[warman]

Thought you all might be interested in seeing the surfboard rack I made for my insight, this might also be useful for people thinking about bike racks:

Link to larger versions

It's basically a yakima q-clip style rack on the front and a soft rack on the back. I'll try to take some more detailed pictures sometime soon. I did have to drill a small hole in the door frame on each side to keep the clips from sliding off. (because of the angle of the door frame the clips alone can't get very good traction)

With three surfboards (and a passenger and camping gear for 5 days) my mileage was down to about 46 mpg on a 4 tank trip from Portland to Santa Cruz. I spent about 3/4 driving at 60-65 mph and 1/4 drafting trucks. Not good for an Insight (my lmpg is 54.2) but still better than just about any other vehicle with a surf rack!

 

[dice]

Looks good, gives me a great idea for a ski rack too. Look forward to the detailed pics.

 

[warman]

more pics

Here's some detailed pics of the rack, sorry it took so long:

http://dwarmanarch.com/jacob/projects/insightrack1.jpg

http://dwarmanarch.com/jacob/projects/insightrack2.jpg

http://dwarmanarch.com/jacob/projects/insightrack3.jpg

here's hauling some steel for another project:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/163/3762 ... 92a325.jpg

btw, this other project is probably about as far away as you can get from an insight and still be on 4 wheels - it's a Mercedes Unimog:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/144/3714 ... dc51ed.jpg

 

[b1shmu63]

Less than 100 dollars for gas, your boards didn't get lost in shipping and you didn't need to rent a car when you got there. Nice!

Somehow surfing and a cool looking eco friendly car seem a good fit.

 

[ikhoudvanu199]

hmmm....i smell a how-to!

i need a bike rack for my mountain bike this summer...maybe you can do a DIY write-up for us?