transport of 16 foot 4x4's with stationwagon?

I'm hoping to be able to transport one or two 16 foot long 4x4's with my Ford Taurus stationwagon (with rack on top), but I'm not sure it can be done. Having them delivered is just too high of a cost for a couple of posts. So, is it possible to transport two at a time with my stationwagon and, if so, how would this be done?

Thanks, Harry

Reply to
Harry Brown
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Some of the truck rental places rent trucks by the hour. This can work out to a really cheap price for truck rental if you don't have many miles to go.

In case you are shopping there, Home Depot provides an hour's free truck rental on purchases over $100 with their credit card. Not as nice a truck as one you could rent, but it would atill avoid screwing up your vehicle (which I think is a possibility).

Bill

Reply to
Bill

One guy I saw laid the boards on the parking lot, drove straddle of them, lifted the front end and tied them to the front bumper and then did the same with the rear end, tying them to the rear bumper.

Reply to
Gerald Ross

I'm hoping to be able to transport one or two 16 foot long 4x4's with my Ford Taurus stationwagon (with rack on top), but I'm not sure it can be done. Having them delivered is just too high of a cost for a couple of posts. So, is it possible to transport two at a time with my stationwagon and, if so, how would this be done?

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Put them side by side on the rack, and tie them together out on the ends, and run down to the bumper on each side of the car. Front and back will look like the ropes are writing an upside-down letter "V"

-- Jim in NC

Reply to
Morgans

I've strapped a lot more than that to the rack of my minivan. I wouldn't go 70mph down the interstate, but it works fine for me at 45 the 3-4 miles from store to home.

Reply to
-MIKE-

Strapped real tight in the middle, together, at a couple of places to a few frame parts to stop flight in the event of collision. Then strap the front end and rear end to your bumpers to stop flailing of the ends from bumps. Keep lots toward the front where you can see the end swing on turns.

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I'm hoping to be able to transport one or two 16 foot long 4x4's with my Ford Taurus stationwagon (with rack on top), but I'm not sure it can be done. Having them delivered is just too high of a cost for a couple of posts. So, is it possible to transport two at a time with my stationwagon and, if so, how would this be done?

Thanks, Harry

Reply to
Josepi

Like Josepi says keep the overhang in front.

Very doable. make sure you tie it > Strapped real tight in the middle, together, at a couple of places to a

Reply to
tiredofspam

Like Josepi says keep the overhang in front.

Very doable. make sure you tie it > Strapped real tight in the middle, together, at a couple of places to a

Reply to
tiredofspam

I'm hoping to be able to transport one or two 16 foot long 4x4's with my Ford Taurus stationwagon (with rack on top), but I'm not sure it can be done. Having them delivered is just too high of a cost for a couple of posts. So, is it possible to transport two at a time with my stationwagon and, if so, how would this be done? ================================================================= Put them on the rack, tie them down, drive on. I really don't know what you are asking.

Reply to
CW

They'd probably rip off the rack on the first downward bump or collapse the rack and dent the roof on the first upward bump. Good dry pine would probably transport safely if tied down right. Wet pine or pressure treated SPF would certainly cause problems.

I get loads of lumber delivered to client sites for $10-20 all the time. The shorter the trip, the less they charge. One lumber yard here will do free deliveries of longer materials if you're a regular customer. Is harry shopping Lowes, who wants $79 to deliver anything?

-- I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues. --Duke Ellington

Reply to
Larry Jaques

You should expect some added dents to either your roof or luggage rack.

Reply to
Leon

By the way, another way to do it would be to go inside the car, from the front passenger door window, out the back hatch. Two 4x4's will fit through that front door window and they can rest on the seat backs. Removing headrests may make it easier. You won't have much shooting out the front window and only 4' or less out the back.

Reply to
-MIKE-

No sweat. Back in the 70's and 80's I used U bolts to bolt 2 44" 2x4's to the rack of my Datsun station wagon. These were used to haul two 18 foot aluminum canoes, or a canoe and kayak, for a few hundred miles each way many weekends.

Tie the fronts to the front bumper frame and the rears to the rear bumper frame, spring them if possible. Use the best rope on the front. Hauling couple of 16'

4x4's is nothing compared to those canoes - much less weight and your vehicle is almost twice the size of my old Datsun. Just be sure you know how to tie a good knot.

Regards, Roy.

Reply to
Roy

You don't have any friends with a pickup truck? Simply ask for some assistance, that way! Buy some beer..... or burgers, steaks(?).... and, further, have them over for a get-together installing the things, where you are wanting them. Make it a social gathering, not a job. Surely your friends understand your situation, as such, and may likely be looking for an opportunity for a social gathering.

Sonny

Reply to
Sonny

Your Taurus wagon is bigger than my Jeep Cherokee and I've carried my

17 foot canoe on the rack plenty of times. Just get some decent tie-downs (I like the cheap ratchet straps from HF) or rope and take them home. Sometimes if I'm transporting just a few pieces of lumber on the rack, I'll temporarily nail or screw on a piece of 2X4 crossways to provide a positve stop agains the long boards sliding forward or backward.
Reply to
Larry W

Probably OK, just check what the car and roof rack manufacturer say about maximum weight loading. Maximum roof load for my Toyota Verso is 90kg or about 198lb which is more than I could lift. They also say any load should not exceed the overall vehicle length (172") but that may be down to UK regs.

As others have said, any length projecting beyond the vehicle should probably have some sort of warning beacon/flag or whatever and keep your speed down.

I've had 4.6m (15 foot) floor-boards and 4.2m 9x2's on my Verso and just pottered along the side-roads between the timber merchants and my home.

4x4 shouln't fexx too much but I would strap them thightly together at the ends so that they behave like a 8x4 and tie them narrow edge down.
Reply to
Stuart

Been there and done that. Carried many things on the roof of my car, wagon and/or van.

The key to carrying anything on the roof is a good set of roof carriers if the car is not equipped with them. then find an anchor point under the front and back bumpers. Tie the wood front and back down tightly to these anchor points to prevent rocking up and down. Use the same rope to continue tying the wood down to the roof rack to prevent side to side motion. It is important to use continuous rope or tie the ropes together or you risk one or more of the end ropes slipping off or loosening off, keep the ropes tight. Use a good grade of 1/4" nylon rope, it has some stretch so that you can snug it up with tension on it.

I once carried 320 pounds of 20 foot long re-enforcing steel bars on the roof of a car. Had to tie each end down very tightly to prevent them from bouncing up and down. No highway speeds but did move them about 10 miles. Also learned how to carry 5 foot square sheets of baltic birch plywood on the roof of my mini-van. Since if was longer than the roof racks and wider than the vehicle, there was little opportunity to find tie own points. Found out that I could fit a point of a corner of the plywood under the front roof rack cross member and then tie it down to the back cross member with tension on it. It was like driving with wings as the diagonal width was over 6 feet. Since the front edge was down under the cross member there was no uplift from the air movement. Worked great.

Reply to
EXT

Ooops! Flex

Reply to
Stuart

Harry, I think some have given good ideas buy might have missed a important point. The recks on the Taurus were not designed to take a point load in the center of its length. I would spread this load by having a 2x4 cut in half and run it perpendicular to the length of the car. Allowing the 4x4 to sit on the 2x, this will push the load points to the ride rails which should handle this load without problem. I had a Volvo wagon that by adding these boards was ablt to handle in excess of 20-2x6x12's at a time. Tie the load down as others have suggested, keeping the same overhang on the front and back thus splitting the load. Should have no problem moving 4 at a time. SteveA

Reply to
SteveA

What SteveA said--and make sure your insurance is paid up! ; )

Reply to
Bill

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