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I know some of you were asking for a review of this product from SeaSucker, so I thought I'd give my initial impressions, then I'll report back after my 2500 mile round trip adventure in 10 days.
As most are keenly aware, the only option you have with a Cabrio and wanting to haul anything is if you can locate the TechEquipment Cabrio rack that is about as common place as a pink Cabrio.. they are unicorns. Since I never use the hard top, and I haven't driven this car in winter more than 500 miles the first year I got it, my second option was to fabricate a rocket box to the hardtop by drilling in mounts and reinforcing them with a plate under the headliner. While that is doable, I was apprehensive about effectively destroying the hard top that came with my car. What to do.. what to do. My good friends in CO pushed me to buying the SeaSucker product. They use them all the time for skis and mountain bike mounts. For $330 shipped, I figured why not. They use (4) 210lb suction cups to affix both racks to your roof or window. So today, I wanted to see how well these things worked. I follow the instructions that are basically this: the cups need to be about 60 degrees for maximum flexibility (just for the mounting phase) and the roof/window area must be clean from all dust/dirt. Easy enough. just a couple of pushes on the integrated pump mechanism and these things are solid, like rock solid. I couldn't not get them to move at all and I was cranking on them. I loaded up a set of my GS boards and decided to take the car out for a shake down run. The manual says not to exceed 70MPH.. well.. the reality is I am taking this car on a 2500 mile round trip from MPLS to Aspen. I can assure you that 70MPH is nowhere even close to our designated average speed. SO that had me nervous. I ran around today for 80 miles or so at speeds (on a vacant Mexican highway) in the upper 130's and the rack and skis were on there like glue. None of the suction pods lost any suction at all (they have a suction meter on each of them so you can tell if you have a weak connection. I got a LOT of weird looks out there today, but I am damn excited to make this trip. Sure I could have flown, but when you have these cars, why not drive them?
Nice! I've looked around for a rack for my '99 convertible and came to the same conclusion you did. The seasucker is the best solution. Great to see one in use.
Cool solution! We use suction cups when lifting large heavy windows for installation. No doubt they are very strong and quite simple.
I wonder if the elevation change will have an effect? You should see the pressure that builds up inside a Pringles can or Monster drink at 10,000 feet! I am sure you will be keeping an eye on things during the trip but I would look extra close when you hit Denver, and maybe again once in Aspen.
Enjoy the trip, Colorado is beautiful right now with several feet of fresh snow in the mountains and 50 degree daytime temps in the valleys. My ski's are attached to a motor, which is going out again today!
Any updates to your Sea sucker review? I'm considering the bike rack solution.
Originally Posted by RJHerrmann
I know some of you were asking for a review of this product from SeaSucker, so I thought I'd give my initial impressions, then I'll report back after my 2500 mile round trip adventure in 10 days.
As most are keenly aware, the only option you have with a Cabrio and wanting to haul anything is if you can locate the TechEquipment Cabrio rack that is about as common place as a pink Cabrio.. they are unicorns. Since I never use the hard top, and I haven't driven this car in winter more than 500 miles the first year I got it, my second option was to fabricate a rocket box to the hardtop by drilling in mounts and reinforcing them with a plate under the headliner. While that is doable, I was apprehensive about effectively destroying the hard top that came with my car. What to do.. what to do. My good friends in CO pushed me to buying the SeaSucker product. They use them all the time for skis and mountain bike mounts. For $330 shipped, I figured why not. They use (4) 210lb suction cups to affix both racks to your roof or window. So today, I wanted to see how well these things worked. I follow the instructions that are basically this: the cups need to be about 60 degrees for maximum flexibility (just for the mounting phase) and the roof/window area must be clean from all dust/dirt. Easy enough. just a couple of pushes on the integrated pump mechanism and these things are solid, like rock solid. I couldn't not get them to move at all and I was cranking on them. I loaded up a set of my GS boards and decided to take the car out for a shake down run. The manual says not to exceed 70MPH.. well.. the reality is I am taking this car on a 2500 mile round trip from MPLS to Aspen. I can assure you that 70MPH is nowhere even close to our designated average speed. SO that had me nervous. I ran around today for 80 miles or so at speeds (on a vacant Mexican highway) in the upper 130's and the rack and skis were on there like glue. None of the suction pods lost any suction at all (they have a suction meter on each of them so you can tell if you have a weak connection. I got a LOT of weird looks out there today, but I am damn excited to make this trip. Sure I could have flown, but when you have these cars, why not drive them?
Just saw this post and had to chime in that I just got a Seasucker Talon about a month ago for using with my tri bike and I love it. It easily goes 80 mph with no issues at all, plus it's easy to use. People do give me all sorts of looks when I'm driving with my tri bike on... Not sure if it's:
A. Me
B. The Porsche 911
C. The Porsche 911 with a fast looking bike
I think it's C. Because people always look at the 911 and this makes it even more exotic(especially once I put my aero wheels on instead of the box wheels). Only drawback is that the way I mount it I can't open the sunroof, but hey, I can either turn on the A/C or put down the windows.
03-07-2015, 06:53 PM
Got the SeaSucker Ski Rack mounted to my Hard Top
