Trailor building/car-top-carrier

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doctorstork

New Member
Has anyone built a trailor or a launching dolly for a laser? Also, my local shop says I should not car-top my laser...does she really want me to buy a trailor. Appreciate any experienced suggestions.
 
car topping with good racks and a seitech or similar dolly for launching/yard use is fine. is she concerned about your car type? if you want to avoid purchasing a laser specific trailer(kittyhawk or trailex) i have seen pictures and discussions about building a cradle/rack to adapt flat bed type trailers.
after the expense of buying racks and building a dolly, you may spend the same on a used kittyhawk which can trailer and launch.
 
I do have a flat bed that I would like to adapt...if possible. The dealer, frankly, is anti car topping for anything.
 
doctorstork said:
I have a Volvo Sedan, V80, the large one.
Click to expand...

From my point of view, cartopping works well with an SUV, minivan or wagon where the roof rack bars are well-separated. I think 4 feet minimum gives good weight distribution, and the boat should be fairly stable when secured.

For a sedan, even a big one, you might get only two feet of separation between the roof rack bars. To me the boat would ride like a giant see-saw with this narrow a separation. I've seen it done on sedans as small as Saturns, but personally I would not be comfortable with it.
 
For ideas on converted a flat trailer, look at the following:
http://www.jdecm.com/laser/dollies.htm
http://www.laserforum.org/showthread.php?t=1051

As far as roof racks go - Take a look at Thule Racks -
http://www.thuleracks.com
I come across many folks cartopping on their Volvo's, both with the factory racks on the station wagons and with aftermarket racks on sedans, w/o problems.

I disagree that distance between racks is an issue, mine are about 3' apart, once you tie the bow and stern down, it's not going to see-saw... If you really run into a situation where the racks are very close together, you can always bolt on a 2"x4" running fore and aft on each side and have the deck ride on that. Make it as long as you feel is needed
 
i drive a VW golf type3, dont cartop, but have seen people with the same car doing this, and even with a vw polo, didnt look save, but it worked
 
I like the 2x4 idea...and can understand their concern with a short rack separation distance. Also, somone recommended using a 72 inch bar rather than usual 55 inch bar.
 
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