Safety Tips to Secure a Roof Rack During a Long-Distance Car Journey

Road trips can be great fun, listening to your favorite music, catching up with family and friends, taking in all the sights on the way, etc. However, if your family is large, you’ll feel stuffed and stifled with a whole lot of luggage you need to carry while you’re on a long-distance car journey. 

Thus, it makes sense to install a sturdy roof box storage solution like a Thule roof rack on the top of your car so that most of your heavy gear can go into it. You can have a relaxed journey with legs stretched out and a lot of moving space inside the car. 

Safety Risks

However, loading the top of your car with heavy gear comes with its own safety risks. You can’t have your expensive gear strewn all over the highway just because they weren’t secured properly. Imagine dodging the speeding cars, vans, and tractors on the road while chasing your missing gear.  

Here are some safety tips to secure your roof rack while traveling a long-distance trip in your car:

Proper Installation

If you got your car with a pre-fixed roof rack, then it’s fine, and you can go ahead with your journey with no worries whatsoever. However, not many cars come with pre-fixed roof racks unless you bought a used car fitted with one. 

The first thing you need to keep in mind while selecting a roof rack for your car is checking the dimensions and assessing if the particular roof rack suits your vehicle. All roof racks come with provision for hooking them to the roof of your car. Check if those provision points match your car’s roofline. If you are not sure about it, check with a professional who’ll guide you. 

Correct Height

You can’t get a roof rack that is too high and unwieldy. You’ll have to keep “watching your head” whenever you see a “low overhang” warning sign. Even after you’ve got the roof rack fixed, you may put a bicycle beside it and secure it to the top of your car. This will increase the height more than the roof rack’s height, which is a hazard when you pass any low overhangs. 

Overweight Top Upsets the Balance

Ensure that you don’t overload your roof rack, which can upset the center of gravity of your car. An overweight top can result in your car swaying, especially at sharp curves, which you can never negotiate at high speeds. Take care to not load too much onto the roof rack, and always pack the gear tight with no play to ensure a smooth, enjoyable ride. 

Optimal Weight

When loading up your car roof rack, remember to keep a check on the rack’s capacity to bear the load and also your car’s load-bearing capacity. Making a list of the gear you carry with the approximate weight is a good idea. Moreover, your car’s mileage also gets reduced due to high wind resistance, making your trip unnecessarily expensive. Check out the weight guidelines for the roof box before you decide to buy one for your car. 

Summing it Up

Road trips can be fun, provided they are planned meticulously. Invest in a safe roof rack like Thule roof rack to secure your luggage and plan a hassle-free trip. Besides, planning and making a checklist of the gear you propose to carry helps discard unwanted luggage that can only add to the weight and make the trip uncomfortable.