Do-it-yourself boat rack on the roof of a car
Content
Before you make a PVC boat roof rack with your own hands and fix it, you will need to purchase materials. Additionally, drawing, measuring instruments, paint will be required if the trunk needs to be painted.
For fishermen, it is often a problem to move their boat from home to a fishing spot, especially if it is located tens of kilometers away. There is no money to buy a trailer, the car is not equipped with devices for transporting such cargo, and blowing off and pumping up a watercraft every time is a tedious task. But there is a way out - to install a roof rack on the roof of a car for a PVC boat with your own hands.
Which boats can be transported by cars from above
Not all watercraft are allowed to be transported on the roof rack. It is possible to transport boats made of PVC and rubber no longer than 2,5 m, without oars, with a dismantled motor, which is transported separately inside the car. Larger boats require the installation of additional racks or profiles.
How to make a top trunk in a car
For the transport of boats, a structure in the form of a metal frame is required. If there are railings installed at the factory, then crossbars are bought in addition to them. Roof rails are tubes attached to the roof of the car along or across. They carry sports equipment, cargo, and attach boxes. The disadvantages of the tubes include the fact that they are connected at fixed points, so changing the capacity of the trunk will not work.
Car roof rack for boat
The boat must be securely held on the roof of the car when driving on the road and off-road. Before installing the roof rack, make sure that the roof of the car can support the weight of the load (50-80 kg). At the same time, it is important that the boat does not damage itself and does not scratch the paintwork of the car.
List of materials and tools
Before you make a PVC boat roof rack with your own hands and fix it, you will need to purchase materials.
The list includes:
- Car rails (if not installed).
- metal profiles.
- Decorative caps.
- Clamps made of plastic.
- Sander.
- Bulgarian with a blade for cutting metal.
- Transom wheels.
- Polyurethane foam.
- Thermal insulation material.
- Welding machine.
Additionally, drawing, measuring instruments, paint will be required if the trunk needs to be painted.
Manufacturing technology
First, measure the roof of the car. The roof rack should not interfere with the opening of the doors and go beyond the roof in the area of the front glass. They create a drawing, focusing on the sketches of factory models, which can be found on the websites of car manufacturers.
If you need to create a full-fledged roof rack for a PVC boat with your own hands, then measure the length of the boat, then buy a metal profile of the required length. Choose an aluminum profile or a profile pipe (light materials that do not weigh the roof too much, which are easier to work with).
PVC boat trunk drawing
Further, the algorithm is as follows:
- They make a frame from a profile pipe with a section of 20 x 30 mm, with a wall thickness of 2 mm. Determine the length and number of crossbars, cut the guides with a grinder.
- Weld parts of the trunk. It turns out a solid metal frame.
- Clean the seams, seal them with mounting foam.
- After it hardens, the structure is sanded again and covered with a heat-insulating fabric so as not to accidentally damage the craft during loading and unloading.
If the boat is longer than 2,5 m, some design improvements are required. Rails are not enough, because they are made of aluminum and cannot withstand a lot of weight. Lodgments are needed on which the craft will be held. At the same time, they will increase the area of its support so that the boat is not blown away by the wind during its transportation.
Lodgments are adjusted to the size of the craft. They are made from a metal profile or wooden bars measuring 0,4x0,5 cm. The places of contact with the boat are covered with heat-insulating material, fixed with plastic clamps. From the ends, the lodgements are closed with decorative caps.
Think over the mechanism of loading and unloading. Wheels are installed on the motor transom, which will be used as guides when the boat is rolled onto the roof.
Trunk installation
If there are seats for railings, plugs are removed from them, the holes are cleaned and degreased, tubes are inserted, fixed with holders and coated with silicone sealant for outdoor use. If the roof rails are already installed, then immediately carefully put the trunk on them, weld or fix them with nuts and bolts at 4-6 reference points. For a better fit, rubber gaskets are used.
Boat loading process
Loading is as follows:
- The swimming facility is placed behind the car, rested on the ground with a transom.
- Raising the bow, lean on the ends of the lodgements.
- Grab, lift and push onto the roof.
Loading a boat on the trunk of a car with your own hands alone is a difficult task. To facilitate the process, a transverse bar with rollers or small wheels is fixed between the lodgements in the back of the structure frame.
How to properly transport a boat on top of a car
Prepare the craft for transportation carefully. An unsecured load on the road becomes a source of danger to the lives of other people.
The floating craft is laid on the roof so that its streamlining increases, and the air resistance force decreases. This will help save fuel, eliminate the loss of control of the car, if suddenly the load starts to dangle from side to side. Many people put the boat upside down so that the airflow while riding presses it against the roof. But in this case, the drag force increases and fuel consumption increases.
Boat on car trunk
Do-it-yourself loading of a boat onto a car trunk is carried out with a slight forward shift. So between it and the windshield a small gap is created, and the flow of oncoming air when driving will pass along the roof under the load, without creating strong resistance. Otherwise, the wind will lift the craft and may rip it off.
The absence in the car of a structure designed to transport large-sized swimming facilities is not a reason to give up your favorite fishing. Making your own top trunk is quite within the power of any home craftsman.
