I'm heading up to Road America for Labor Day DE with the chicago region PCA. Usually the wife brings up the truck, and i can throw my track tires in the truck. This year, no luck. Does anyone have, or is there even such a thing, as a roof rack or rear trunk rack that can support a set of track tires? Any plans for something that i could fab up? The tires probably weigh around 150#'s or so.

2 in front trunk....
2 in rear trunk...

1 or 2 in passenger seat:)

yeah, i have 205's on 7" rims, and they don't fit that well with all the other stuff (tools, cooler, clothers, helmet, chair, etc). If i could find a luggage rack even, and put the tires in the trunk, i would be in better shape.

I have one of these but I don't know if it can hold that much weight without distributing the weight out on a piece of plywood or something.

Jeff

Is that 4 sale, or do you remember where you picked it up? Cause i could use it for all of the other crap, and put the tires in the trunks.

A friend of mine here is really serious about tracking his 914. he purchased a small utility trailer from Harbor Frieght w/8" wheels. Made a simple tire rack for 4 tires side by side. Added a plastic locker tote for his jack and misc.
Attaches it to his 914 by way of a hidden receiver behind the license plate. Open the trunk, pull the hitch pin, remove the license tag receiver. Put the trailer receiver in and install the pin. He then puts the tag into a receiver that he mounted on the back of the trailer. Pretty cool. It does require cutting a square hole into the bumper behind the tag though.
Geo.

Old Days, Warren Williams

Here is a pic of the trailer. Hope this works!
Geo

if you can beg borrow or steal a yakima

no pics, sorry, but i'm road-trippin' soon and i figured a way to attach my ('98 jetta) yakima rack to the rear trunk lid.

first, i took the plates off the clamps that normally grip the door sills, leaving only the feet with the rubberized pads. (i had to adjust up the clamp so the guts didn't contact the deck lid)

because my bars are the shorter ones i couldn't mount it laterally (not sure if the long ones would make it), so i measured them out and spaced the equally longitudinally. the feet rested better when i spread the rear mounts out slightly to match the curve of the deck.

i propped the decklid and fed a ratcheted tie strap under and up on each, and fiddled with it to wrap around the feet and bar. i had to have the ratchet on top because there's no clearence inside for it, but when i added the luggage bin, it's sorta hidden. (i could have had the clamp plates fabbed to fit around the decklid and still might, but i didn't wanna spend the cash just yet. then it's just clamp and go!)

don't ratchet too tight as you'll gain tension marginally from the top when you close the lid. if you do it right, you'll have full access to your trunk and engine bay w/o removing the rack, and you can add lateral bars or even 2x's to lash down at least 4 skins.

good vibes 2 ya ~

QUOTE

Is that 4 sale, or do you remember where you picked it up? Cause i could use it for all of the other crap, and put the tires in the trunks.

Sure is! PM me with your offer and we can chat about it!

Jeff

QUOTE (lotus_65 @ Aug 16 2005, 09:03 AM)

if you can beg borrow or steal a yakima no pics, sorry, but i'm road-trippin' soon and i figured a way to attach my ('98 jetta) yakima rack to the rear trunk lid. good vibes 2 ya ~

Come on. Give'em up.

QUOTE (joseph222 @ Aug 17 2005, 12:29 AM)

Come on. Give'em up.

dood! my camera's out of town. thanks though, it is a good setup... i'l try and borrow 1 tomorrow.

Similar to what Lotus 65 did. You can just buy cheap universal roof racks that use straps to attach to the car. They would fit just fine on the rear trunk of a 914. They come with a variety of vinyl coated clips for the end of the straps - you just use the one that fits the best. I saw one that would work perfectly at Pep Boys the other day for only $25.

Demick

QUOTE (Aaron Cox @ Aug 15 2005, 03:24 PM)

2 in front trunk.... 2 in rear trunk... 1 or 2 in passenger seat:)

You can only fit one 205 tire and rim in the front trunk, and they are too wide to lay flat in the back trunk. That leaves you with one in the front and 3 in the passenger seat. (this is with 205/50/15 Hoosiers on stock fuchs)

I took a spare roof and made a rack that holds two to five tires. At the track I install a plain roof for running. A friend is borrowing the rig now but I have a pictgure of it on my car with tires. I'd be glad to post it if someone would tell me how to add pictures to these messages.

Ed

here is my picture attempt. this was taken at the 2001 Dallas 914 gathering

Hmm, another variable in cars and tires. I can get two Kumho V700's in my front trunk 205/50-15.
one in the back trunk and one on the floor board.

Hoosiers only allows 1 in the front. one in the back but you can't get the roof in. one on the floor board and one on the seat.

Wife may go with me to next event So I will put all 4 in the back on edge and the ton of other crap up front.

Might put my "dicked up" rear deck lid on.

QUOTE (Joe Ricard @ Aug 17 2005, 09:36 AM)

Hmm, another variable in cars and tires. I can get two Kumho V700's in my front trunk 205/50-15.

Hmmm. I've tried every way I could arrange them and couldn't fit two 205/50-15 Kumhos into my front trunk.

Demick

rack 1

rack 2

rack 3

Now that is what i am talking about. thanks for all of the great ideas. That is what i love about this place. Ask a question, and most likely, you will get more than one response. Thanks again.

QUOTE (roundboy914 @ Aug 18 2005, 07:32 AM)

Now that is what i am talking about. thanks for all of the great ideas. That is what i love about this place. Ask a question, and most likely, you will get more than one response. Thanks again.

yea, sorry 'bout the resolution, i have the larger files...

i think it would be easy to use bars or even 2x's laterally with ratched straps to lock down your gear. good luck!

In case someone might give a rat's patoot, my friend took some pictures of my roof rack and sent them to me. The tires are secured by a bar going through the wheels and fastened to the cross bars by a chain and turnbuckle. note the foundation of the rack that covers a wide area of the froof. This gives great strength to the unit and keeps the top from cracking when a large weight gets bounced on a small area. I have several different through the wheel bars to use to secure different numbers of tires on the rack.

Another view

Yet another

Here is the underside of teh roof. The mounts for the roof rack make a sandwhich with the roof in the middle. this does a great job of spreading the load.