Roof bars. Have you checked yours?

[Mrstratos61]

Hit the river today and on unloading found one roof bar bolt had worked very loose. Luckily spotted it . How often do you check ?

[Chalky723]

I used to leave mine on all the time, now I've worked out that it's only 10 minutes to put them on/off so they get checked every time I go somewhere with the boat....

D

[Mini2]

I use mine every day for work so ladders are on and off all day , so I notice if they come lose , but I do take the uprights of , so they are tightened every time I put the kayaks on ,

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[gp.girl]

Got to Dartmoor to find the rattling was the roof rail bolt loose!

[PaddyW]

Some simple checks every time I have a load on roofrack.

1) Try to rock the car by holding the bars.
2) Try to move bars forward or backward.
3) Check how secure load is on bars.

Any movement means you need to make adjustments.

I even do this at service stations on a long journey in case anything has worked loose.

[Franky]

I had Thule roof bars on my previous car for 3 years without taking them off. I confess I never checked them, but when I did take them off, they were as tight as the day they were put on.

My new roof bars use a different system, with holes in the door frames rather than on the roof. The bars are much quicker to take on and off, so I wonder if they will work loose more easily.

[Poke]

My old Thule ones were so well attached that when I came to try to remove them (as I was selling the car) I couldn't..

[Adrian Cooper]

My last set I had to saw off and then found I couldn't get a replacement bolt

[PaddyW]

Roofrack on all the time = poor fuel consumption. It depends how often you are using it and type of driving. I take it off if I am not planning on using it for a few weeks.

[jnd_kent]

Mark the bolt head with a perma-marker at the 12'o clock position - if it moves it's time to tighten! If you cannot see the bolt use a small mirror (as in the ones people keep in their purse...). Also some designs have QR levers to release which are very handy.

[Mal Grey]

Some simple checks every time I have a load on roofrack.

1) Try to rock the car by holding the bars.
2) Try to move bars forward or backward.
3) Check how secure load is on bars.

Any movement means you need to make adjustments.

I even do this at service stations on a long journey in case anything has worked loose.

Same as Paddy. Every time I load up, the whole lot gets rocked, hard by grabbing the canoe gunwhales. If anything budges at all, its re-done.

Also do give the canoe a good shove whenever I return to the car whilst travelling with the boat on top.

[goatboy]

A quick story from the early 90s.

I used to drive a Skoda - not the modern Volkswagen clone, but the original Soviet Bloc, reject from the tractor factory, cardboard is an acceptable substitute for steel, monstrosity.

Well, the kayak stayed attached to the roof bars, the roof bars stayed attached to the car roof ... which did not stay attached to the car itself.

No major harm done, thanks to some skilled driving by the guy behind us. I even repaired the kayak, eventually.

There's probably a moral to this story, but I can't think what it is at the moment. Thought I'd share it anyway.

G.B.

[SimonMW]

On a separate note, how many people realise that they need to tell their insurance company that they use roof bars because they are classed as a modification? If you have an accident and the other party takes photos and your car has roof bars on and you haven't told the insurance company, your insurance will be invalid. Quite a lot of people don't realise this.

[jamiemagee]

On a separate note, how many people realise that they need to tell their insurance company that they use roof bars because they are classed as a modification? If you have an accident and the other party takes photos and your car has roof bars on and you haven't told the insurance company, your insurance will be invalid. Quite a lot of people don't realise this.

Really???

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[neonbowhawk]

It would depend on the insurer, some can be very strict like that in relation to other modifications, ive not heard it happening in relation to roof bars. I have told my (different) insurers on my last two cars and it didnt matter with either of them.
Still probably best to tell them though, just to be on the safe side.
If you can speak to a real person about it that is.

[Adrian Cooper]

Modification or accessory?

What about a tow bar?

What about beam deflectors?

[MaverickvRS]

Tow bars count as a modification and can increase premiums. I can't fit one to my car as it's not type approved for towing (major fail, especially as lower models on the same platform can!)

Beam deflectors are a temporary fixture and a legal requirement when driving abroad, so shouldn't be classed in the same way.

[Chalky723]

I understood that modifications were permanently attached (like towbars) or performance changing (like exhausts) - roofbars would count as accessories surely?

D

[MaverickvRS]

viewtopic.php?t=105327

[SimonMW]

Really???

Yes, generally anything that you add afterwards is considered a modification. Some insurers may have exceptions, but most of them these days consider a roof rack to be an after market modification, unless you bought the car from new with an official OEM roof rack fitted at the factory.

It's worth checking with your insurer since you could get caught out big time.

[SimonMW]

roofbars would count as accessories surely?

Unfortunately not. Well, at least by a large percentage of insurers. It's worth phoning yours to check. They won't generally charge you any extra for having roof bars, but they want to know that you have them.

[jamiemagee]

Well thanks for the heads up. Rang my insurance and yes it's a modification. Bizarre.

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[Poke]

Yeah, thanks here too.
Thought it was nonsense too, but Professor Google tells me I'm wrong.
Thats a job I need to do at lunchtime.

Well thanks for the heads up. Rang my insurance and yes it's a modification. Bizarre.

Did they charge you any extra for the update to your records?

[Gawage1]

I spoke to direct line yesterday about mine and they said I didn't need to declare it

[jamiemagee]

Yeah, thanks here too.
Thought it was nonsense too, but Professor Google tells me I'm wrong.
Thats a job I need to do at lunchtime.

Well thanks for the heads up. Rang my insurance and yes it's a modification. Bizarre.

Did they charge you any extra for the update to your records?

No didn't charge me any extra.

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[Poke]

Admiral tried to charge me a £20 admin fee, but waived it after some grumbling.

They then asked if I'd got any other "mods" to the car... to which I jokingly replied, "well, I guess I have a dash cam"...
"Yes Sir, I'll add that for you now. Anything else?"

(Me, even more incredulously): "There's two child seats in the back."
"Of course, I'll add them too".

Ridiculous! I drew the line at jokingly mentioning that I'd put a sheet of lino in the boot to make it easy to clean out, didn't want to risk breaking their system!

He then proceeded to tell me that as they weren't manufacturer supplied parts to the car, they needed to know about them, but wouldn't cover their replacement in an accident anyway (so not entirely sure why they need to be mentioned).. Ho hum!

[Mark Gawler]

This reminds me of my van insurance, too many modifications for it to be insured as a van, but not enough to be insure it as a Campervan.

I count myself lucky that when my car was written off with four bots on the roof (two sea boats), I had no issue with the insurance. The sea boats hitting the van in front broke the roof rack off putting a nice crease in the car roof, hence the car was a right off, the boats were fine.

[Franky]

He then proceeded to tell me that as they weren't manufacturer supplied parts to the car, they needed to know about them [...]

So are they defining a "car part" as anything the car contains? Do I have to declare the tin of boiled sweets in my glove box?

[jamiemagee]

He then proceeded to tell me that as they weren't manufacturer supplied parts to the car, they needed to know about them [...]

So are they defining a "car part" as anything the car contains? Do I have to declare the tin of boiled sweets in my glove box?

Better safe than sorry. Dash cam should reduce s policy as it'll help secure a claim when you're not at fault.

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[Chris Bolton]

So are they defining a "car part" as anything the car contains?

From posts above, and elsewhere, it appears that Admiral regard anything attached to the car, even temporarily, as a modification. Insurers have different views - LV regard it as an accessory if you can take it off and on (and they don't need to know), and only a modification if it's permanent.