Ideally you ll have some kind of roof racks to tie things onto.
How to tie lumber to roof rack.
Start by loading dimensional lumber onto the rack with the narrow edges resting on the crossbars.
Secure it to the roof rack.
Second trip 16 2 x4 x6 boards on my roof rack.
Assess your rack situation.
Then secure the front and back ends of each lumber bundle with ratchet straps to prevent movement photo 1.
Nylon rope also works but be prepared to tie some trucker s knots.
Then i use the nylon web tie downs i ve got in the photos of below.
Load your sheet of plywood on the roof rack.
Oh and remember to prepare two other pieces of wood for later use.
Wood also advises against bungie cords as they re too prone to flex when driving at speed and causing loads to shift and possibly escape.
Place 2 pieces of wood about 8 foot long on the roof rack on the lengthwise.
My car with 4 x8 mdf board on the roof rack.
Don t know if i d carry much lumber on that short front to back rack but i would definitely use at least two good ratchet straps ratcheted very tight around the lumber bundle so nothing could slip out.
My car with roof rack with cross bars installed.
For plywood i put two 2 x 4 s on the roof rack and place the plywood on top of those to stiffen the plywood otherwise it flops up and down at highway speeds.
There are really three kinds of scenarios for your roof wood said.
That prevents the bundle from sliding forward backward or side to side.
On each side of the roof you ll see a rack that runs the length of the roof of the vehicle.
These are great for a lot of reasons but mostly because they give you something solid to anchor to so that your roof mounted load.
A pair of 20 web ratchets used as a fail safe in case the board slides to the rear of the vehicle.
4 web ratchet straps in a pair of x formations to hold down the board to the cross bars.
I use 4 hand clamps at the corners to hold the plywood to the 2 x 4 s.
Ask for help from friends if the sheet is too.
With the third option crossbars with side rails you can secure an item to the side rails and run tie downs from front to back securing them to the crossbars.
Remember to place a distance of about 3 to 3 foot in between.
The second option is the side racks.
That s in addition to then attaching the bundle securely to the rack.
