hang gliders sitting on the regular racks and a od attached where the fron screw-in tow hook is at - is this safe? does anyone have close pictures of the front bar and/or ideas of how to make this front support rigid? I've wondered if this is something I could do myself with home depot bought rods/parts/screws...I am pretty handy in the shop but definitely want something that will provide sturdy support for my new (to me) glider.
Thanks for all the help and sorry to add more questions - I thought I shouldnt' start a new thread since this one is already here.

[Airtime]

Thanks for the input guys!

[wonderwind_flyer]

To Cantesanu: I just made a rack for my Honda Fit using Thule aero bars for the roof and a support for the rear that mounts to the tow hook bolt. I also had to install/fabricate another mount to the under body on the other side of the rear that has no tow hook (if Honda provided two tow hooks in the rear it would have made life a little easier). The system works well and I'll try to post some photos soon.

[FlyingFelix]

[wonderwind_flyer]

I'll take some photos on the next flyable day (might be a few more days!).

[joshuapcrites]

I had to custom build a rack from scratch it took 3 times longer than expected but turned out to be pretty nice. If you have the time and like a challenge try making yourself one.

[Nigel Hewitt]

Thule rack with a big butch t-allen key rather that the little supplied one, an ali ladder, two aerial rigger u-bolt clamps off eBay with most of the bits thrown away to hold the ladder to the rack, one of those nice ratchet ring spanners to do them up and some 2 meter long webbing straps with pinch clips on them to hold the glider down.

I can kit up ready to go in about twenty five minutes including me, at 62, dragging a glider down the garden, into the back lane and getting it on the roof of a Range Rover. I like the ladder in the equation as some of our sites have rather bumpy vehicle access and I want lots of support.

[wonderwind_flyer]

I am posting some photos of the rack I built using the single tow hook on the back of my wife's Honda Fit. The rack is breaks down completely and everything fits inside the Fit. I still have to reduce the height of the bolts that protrude out of the Thule roof rack. The biggest challenge was finding a structure underneath the rear end to mount the square aluminum tube securely. There are internal eyebolts inside the lower mounts on the PVC tubes. The rack was just tested for a 1600 mile trip and it worked like a champ. I have another upper support structure that can be bolted on top to carry a second glider when needed.

[hangglidingmaster]

Harbor Freight sells an adjustable rack for a truck for $179

[Freefall]

Just a regular roof rack. Worked fine.