Surfboards - Carrying Longboards in a Short Bed

I'm planning to get into surfing next year...plan to use a long board. I'm getting ready to build an in-bed-cage for my Taco. I haven't settled on a design yet. I'm wondering if bagged boards can be carried on edge or do they always need to be flat? I'm thinking of having my front bar straight so I can strap them to the side of it and having a tall rear hoop so that they could also be strapped to. Would love to hear how you do it in Cali or on the Big Island.

 

I used a lenght of pipe insulation on the top edge of the tailgate and a bungee cord from the tie down rings ... never a problem ... just a thought.

 

if your carrying multiple boards you can do what i do...
Im a windsurfer so the amount of gear we carry is colossal. having the boards over the bed allows me to fill the bed with sails and all the other stuff we need... if im just using one board that day, i do like jp said and just put half a piece of foam pipe over the tail gate and toss the board in.

I used a thule rack right over the bed. my boards range from 7 feet to 12.
some of my sails are also 8 feet long..
the racks pop off in seconds once your done as well.



heres a shot of my old ranger fully loaded (same rack)


another advantage of this set up is you can haul your boards in bags for long trips in a very secure way.

 

For carrying longbards, get a bed extender, a piece of pipe insulation to put on bed extender and a couple good quaility bungee cords to strap across board and you'll be good to go.

 

I made these. Add a couple of board mounts

 

x2, or you can use a towel instead of the insulation. I did this until I surfboard tailgate pad for my birthday last year. the tailgate pad is $40 or so and it has straps that cinch down on the tailgate, keeps it nice and tight

 

What do you consider a longboard? 8' and you will be fine hanging it over the tailgate (with a pad), but 10' or longer, the tailgate becomes the fulcrum point to kink or snap your board. The $50 Harbor Freight cargo extender thing works great and easy to remove when you don't need it.

 

I am looking a set up like that what brand is the tower, cross bar and the rail to put the tower.

thanks.

 

The set up is very strong. i wanted something good for local use, easy on / off, but solid for when the bed is full of gear, and i was transporting all 3 boards 8 hours to the Outerbanks in bags. The third board gets stacked in the middle, between, on top of the the bottom two. Locally, i usually transport two boards at a time, without them in bags. Being a windsurfer, the lower the rack the better, i wanted chest height. Loading a high or elevated roof rack in 20+ knot winds is a recipe for disaster. I could easily load a 12' stand up paddle board with this set up, as the bars have ample lateral space and support.

When i bought the tacoma i simply moved the system from my old truck over.

I used Thule Top Tracks and ran them down the bed rails.
secured with stainless steel fasteners.
I would have used the Aero Bars to go across the bed but our tacomas are just a hair too wide to use the 60" Aero Bars, so i had to go with the regular 64" Thule Load Bars (square ones). Thule 430 feet attach to the load bars. The feet lock into Tracker II's that travel on the top tracks. The best part is, once im home and unload my gear, the rack pops off with the push of a button and i store it in the bed or hang it in the garage and all thats left on the truck is the top tracks. Tonneau cover also functions independently of the rack, or whats loaded on it.

It is very frustrating how badly Thule ass rapes customers. specifically, most of the stuff i bought a year ago has been discontinued and replaced with newer versions. I built my system knowing exactly which parts i needed, scoured craigs list and ebay, and was able to obtain the parts for roughly half the price of retail.

 

Whatever you do, do not just put them in the back of your bed without some sort of secure way to hold them down (they will fly out, just a matter of time). I have a cap on mine with Thule rack system and you can seriously fit anything up on those bad boys. I've had a stock and unlimited class paddleboards from 14-18' (just borrowed one more rack for the front...awesome).

 

I don't think anyone fully read the question...

He said he's doing a bed cage and wondered if you can carry boards on their sides.

The answer. Yes, it's fine to carry a board on its side as long as its tied down well.

How I carry my boards.

The 8' I put in its bag and hang over the tailgate with bunnies going to the D rings.

The 5' 11.9" (I say that cuz it only fits in the bed if you line up the nose to go into one of te indentations on the tailgate) gets put on its side, with a towel under it and a bungee going from the D ring to a cleat mounted in the track on the side of the bed towards the rear window.

My friends make fun of me for tying down my boards so well. I laughed when my friend told me his board hit the road at highway speed the other day...

 

Rad! How did you make those?

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/234004-budget-bed-rails-rack-crossbars.html

 

Same way as I haul 12' kayaks.....up top. Bed is completely free to pack up whatever you need to bring.





Up high out of the way and makes useful shade too.

 

that rack is no joke, cant use it with a tonneau cover though. Its built well and matches the rest of your truck awesome with its bulk. thats a great shot of the bike in the back.

 

Thanks, and the top pic is my current ride. The access cab was my old truck. I just use the bed too often to have a tonneau....that and the price makes me want a shell instead but that is same thing, in the way of using the bed how I need so I just leave it open. The thing that concerns me about the racks at bed level tho is stuff going thru the back window if someone rear ends you or if you hit something and stop quick enough to throw them forward. I do like the way you have the tailgate down with bed extender. I like stuff up high too so if I walk around the back of the truck I don't walk into stuff, lol. Tradeoffs for everything tho, your setup is easier to reach for loading/unloading. I have to climb on tire and/or bed rails to tie my stuff down.

 

death by surfboard, while driving. the ultimate irony
that would be my luck

after seeing your twin kayaks, i always thought i might be able to haul one, but after seeing yours its clear that its gotta be over the cab to do that properly, like yours.

 

You could do the goal post extender thing in the receiver hitch to carry them but yeah, 12' is a bit much to just hang out the bed for any kind of real trip. I used to hang them out of the 82 prerunner bed when I lived 5 minutes from the home paddle spot but nothing more than that would be safe for any travel outside just a neighborhood street thing. I did have them held into bed with motorcycle straps on each tho. Just too much tying with straps and stuff to go 5 minutes away so I stopped using the j racks on my protege5 roof. Of course, when I finally bit the bullet on the xsporters for the 2nd gen any silly hauling on the car stopped completely and there isn't nearly as much strapping to do either like with the J racks.

 

I use a tailgate pad. The strap that would secure the board got weak over time, so I removed it and just use the pad with a ratcheting tie down. ***Be sure to fold up a towel to use between the tie down and the board to prevent pressure dings***