Long skis. Short Car.

[FourthCoast]

Our good old van, "rusty", has finally been replaced. I wanted to get to 300k miles, but at 239k I started to worry about some of the larger chunks falling off the bottom. I have to think that eventually something important will fall off if I kept driving it.

We now have a less-used family vehicle. It is better in just about every way except it is an SUV not a van. My 215cm skis CAN fit in the back but they end up sort of jamming into the seats in a way that I think might damage my new 2016 vehicle.

Anyway, it has a roof rack and crossbars which seems like a good start to getting skis and other snowy stuff up top.

Does anyone know if there is a roof box that can handle 215cm skis? From what I have seen most of them are not quite that long.

[Mtlsam]

I don't know much about commercially available roof boxes, but I do know that plumbers and electricians often have a long section of pvc pipe bolted to their roof racks. You can certainly find one of sufficient diameter and length to hold a pair of skis. Front end with a glued on cap, rear with a threaded "clean out".
Hope this helps if all else fails.

[fisheater]

The pipe will definitely work. You will need at least 6” diameter pipe. I’m not sure 6” pipe will work. Home Depot sells cut offs that are 2 foot long. It’s a cheap way to check, because the end cap, and the threaded clean out and threaded cap are the expensive pieces. If you need to go up to 8” diameter, it will be expensive. You probably can’t buy 8” at Home Depot. I’m sure there is a Ferguson Supply somewhere in the area. They aren’t super cheap, as you most likely don’t have an account. The pipe will work well.

[corlay]

when I transport my 170cm Peletonen Metsa’s in my VW Golf, they run fron the rear hatch, through the center of rhe back seats, and between the front seats, to rest on my dashboard.

[turnfarmer]

when I transport my 170cm Peletonen Metsa’s in my VW Golf, they run fron the rear hatch, through the center of rhe back seats, and between the front seats, to rest on my dashboard.

I had a 74 Corolla that I drove all over the place with my skis like that!!

[FourthCoast]

Thanks for ideas everyone.

My 188 resort skis will fit in the back no problem. It might not sound like much but 215 is a lot longer than 188 when moving them through doorways and getting them into a vehicle.

I like the pipe idea. I was also considering building a DIY plywood long-box.

[FourthCoast]

when I transport my 170cm Peletonen Metsa’s in my VW Golf, they run fron the rear hatch, through the center of rhe back seats, and between the front seats, to rest on my dashboard.

I have done the same in a Pontiac Bonneville and a Corolla. In college I drove myself and three other people, in the Bonneville, with all the gear, to a race 3 hours away. I crammed a lot of skis into that little fold down space in the middle of the back row.

In some ways our newish Honda Pilot makes it harder to carry long stuff. There is no way to open up only the middle part of the second row.

[CwmRaider]

I have a Thule Motion XT XXL on the roof. It fits a pulka and several pairs of 210 cm skis concurrently. 215 should fit according to specs
The Motion 3 XXL, both in standard and low, are specified to fit 215 cm skis as well.
My roof box basically lives on the car. It's so practical for extra luggage etc. In Norway speed limit is max 80 to 90 kmh in most places. Looks like the extra drag costs me an efficiency penalty of less than 0.5l/100 km mostly, which for me is less than 10% (small turbodiesel engine).

[randoskier]

Buy a Caddy

[blitzskier]

what do surfers use?