Worst rack noise ever

[Guest]

I was driving on the almost empty inter-State, no cars around me, when I began to hear a whistling shrieking noise. I play the radio softly and drive with a window partly open, so I pay attention to weird vehicle noises.

It got louder and louder. I was thinking serpentine belt, or brake caliper, something bad and getting worse, and was about to pull over when it passed me, making a horrible racket, akin to the sound a blade of grass makes when whistled between your fingers.

It was one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Malone-SeaWing-Saddle-Universal-Carrier/dp/B0015QADX2

No boat in the saddles, and they had left the cam straps in place without any webbing twist. I could still hear it shrieking when they were 100 yards ahead on the highway.

I guess the air flow over the windshield was perfectly aligned to catch the strap. That must have been a fun trip, with the radio turned up to 11.

 

[southcove]

Let he who has not ever had shrieking ropes, rack, boats, straps, load, etc...cast the first stone.

Whats funniest to me is what shrieks and yowls at 64, may be all hell breaking loose at 68 mph. Solution??"? Go faster...!

I always feel a bit lucky when it all works out first go round and (usually) stop at a place/pull safely off the highway within the first 15 miles or so just to double check all and assorted boat fixings...

 

[yellowcanoe]

No rack noises. Can I throw?
Wappa wappa wappa of a deck line on the Monarch.. Does that count?

 

[southcove]

Whats more fun than any of this - darkness. And rain. While all the boat, gear, straps, rope and other stuff gets wet and slippery, stretches, tempers get short!

 

[Guest]

Let he who has not ever had shrieking ropes, rack, boats, straps, load, etc...cast the first stone.

Whats funniest to me is what shrieks and yowls at 64, may be all hell breaking loose at 68 mph. Solution??"? Go faster...!

On trips with strap using friends I have noticed that speed, or wind speed, makes a difference. 64 may produce a harmonic yowl even with a webbing twist and 70 be quiet as a church mouse.

As a rope guy I have actually never had a roof racked noise problem. Maybe I got just lucky with the crossbar positions vs air flow using Quick and Easy’s, construction ladder racks and Thules on a variety of vehicles, including a 4-crossbar, 4 canoe, rope macramé van, but none of my racks or ropes has ever been noisy.

The most maddening noise I have encountered from the roof racks was Wenonah’s CVCA adjustable seat. That seat rests on aluminum plate hangers, with enough design-slop incorporated to make it adjustable in a half dozen positions.

That necessary design slop also means that it rattles like a sumbitch on the roof racks, even securing the little bungee cord tie down provided on the seat.

Worse, that canoe fit best on the 4-toter van positioned forward, with the seat rattle as close to my open window head as possible. Freaking maddening. I glued some stiffening minicel chucks between the seat hanger plate and the hull, and strap it down tight with a secondary bungee cord, but it still rattles some.

Wappa wappa wappa of a deck line on the Monarch.. Does that count?

Anything that goes wappa wappa wappa counts. What deck line on the Monarch whappa’s?

My fear is that anything whapping is either wearing away at itself, or at the hull.

One issue I found with portage strap yokes is that the loose bitter end, once pulled tight through the buckle, needs to be secured for transport. Otherwise there is a length of 2 inch webbing flailing around at 70mph.

That flailing will quickly fray the nicely sealed end of the webbing. Or, as the webbing flails loose through the buckle, it will suddenly fly free unconnected, making a really nasty whappa whappa whappa of Fastex buckle on fiberglass cap.

I threaded a ladder lock on the long webbing strap, where I can lock down the bitter end, but strap yokes are still one of the things I check and tighten at every stop.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Deck lines. its old and elastic and loose.
Oh wait.. the dreaded gunshot sound of rack failure..

 

[Guest]

I always feel a bit lucky when it all works out first go round and (usually) stop at a place/pull safely off the highway within the first 15 miles or so just to double check all and assorted boat fixings...

I’m either pulling over in the first couple of miles, in which case something is WTF wrong, or making my first stop when I need to gas up.

That first stop actually becomes an odd tradition. If I am heading to the Carolinas or Florida I end up in the same gas stations and dine at the same breakfast joints. Likewise if I’m heading to the Adirondacks, Eastern Shore or Alleghenies.

 

[snapper]

I have a slightly different twist on the worst rack noise ever. We were traveling to the Okefenokee for spring break and we pulled off at a state visitor's center around 2 AM so everyone could pee. I wasn't away from the van very long so I never even thought to check out the boats on the rack; especially since nothing had moved or even made a sound since we'd left NY.

Anyway, long story short, I had just turned the driving over to my co-leader and was falling asleep in the back seat of the van when I heard a low rumble. Since the weather didn't show any inclement weather over us I wondered where the thunder was coming from. That thought had just passed through my brain when I opened my eyes, only to see the outside boat on the rack go flying off to the left, swing around the van and then shoot off the roof at 70 mph on Rt. 95 somewhere in southern SC.

When the dust settled we determined that someone had tried to steal the outside boat under the cover of darkness while we were in the bathroom at the rest stop. I must have spooked them when I came back so quickly but it was obvious that the straps had been cut through. Unfortunately for them, when I tie boats on a rack I use a variety of back-ups for extra security; which is why they weren't able to just cut the straps and run off with the boat.

The weird thing about this incident is as we were leaving the garage on campus I had a strange "feeling" so I tossed an extra set of straps into the door pocket of the van. I'd never done this before (or since) but I sure was happy to have another set of straps as we put the boat back up on the van.

In the end, all was well. It was an ABS boat so we lost some material but were still able to use the boat. I was just happy that a tractor trailer or some other vehicle wasn't passing us at the same time the boat when flying off. We really dodged a bullet on that one.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper