so i want to give my friend my old tv however this is a 60 inch dlp tv very big but not very heavy yet still weighs a bit. how bad of an idea is it to strap this tv to the roof of my 95 legacy and drive it  an hour and a half across the state for 58.7 miles including a stretch of highway? i have talked to police and they have told me it is not illegal to travel with something on the roof it just has to be properly secured. i could detour a route that has no highway but would be more miles and longer drive.

Edited August 5, 20169 yr by sirtokesalot

You gonna strap it to the roof rack or just to the top of the car? If its on a roof rack and strapped down well it wont be a problem. 

 

I've driven further with more weight than that on a roof rack. But just strapping something to the top of the car would worry me. 

the car has a roof rack. my plan was to put a piece of plywood down over the roof rack so there's a flat surface for the tv to sit on then use like 4 or 6 ratchet straps to strap it down.

make sure you face the screen towards the front.   Then post a picture of the bug-kill when you reach your destination.   

  Have friend ready with the bug-cleaner.

On a roof rack, go for it. Just make sure its not gonna rain that day! 

Dunno know if you did this yet or not, but 2 things you must do. One is you need a minimum of TWO straps and they can NOT have slack in them. Problem is the required force to safely secure will be too much for the plastic. Get going at 45mph or faster and it'll want to lift and push reward if on the actual rack rails and slide forward on braking, or become an issue if you get into an accident or have to make a sudden move. Other thing you should do is pad the surface where the TV rests on the rails. Road vibrations, bumps, etc. will possibly damage the delicate pcb, etc. I would wrap the set in blankets along with padding under to be safe. Might be able to fit in the back seat area if you put it on the tunnel and put seats forward to fit.

 

Plywood is a bad idea as it'll want to lift even more w/o strong strapping. 

 

Weight-wise, I've had 6-8 sheets of plywood strapped to mine, and they didn't move even under heavy braking (tested in parking lot), but it had 2 ratchet straps extremely tight so it could have rolled over and broke the rails before they let loose.

Edited August 8, 20169 yr by Bushwick

This is what I would do. .. piece of 3/4" plywood just a bit larger than the tv. An inch or so of blankets between the ply and the tv, face down. Kinda guessing, but I'd think about 4 straps.

 

Also, note that I have a full 12' aluminium roof rack that I built that can carry 300 to 400 lbs. Yes the car handles funny. Yes go slower and think " I'm driving a big truck" so allow for much longer stopping distances. Avoid higher traffic times and places if possible.

I would be willing to say that after hitting a few bumps that the TV will be a piece of junk. The screen needs to be facing to the rear since the screen isn't made out of impact resistant glass and the first bug that hits it at 50mph just might go clear through it.