hexayurt transport don't be a dumbass like me

[sambojones]

This is the dumbest most dangerous mistake i have ever made in my life and if anyone wants to call me a dumbass or anything else feel free to because I deserve it. but hopefully this can prevent an accident from happening.

maybe i'm just dumb but hopefully someone can avoid my mistake by reading this post because i had a bad experience transporting my hexayurt last year. I had it strapped to my roof rack and it seemed to be holding well with very minimal lift from the wind and it was fine like this for the majority of my roadtrip. i even drove it around the highways around my house for a couple of hours just to make sure that it was secure and it seemed fine. The problem came on a stretch of 2 lane highway where there was no division between the on coming traffic lane. when a group of 4 semi's traveling the opposite direction of my car came by the force of the wind from them ripped the entire roof rack along with my hexayurt right off the car and i saw it bouncing down the road behind us. This could have killed someone and I thanked god that there was no one behind us. the hexayurt was fine and the roof rack was still strapped to it all in one package we put it back on the car tightened the rack back up and ran straps and rope all the way over the yurt and down around the bottom of the car making it as tight as possible to keep them together. when we got to the next town we stopped at a local sams club and bought the biggest ratchet strap they had which was a 3000lb rated one and used that to run around the entire thing squeezing it very tightly to the car. the big 3000lb strap made all the difference in the world. hopefully if anyone is going to be bringing a hexayurt this year they will secure it better than i did because i could have caused a serious accident so this year i will be making every effort to check the security of any items i am strapping down.

things that did work:

-sandwiching hexayurt between plywood pieces (kept my yurt intact even after bouncing around on the highway)
-putting a tarp around the entire thing
-running a 3000lb ratchet strap over the hexayurt and around the entire car for extra security

things that didn't work:
-cheap tarp got shredded by the wind so get a sturdy tarp or bring a spare
-not running a strap around the entire vehicle this could have killed somebody and i'm so so so so thankful that it didn't
-not putting something between the strap and side of my car rubbed the paint off my doors but i don't care because it kept my yurt secure

any ridicule that follows is well deserved i just hope that someone can learn from my mistake

[Dork]

Small note - you don't need to run the strap around the entire car - open your doors and run it through the inside of the car. You'll still be able to close the doors and you'll be able to see if the strap starts to loosen. Running it around the bottom of the car like it sounds like you're saying could be dangerous - if the strap touches your exhaust it could melt and defeat the purpose. Plus it's kinda hard to get in and out.

[lucky420]

i am going the hexayurt route this year and that was one of my main concerns. I think I'll just rent a box truck so all my stuff will be secure. Glad everything worked out okay for you and thanks for the tip. Did you have any trouble with the wind and your yurt at BM?

[sambojones]

Small note - you don't need to run the strap around the entire car - open your doors and run it through the inside of the car. You'll still be able to close the doors and you'll be able to see if the strap starts to loosen. Running it around the bottom of the car like it sounds like you're saying could be dangerous - if the strap touches your exhaust it could melt and defeat the purpose. Plus it's kinda hard to get in and out.

i thought about that but pretty much the entire bottom of my car is covered by panels so I didn't encounter any melting. the other problem would be leaving the perfect amount of slack in it before i close the doors so that once closed it will be taught enough and apply enough pressure to keep it from shifting

[sambojones]

i am going the hexayurt route this year and that was one of my main concerns. I think I'll just rent a box truck so all my stuff will be secure. Glad everything worked out okay for you and thanks for the tip. Did you have any trouble with the wind and your yurt at BM?

once there i had no problems i camped with root society so i got a few people to help me setup cuz it was a bit windy. once up it was very stable, but i also had a lot of stuff around me to break the wind. i also stayed cool as a cucumber in it cuz i had a small window ac hooked up to it.

[clerkkent]

By roof rack, do you mean one of those temporary ones that you put on asedan, clamping over the doors? Or do you mean roof rails, as found on most wagons/ some SUVs?

[sambojones]

temporary rack yakima brand its a good rack and there was no damage to it even after being ripped off and bouncing down the highway and into a ditch on the side of the road. it just needed to be tightened again and needed more of a secure connection to the car via ratchet straps and a rope around the car. I honestly think it would have made it just fine driving on regular highways but the force of wind generated by 4 semis in a group heading the opposite of me was just too much for it. after that every time we saw semis approaching on any stretch of road that was only two lanes with no divide we would drive as far over on our side of the road as possible to avoid getting hit by the wind tunnel of a truck. just moving over 2-3 feet in our lane made all the difference in the world and allowed us to avoid pretty much all of the air being pushed by any truck.

[ConnieH]

We almost had a similar situation, but luckily got it corrected before we hit dumbass level, although I felt like a dumbass for a bit We had strapped my yurt to the rack in a criss-cross pattern, making sure to go around the rack towers, but our almost-fatal mistake was that the straps compressed the towers toward each other - the force actually moved the towers (after-market Yakima rack with Q-clips on a VW Passat) toward each other, loosening the straps. About an hour from home I looked up and saw the yurt bouncing enough to concern me, we stopped and discovered the problem - had we gone much further we may have lost the entire load. We then ran straps from the towers across the front and back of the yurt, as well as the criss-cross we originally had, which pulled the rack evenly in BOTH directions. Once we did this, the thing didn't move a bit, 65 mph and it barely even lifted in the front.

Sambo - did your rack have metal clips that fit inside the door frame that bent, or did it attach to the car another way? I can't imagine the force required to bend Q-clips, but staying away from semi's is very good advice!

[AntiM]

Whenever you transport anything on a roof rack (or trailer, or even a bike rack), you stop around the first 50 miles and check the load and straps. Then whenever you stop for fuel or peeing, you check the load and straps.

That's what I get for being married to a trucker.

[Ugly Dougly]

Strap a trucker or a rigger to your passenger seat next time.

[ConnieH]

Whenever you transport anything on a roof rack (or trailer, or even a bike rack), you stop around the first 50 miles and check the load and straps. Then whenever you stop for fuel or peeing, you check the load and straps.

That's what I get for being married to a trucker.

Absolutely! We checked at every stop, I became obsessive about it

[dragonpilot]

Close call, Sambo...in my errant youth, had a poorly strapped down sea kayak cartwheel down the Interstate...horrible sight to see in the rear view mirror...again, no injuries...

[Dork]

the other problem would be leaving the perfect amount of slack in it before i close the doors so that once closed it will be taught enough and apply enough pressure to keep it from shifting

In my experience no slack is necessary. The doors still close fine.

[Bob]

I missed where you read the fucking manuals that came with your rack & automobile.

[Ugly Dougly]

I don't need a fucking manual. I fuck just fine.

[Sail Man]

Small note - you don't need to run the strap around the entire car - open your doors and run it through the inside of the car. You'll still be able to close the doors and you'll be able to see if the strap starts to loosen. Running it around the bottom of the car like it sounds like you're saying could be dangerous - if the strap touches your exhaust it could melt and defeat the purpose. Plus it's kinda hard to get in and out.

i thought about that but pretty much the entire bottom of my car is covered by panels so I didn't encounter any melting. the other problem would be leaving the perfect amount of slack in it before i close the doors so that once closed it will be taught enough and apply enough pressure to keep it from shifting

The small amount it tightens when you close the doors shouldnt make much if any difference in tautness. In fact, it would probably add just a smidgen and that would be a good thing. As an added bonus, that straps could also be used to hang a plethora of dingo balls from, sure to jazz up any beater ride

[sambojones]

been on spring break for the past week or so looks like i have a few things to respond to here

- I did read the manual for the rack and it was on 100% correctly and was within the rated load limit
- checking the load at every stop is very good advice and we checked the integrity of it religiously the entire trip before and after the incident and I even test drove it around my neighborhood and dallas highways before embarking on the trip everything seemed fine and secure
- the yakima rack did have metal clips the were on securely and I had the tower locks as well for added security, but the force of air generated by the trucks ripped em right out of the door jambs taking out chucks of car paint with em
- i'll try running the big ratchet strap through the car next time the more i think about this suggestion rather than going around the whole car it makes pretty good sense I'm hoping to buy a trailer for my yurt and gear this year so I hopefully won't have to strap it to my roof again

Thanks for all the good ideas in this thread

[ConnieH]

- the yakima rack did have metal clips the were on securely and I had the tower locks as well for added security, but the force of air generated by the trucks ripped em right out of the door jambs taking out chucks of car paint with em

that was some blast - ouch! Sounds like you have a rack similar to mine. We had 2" PVC tubes (for our shade structure) underneath our rack, between the top of the car and the bottom of the rack, so that probably helped us with some wind issues.