Good SUV for carrying gear

gregknopf · Joined: 15 Jul 2000 Posts: 8

Hi,
Im looking to buy an SUV that I can put two boards on, side by side, and several sails & everything inside. I saw the X-terra discussion below and have considered one of those. Anybody have any ideas about a good SUV for a good price? Im looking for new or used, fairly late model, 15~25 K.

Thanks,
Greg

hamblett · Joined: 29 Jun 2000 Posts: 40

Ive been pretty happy with my 92 S-10 Blazer 4x4 so far. 150k miles and still running like a top. I Put a Thule Rack w/ wind screen on it and stack my boards on top of one another on one side, leaving room for my bike rack, or mounted storage container, on the other. If you purchased longer Load bars from Thlue, youd probably be able to stack boards side by side but Im not sure.

I personally dont like the stock load bars on the SUVs. Too wimpy. I have a quiver bag that straps around the boards(rides on top) that when filled with 2 booms, 4 sails and 2 masts is pretty heavy. The Thule bars handle it with no problem and the windscreen cuts out virtually all wind noise when Im not on the way to the beach.

If you have a wide-style board and a small-midsize board, Id be curious as to how wide the load bars wound need to be to handle the width.

Good luck!

**********************
Hi,
Im looking to buy an SUV that I can put two boards on, side by side, and several sails & everything inside. I saw the X-terra discussion below and have considered one of those. Anybody have any ideas about a good SUV for a good price? Im looking for new or used, fairly late model, 15~25 K.

Thanks,
Greg

jwajack · Joined: 26 Apr 1994 Posts: 157 Location: San Pedro, CA

With 58 load bars on my Thule rack, I could fit two stacks of boards, side by side, as well as two masts in carriers.

jwajack

gregknopf · Joined: 15 Jul 2000 Posts: 8

Thanks for the comments, everybody. When I actually find an SUV, buy it, and set it up, Ill be sure to post the results.

Adios,
greg

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

Save yourself an entire iteration and all its associated cost, time, and design headaches, and just buy a minivan first. If you ever get serious about the sport, nothing less will do. Nothing compares to being able to keep most of your gear inside; change, eat, and sleep inside; and still haul the mail on the open road.

That, of course, is just my opinion, but 1) a heck of a lot of people agree, and 2) Ive developed that opinion by progressing from a 280Z to the biggest van money can buy in the U.S. in small steps (sports car to Blazer to Astro to stretched and raised E-250), and will go even bigger next time.

If you really enjoy getting into your dry suit at home or changing outdoors in January, having to load and load most of your bulky gear on/off a roof rack, having no place to cook and eat when its raining or worse, and having to sleep tied in a knot, rolling over when you try to dodge a deer at 70 mph, and being unable to find anything smaller than your wave board in the pile, feel free to do it in a small SUV.

Mie \m/

spyder · Joined: 24 Sep 1996 Posts: 2790 Location: oahu

yeah, I totally agree with you Mike \m/. SUVs just are a raised station wagon, they have very little room, difficult to change anything (take out seats, etc), and tough to pack a lot in (high roof, tight, awkward spaces), not to mention the high price tag!
IMHO, they just dont cut it for windsurfing.

I wish I had gotten a van, I limped along with a toyota pickup, with cap and racks. That works for sleeping, gear, but its uncomfortable.

sorry for all you SUV fans!!

hamblett · Joined: 29 Jun 2000 Posts: 40

I agree. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldve kept my Integra and bought a large empty van and did the mods (insulation, gear racks, cot, etc) myself.

The other thing that Ive done in the past, depending on the length of trip and location, is to just throw the board in the back along with a couple of sails, boom and mast and let the longer items hang out the back window. The mast and sails normally fit between the 2 front seats (with the rear seat down) and the board hangs out the window. Not the desired shipping configuration but when Im in a hurry to get to the water, it works.

raueda1 · Joined: 24 Mar 2000 Posts: 84

Hey, you guys have overlooked the obvious - get rid of all that stuff and take up kitesurfing!! Wink

I manage to get my whole quiver in the trunk of a bmw coupe with a rack for the boards - teeny wakeboard and giant 66 directional for low wind , say less than 8 kts. But I gotta admit, I dont change in it when its too cold out, much less cook.
[[Easy for me to say, I was never a windsurfer, so I never got sucked into the whole equipment death spiral. I marvel at the guys with huge vans, converted delivery trucks, trailers, etc!!]]

-Dave

jwajack · Joined: 26 Apr 1994 Posts: 157 Location: San Pedro, CA

Actually, if you really want to get serious about the sport, as Mike says, the solution is not to buy a big van . . . its relocating to a place where you dont have to drive to windsurf. Not easily done, especially if you have to work for a living, but changing out of your wetsuit in a hot shower (or hopping immediately into a hot tub) beats the hell out of changing in a van. Then again, it would be nice to live somewhere where you didnt need a wetsuit at all . . . . Oh well, we all can dream, and thats one of the things that makes the sport great.

JWAJack

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

RE switching to kites:

No, thanks. Considered it, but I got tired of sailing in straight lines many years ago.

Mike