I need to get 2 4×8 sheets of plywood to my shop. Since I don’t have a truck I was wondering if anyone has a reliable way to use a car. What roof racks work best based on your experience? Any other detailed information and experiences would be appreciated.
tom
Replies
The best way to transport 4x8 plywood in your car is to use it to transport a 12-pack to a friend that has a truck.
Hi Tom,
I use our Subaru Foster, which has already a simple roof rack.
I usually put 2 2x4 on the rack and on top of these 2 2x4 the
plywood sheets and tie to the roof rack.
Be careful not to but too much load on the
roof rack but 2 sheets should be fine.
The help of a friend with loading and unloading is
very useful.
Cheers
Stefan
many thanks to everyone for all the discussion, based on these I will rent a truck from my local home depot. I only use furniture grade plywood once or twice a year so this seems the smartest and safest thing to do.tom
Stoffel,
I also use a forester. I think that the roof rack is rated at 200 lb. I put the plywood on top of the rack without any 2 X 4's with no problem. I have had 3 sheets of 4' X 8' 3/4" plywood on the roof with no problem.
ASK
Tom,
Home depot and Menards (I suppose Lowes but we don't have one here yet) will lend you their pickup truck for $20.00 for the first hour or so.. lumberyards will deliver but cost a bit more. You can often rent a trailer capable of the job with a hitch that will clamp onto your car at rentalhouses..
I do exactly what stoffel does, but with yakima racks on our Honda Accord. The 2 by's keep in from flopping around. Those webbed ratcheting straps work well to cinch it down.
Tom,
I get them cut where I buy them..so they fit in the station wagon. I'll gwt smaller pieces when using the sedan.
I have carried many, many sheets of MDF and plywood home on a Thule cartop carrier on both a Honda Accord and a Subaru Forrester. I limit the the load to two sheets of 3/4" MDF or Three sheets or 3/4" plywood. I use independent double web tie downs in front and one in back, and keep speed under 60mph.
Chris
Be careful using the overhead racks on cars - they're mostly there for decoration and have very little safe load carrying capability. They're usually only made of tubular aluminum.
Check your owner's manual, and there should be a decal on the roof rack itself stating what it's maximum load is.
Besides not being able to support that much weight, look at how they are anchored down. Through some very thin aluminum skin to maybe another thin piece of aluminum in the overhead. No steel supporting that sucker.
And, on the other side of the coin, think what a sudden stop could do - not just to the load, but to the roof rack to which it is tied, and the top of your car when the roof rack is pulled off - a distinct possibility.
An unsafe load is usually a misdemeanor in most states. A fine and, at max, less than a year in the pokey. If someone is seriously injured as a result of the flying load, you might be looking at an upgrade of the misdemeanor to a felony and/or a felony for the reckless operation of an automobile resulting in injury. Major bucks for a fine and more than a year - done in state prison, not the local lockup.
At speeds up to 60 mph, that load can easily become a lethal object.....and if it hits someone's front windshield???
Suggestion: Rent a truck, have the lumber yard deliver (Mine does it for 5% of the purchase price within 10 miles), buy a case for your friend with a pickup (but, of course, don't drink it till you get home!)
Griff
Even with a roof rack I always run a ratchet strap through the rear door opening and ratchet the load from inside the car. There is considerable lift with air running under the plywood on a roof rack. I remember this marrtess I lost off the top of an old VW bus with the roof rack still attached! Although it was only an old style rain gutter roof rack. Let the load be one with the car......I like the "let your lumber yard deliver" idea.
Roger
I wish auto manufacturers built cars with attachment points on them - both sides and front and rear. They know how many people try to carry things on top of the car/wagon, so why not make it easy and safer for everyone? I know, I know. $ cost, that's why. Still....an attachment point in front and rear would help a lot in keeping things from flying off.
I never drive behind anyone with something on the roof anymore - just too uncertain how well they have it tied down.
BTW, I looked at the roof rack on my wife's '04 Subaru Outback - Max Load 100#.
Sheesh, one sheet of 3/4 plywood and you're almost there.
For me, I'm fortunate to have the lumber yard close by and willing to deliver (even one piece) at a moderate cost. Just doesn't make any sense for me to do otherwise.
Griff
Griff -I have to second your opinion on the relatively unsafe practice of carrying sheet goods on a cartop rack. These things can easily support more weight than they're designed to carry but the real risk is having the rack ripped off the car by the uplift of windload under the sheets. Most often they're only attached to a rain gutter on the car roof. Not much security there.There was a case not too long ago here in WA state where an unsecure sheet of particle board flew out of a truck and went through the windsield of a ladies car. Destroyed her face and after extensive reconstructive surgery she's got a new one. But she'll never see it. She was blinded in the process.If there's any doubt about the advisability of doing something, don't do it. Rent a truck or get the help of a friend who has one. Then tie the stuff down so a hurricane wouldn't blow it out!Life's too short to take shortcuts............
From Beautiful Skagit Co. Wa.
Dennis
I agree with Griff on the safety of hauling plywood on top carriers. I knew a guy who hauled plywood on a top carrier, had it secured good, well he was driving down the road when the wind got under the plywood and ripped the carrier og the roof of his car.A sheet of plywood hit the cae behind hin ,went through the windshild . and killed the driver, IT WAS A REAL BAD DEAL.
Have a nice day Lee
I'd agree with all those who say just don't do it. Any motorcyclists here at Knots? My son rides and I did in the past: there are way to many objects to avoid on the road as is. The only sensible reply in this post was the one that said (rather poetically) to make the "load one with the car" with rachet straps through the interior. Pickups are available around any fair size city for about $20/day, such a deal.
Safety first in and out of the shop.
KDM
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The Bill of Rights
December 15 1791
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Buy the sheets at your local lumber yard. They will deliver it when they get a larger order in your neighborhood.If you are are a crook at heart, you could take a new truck out for a test drive.You know the rest.
mike
Even if your lumberyard won't deliver reasonably or rent a truck for an hour, U-Haul (and National, IIRC) rents vans and pickups by the hour - $19.99 an hour, no minimum.
For me, when you take it into account ... all of it ...
1 - tiedowns and cost of them;
2 - the possibility of damage to the car;
3 - the possibility of liability to someone else;
4 - the possibility of it being some sort of legal offense; and
5 - the time and energy you'll spend tying it down,
6 - driving with it,
7 - untying it and
8 - worrying about 1-7 above,
I think that the $20 (or $40?, dunno your distances) rental charge is an absolute steal!
That's what I do here, 'cause I felt like I didn't want to use up my favors-from-truck-owning-friends on garden-variety non-emergency plywood runs.
Clay
You might consider adding a trailer to your car. It is really a pretty good compromise. You have a car for most of your driving, and use the trailer to carry plywood, lumber, and other large stuff which doesn't fit inside a car. You can get trailers which fold up for easier storage.
Do you need to have the sheets remain full sheets. You don't mention where you are buying the plywood. Most of the Big boxes (Lowes and Home Depot) will cut plywood. You could cut it down into manageble pieces so it is smaller in size and easier to handle. They also rent trucks by the hour. That would work if you dont live far from the place of purchase. You could ask about delivery. Go by a chevy dealer and take a new truck out for a test drive (heeheehee). Just a few thoughts.
I have a friend who does a slight variation on some of these. The local lumber yard he uses has great prices on wood but no delivery or truck rental. A nearby home depot has expensive and bad quality wood, but, rents trucks by the hour.
You see where it is going :-) The guys at the lumber yard always smile when he drives up in the Home Depot truck.Dave
Your reply was pretty much what I was going to suggest to him, with the following caveat: Plan your cuts in advance and allow for at least 1" oversize if possible. The blades they have on their panel saws get a lot of use/abuse and will usually give a fair amount of tearout on the cut edge. Not a big deal if you're talking CDX, but if you're having them cut cabinet grade ply, you'll want to be able to clean up the cut to final width at home.Waddaya mean it wont fit through the door?
transporting plywood with a car
Please do not!
Edit: I forgot to say.. I may be driving BEHIND you....
Edited 5/27/2005 12:34 pm ET by Will George
This photograph is an oldie, but it seems real appropriate right now.
Here's a website that talks about it too.http://www.snopes.com/photos/lumber.asp
Thanks for posting the photo. I work for Volkswagen and had that same photo in mind while I was reading the thread. Perhaps he was building a roof deck. I mean roof rack.
Regards,
Lawrie
As I remember the story was that in addition to the plywood on top there was a couple dozen bags of cement in the car as well. Also they were driving from Florida to Alabama or something like that.
Mikeplease excuse my spelling.
THAT was a GOODER! LOL... Wher ya find that one?? Not your car I hope!
I don't remember the first time I saw it, but I recently saw it on the snopes.com website. Snopes does a good job of mythbusting a lot of urban myths.
Whatever you use(I"d definitely recommend a truck), do not at all use bungee cords. I lost 3 7x8 ft frames near Oakland CA this way. Let's just say the driver behind me and the CHP were not happy.
Whatever your transport, use good tie-downs as extra insurance.
Add me to the naysayers. Putting a 32 sq. ft. sail on the top of a small vehicle, poorly secured, and then heading down the highway: the bad outcomes include loss of a life.
Maybe if someone lived a few blocks from the store, and could do ~15 mph on 25 mph streets, it might be OK from a safety perspective. But I don't see how you could do that with cabinet-grade plywood and not degrade it. I have to be careful enough when transporting it in the bed of my full-size pickup not to ding it up.
If all else fails, there's always U-Haul. You can rent trailers from them pretty cheap. Although I think the best solution is a 6-pack bribe to an acquaintance that owns an F-250; he can help you unload, too.
I don't understand how someone could spend thousands of dollars on shop, and equipment. Then, have no practical way transport materials. What is $30-$40 to rent a Uhaul? Just plan ahead, and rent it when you can pick up enough material for an entire job.
I wonder if an insurance company would even cover a claim involving plywood strapped to the roof of a car.
Many a time, I carried 1 or 2 sheets on my Honda Civic with a Thule rack. But I live less than 4 miles from the supplier, I'd drive 15mph max, with flashers on and to the right side so others could pass.Now with a family, comes a mini-van and plywood fits in nicely.Mark
Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, cut it with an ax.
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