Re: Vacu-Rak

Posted by Alan Speakman on Jul 4, 2007

Hi Steve and everyone...

Steve, to answer your question within reason... Yes, the wife an I own the Vacu-Raks, and yes, they really do work. (Lawd, I started this thread back in '06!)

Yes, they do work BUT!!!

In my opinion, they only work as an adjunct to proper tie downs to the front and back of the car. ie... They work as "side-to-side placeholders" (separated by pool noodles) on the roof for the yak.

There is NO way I'd trust them as stand-alone racks! Here's why...

* The roof surface and Vacu-Rak suction cups have to be PERFECTLY clean in order to work... Not easy.

* The roof of the car can't curve too much.

* The Vacu-Rak has to be compressed onto the roof of the car BEFORE the vacuum is initiated by hand lever...

Others may have had better luck with the system... And used as I describe it, it's pretty much part of a bulletproof system... But I would NEVER use it as MY primary secure system on the top of a vehicle.

Beyond that... The wife and I LOVE it... It takes us about 15 minutes to load the car and mount the MC13... When we're done, it would take brute force, a crane, and a chain saw 15 minutes to get the yak off the top of the Camry. Yet unloading it takes us about 3 minutes. At this point, I'd take the MC anywhere on Cape Cod using the Vacu-Rak...

But I'd still secure the yak fore and aft to the car's bumpers just to be sure!

Hope this helps!

Alan

In Response to: Re: Vacu-Rak by Steve on Jul 3, 2007

Replies:

No Replies.