You may have been looking for how to tighten roof bags straps, you probably must have bought your new roof bag and you want to know how you can tighten the roof bags straps.
You will get your answer in this article, keep reading. When you are embarking on a journey and you want to go with a lot of load, the best way you can go about it is to make use of a roof bag.
But before we get into the details of How you can tighten roof bag straps, here is a sneak of what you have to do. Please note that we will consider vehicles having roof racks and those without roof racks
How you can tighten roof bag straps with roof racks:
- Step 1: Spread the weight of the roof bag across the roof rack
- Step 2: Tighten the roof bag straps around the cross rails
- Step 3: Step 3: Take extra precautions
How you can tighten roof bag straps without roof racks:
- Step 1: Make sure that you know the maximum load limit
- Step 2: Make sure your placement is accurate
- Step 3: Protect your roof
- Step 4: Place the roof bag on the roof
- Step 5: Run the roof bag strap through the doors
The roof bag helps you to have space to store all your load on the roof rack of your vehicle, this will make you to have more space in the vehicle where more passengers can sit and feel very comfortable.
Take note that very heavy loads are not to be kept in the roof bag, this is because roof racks have weight limit to prevent it from breaking while on transit.
What you do is that you store the very heavy items in the vehicle. When you store your load in your vehicle, you will need to secure your load on the roof rack.
How you secure your load on the roof rack is by making use of a roof bag strap to tighten it so well so that when you are on transit. In this article, you are going to learn how you can tighten roof bag straps on the roof of your vehicle.
Remember that roof bags can be on vehicles with roof racks, and also, roof bags can be on vehicles without roof racks. I will show you how you can tighten roof bag straps on vehicles with roof racks and those without roof racks.
There are slight differences in the steps of tightening roof bags straps in the vehicle without a roof rack and the vehicle with a roof rack. You will notice some of the differences as you continue to read on.
Roof bag straps do interfere with roof racks when you want to tighten your roof bag with straps. Whether or not your vehicle has a roof rack, the way you tighten your roof bag strap on the roof of your vehicle will be different.
That is why this segment of the article is split into these two segments, to address those whose vehicle do not have roof rack and also those whose vehicle have roof racks.
Let’s get into the details.
How you can tighten roof bag straps with roof racks
Step 1: Spread the weight of the roof bag across the roof rack
At this point, the roof bag is sitting on the roof top of your vehicle, getting ready to be tightened on the roof rack.
At this point, the roof bag needs to rest very well on the roof rack so that when you tighten the roof bag on the roof rack it stays put and does not fall off when you are on transit.
Step 2: Tighten the roof bag straps around the cross rails
This is where you should be getting ready to tighten the roof bag strap on your cross rails. Once the roof bag is stable on the roof rack, take the strap that is located on the top of your roof bag and then wrap the strap around a solid anchor point.
That solid anchor point could be the side and cross rails. Put the straps through the buckle so that it remains tight.
Step 3: Take extra precautions
Tightening the roof bag straps around the cross rails may not be enough, this is because roof racks are known to have fallen off at high speeds with heavy load on it.
To be on the safer side, you should take precautions, how you do that is by tying the roof rack down to the roof of the vehicle by making use of a rachet. This will help you to further tighten your rood bag straps.
These steps that have been shared will help you to correctly tighten your roof bag straps when you are about embarking on a long journey.
Remember that when you are not making use of the roof rack, you should remove it from your vehicle so that it does not add weight and noise to your vehicle. This will help you a whole lot.
Let me explain to you how you can tighten roof bags straps when your vehicle does not come with a roof rack, in other words, we can call it a naked roof.
When you want to tighten a roof bag strap, whether or not there is a roof rack on the vehicle, it is going to affect how you till tighten the straps on the roof rack. That is the purpose for explaining it this way.
It makes it easy to understand because not every vehicle out there has a roof rack. Some are naked.
How to Tighten roof bag straps without roof rack
When you are tightening your roof bag strap on a naked roof, that is, a roof without a roof rack, you need to take extra precautions, this is because of the absence of the roof rack.
The cross rails are not present here, the roof rails are not present here, you should take more precautions.
Step 1: Make sure that you know the maximum load limit
When you have a roof bag on a roof with not roof rack, you should make sure that you check the roof load limit so that you do not go above it in a way that it may jeopardize your journey. Most of them are usually 165 pounds weight limit.
Step 2: Make sure your placement is accurate
When you are trying to tie something to a naked roof, the way you place and balance it on your roof matters a whole lot. The best way to place the items on your roof is to place it in the middle, that is between the doors.
You should place lighter items at the bottom and the heavier ones at the middle. The purpose of doing this is for balance. To make sure that the load balances well on the vehicle, if not, it could cause result into something bad when you are on transit.
Step 3: Protect your roof
What this means is that you should protect your roof from damage by placing a blanket on the roof on your vehicle so that what you put on the roof of your vehicle does not scratch the top of your vehicle.
Step 4: Place the roof bag on the roof
At this point, you should place your roof bag on the roof of your vehicle by making use of the placement rule that was discussed in step two. That will guide you on how you are to place the roof bag on the roof of your vehicle.
Make sure that it is balanced and you can get ready to tighten the roof bag straps.
Step 5: Run the roof bag strap through the doors
Remember that there is no roof rack or pre-installed crossbar on this vehicle that is being talked about. It is a naked roof; naked roof does not usually come with cross bars or rails.
Because of this, the best way to tighten the roof bag straps on the vehicle is by running the straps through the doors of the vehicle. To further protect your roof bag and to make the roof bag strap tighter, you can attach the hooks of your straps together inside the car.
That is if your roof bag strap comes a hook. If you do not take this seriously, it could cause your roof bag straps to lose and thereby causing the roof bag to fall off the roof of your vehicle.
These steps that have been discussed above are what you should follow if you want to tighten your roof bag straps, whether your vehicle has a roof rack or not, whether it comes with a pre-installed cross rail or not. You can still get your roof bag straps tightened safely.
Not following the steps religiously may result in you having other difficulties when you are on transit. However, if you follow the steps religiously, you will enjoy the result and you will not have to be worried if the roof bag will fall off from the roof of your vehicle or not.
Final words on How to tighten roof bag straps
How else can you keep your roof bag safe on the roof of your vehicle if not by making sure that you tighten your roof bag straps so well that when you are on transit it does not fall off.
If it ever falls off, you should have it at the back of your mind that you are not just putting yourself in jeopardy, you are also jeopardizing the lives of other road users at that moment.
Before you embark on your journey with your roof bag on the roof of your vehicle, you should ensure that the straps are very tight and strong for a long journey.
One of the things that will affect the roof bag is the wind and speed. But you should consider your roof bag and do not drive so fast.