Hi folks,

I'm pretty new to the club and realise that this is a bit of a crummy first post on the forum - but I'm looking for a bit of advice from anyone with experience of Thule snowboard carriers, and in particular - using them in conjunction with a short roof adaptor?

I assembled my rack for the first time at the weekend there in preparation for the massive dump of snow thats surely just around the corner (optimistic viewpoint, yup!) - however when it came to actually loading boards in to the carrier, i've noticed a potential problem.

Due to my car using the short roof adaptor, the absolute maximum gap I can have between my front bar and my rear bar is 70 cm's.... and this is where the problem stems from, as the gap from the outside edge of both my bindings is >70cm's. This means that its not possible for me to load the boards on to the carrier in the 'normal' way which would have both bindings sitting 'inside' the board carriers / bars.

The only way I can see around this is to load the board in to the carrier either further forward or further back so that one binding sits inbetween the two bars, whilst the other binding is left either in front of the front bar, or behind the rear bar...... if that makes sense?

I guess there's a few parts to my question.

Firstly, is it safe to mount the boards in this way?

Secondly, if its safe to do so, then which would be better - mounted with a binding in front of the front bar, or with one behind the rear bar?

Thirdly, will the boards be secure enough mounted this way? I guess I could run ratchet straps between binding and roof bar to eliminate any movement - would this be required or is it a bit of overkill - I know the carrier does grip the boards fairly tight, and theres only so far the boards could ever move - but just a bit paranoid about high winds and any potential damage to boards or my car!

Thanks for any words of wisdom you guys can offer!

The carriers themselves are adequate for holding boards in place but offer no protection. Get a box rather than a carrier, I wouldn't like to think of what all the road muck would do to my skis or a bag on the way.

if you dont cover them then you will need to wash them as soon as you get home


with boards take one of the bindings off...take you 5min to put it back on once on the hill

Be nice to skiers...they have enough problems already

I use the short thule brackets on my BMW 1 series and never had any problem with them fitting, all I do is put them as close together on the mounting holes and then ajust them when I get to the slopes.

I can't comment on carrying boards, but I do use a Thule ski carrier on the luggage rack of my Peugeot 206CC (hard top convertible). The gap between the carriers is just big enough for bindings of my skis, probably about 60cm, the skis sit at about a 30 degree angle over the back of the car and stick up about 20cm above the roof. I've never had any problems with this arrangement driving to both the Alps and Scotland.

I'd suggest putting it on diagonally?
Either that geared towards the back, ie front binding in middle back overhanging the rear, that way when you brake there is another binding to catch if front goes wrong.
Why not just stick it in the car and treat it kindly
They normally easy enough to get used to when changing gears.