How to Carry Luggage on Top of Your Car

There is nothing more frustrating than a going on a long adventure with a car, that’s crammed up with luggage in every possible corner.

Whether you’re going on a camping adventure with the family, or you’re crossing the border in hopes of avoiding plane costs, a long car journey can be a nightmare. In addition to all of this madness, your seat is pushed forward due to the amount of luggage that you’ve had to cram into your car.

Whether you’re planning on going on a similar adventure in the future or you’ve done it before, we’re here to tell you that you can easily avoid it. So, how to carry luggage on top of car?

Get a Roof Rack

The most obvious way that probably came to your mind already is to get a roof rack, but unfortunately, the legality of having a roof rack and using it is a touchy subject. However, how legal or illegal it eventually comes down to how well you manage to secure your load on the top of your car.

In other words, if it’s packed adequately and capable of being moved around at most speeds, then you should be good. But if it’s not adequately secured, you’ll get 3 penalty points and a 60 pound fine.

If it even goes as far as coming off and causing some injury to others or damage to their property, you should expect worse. But one cannot neglect the fact that carrying your bags and suitcases on the top of your car is a super-efficient way of saving space. It helps you avoid the hassle of having to drive on long journeys with a crammed car and a tight space, which might cause some serious issues down the road, in addition to the lack of comfort and more.

In addition to providing you with a solid base, that you can tie everything to, roof racks also protect the roof of your car. While we’re assuming that your vehicle has decent storage, it’s still not enough in most cases, and that’s why we recommend that you use the roof rack instead. The fact that it’s in open air means that you can put all your oddly-shaped belongings there, like golf clubs, skis, skateboards, etc.

Make Sure Water Won’t Touch Your Luggage

Given the fact your luggage will be outside, we recommend that you make sure that all of your suitcases are waterproof, which they should be if they’re modern. An alternative to this would be to wrap everything in plastic bags, or only covering the whole roof rack with a large tarpaulin, an overkill for some, but a very effective one.

Secure Your Luggage Before Hitting the Road

Here are some steps to follow, in order to assure that your luggage is correctly set on your roof rack, you need to make sure that you use proper tie-down cords when doing it instead of bungee cords.

Adequately set all of your luggage on the roof, then lay the safety straps along the width of your luggage.
Take one end of the strap and loop it under an upper bar that’s perpendicular to your car, then connect it back up to the top
Bring that same end around to the other side of your bags
Do the same process but with the other end of the strap
Secure each end together, and you’re good to go!

Not that hard, is it?

Now, is carrying your luggage on the roof of your car feasible?

The answer is yes. And it is way easier than people make it out to be, and if you properly do it, you won’t have to worry about not being relaxed on your long journeys.

References:

https://www.autoanything.com/resources/how-to-install-a-roof-rack-attach-accessories/
https://explore.yakima.com/rack-101
Our own travel experience, guides, and reviews