One last thought. The istructions on the Yakima fake gutters I just bought thoughtfully instruct to install the front ones slightly LOWER than the rear ones so your load will tilt forward slightly. Smart idea which will keep less air from getting under the load and causing upward preassures. My pop was already drilled for these mounts, but I'm definately going to use thicker padding on the back bar to give me at least a little tilt.

Favorite board death story -- while chasing surf down on the outer banks of NC a friend and I found ourselves behind a couple kids w/ boards on top of their car. In what seemed like slow motion we saw the boards bounce a couple times and then fly completely off the top of their car, spinning into the air in front of us. Dave slams the brakes to avoid getting impaled and one board falls out of the sky right in front of us, barely missing the grill, but getting squished. I have no idea where the other board went. End result? Vanagon 1, surfboard 0 and only a little wax on the tire to show what happened.

john