On roof racks

[clvrmonkey]

For the time being I'm getting by with foam blocks and tie downs, which is okay for now but does make loading and unloading a little less convenient. I do want to get a roof rack, but I'm not really sure how to go about it. The easiest way appears to be go to a dealer/outfitter, tell them what type of car and what I'll be doing with my rack and they'll tell me what I need. Right now I see this as my only option.

What I would really like to do is look in the paper, bulletin boards, craigslist, etc and find a good deal on a used rack, but I have no idea what I'm looking at. Do I need to find one specifically for my car? Is there a good guide somewhere that explains the different components of a roof rack, or is this all heavily brand specific?

Also, besides my 2003 Mazda Protege 4-door that I want the rack for, we do have a mini van. It will be less often that I will use it for moving my boat, but is it okay to just lash to the "soft rack" on there? I'm fairly confident in my knot tying ability, but are there any particular reasons not to just go bareback like that?

Any help is appreciated!

Josh

[able]

I would like to know this as well! Keith or Michael ... do you have any good thoughts?

[SteveH]

I too, am using a "soft" rack, but for different reasons. I drive a 3/4 ton pickup with a camper shell on the back, and there is about 3" of clearance between the camper shell and the garage door when I drive it in, and so whatever I use to haul the kayaks on top of the truck, has to be removeable. And, making it more difficult, I haul two kayaks up there. I use four of the foam blocks with conduit inside of them, and 1" straps tieing is all down. It takes a little longer to get everything installed, but it seems to work well, and it all comes off when not in use, and there are no holes drilled in the truck.