Got a new ute yesterday and found that the tray is not quite long enough to fit my boards inside.
I was wondering if anyone with a ute with a hard tonneau cover uses soft racks or something similar to carry thier boards on top of the tonneau. or has a better way of doing things
ive got a vx commy ute, my board is a 245cm JP freestyle wave and fits in with the hard cover, maybe change boards?
I've seen a few utes around that have roof racks fitted to the hard top and the boards strapped on that way. They looked like ordinary roofracks to me.
Apprently the new VE ute's tray is about 10cm shorter than the VZ/X/Y/T which basically means you're boned if you want to fit boards in there with a hardcover. Is it a VE?
Depends on the ute...my VY wont fit a GO in the back.. hangs over the edge. I am looking at putting racks of some sort on it.
Its a VE ute and the tray only just takes a 430 mast at an angle
But i like the idea of the roof racks on the hardcover i reckon a set of Rola pad mount ones might do the job
Cheers guys
ahhh utes...one of my areas of expertise. If you want to be a part of a ute club www.proutes.com
Ok, in a VU/VZ/VY you can fit upto a 258 under the hardcover. You are right about the VE, they changed the cabin dimensions to give more room behind the seats but that has taken some of the length out of the tray. I would say 10 to 15cms less length would be a good estimate. And the Ford utes are much the same as the VE.
The way I have carried longer boards with both my VU and now my Hilux Dual cab is to make up a couple of timber braces that hold the hardlid open enough to have the board hanging out, and then use something like an occy strap to hold the lid down. If you really wanted to play around I am sure you could make something similar out of alloy that locked in place and allowed you to lock the hard cover into an open position. Doesn't need to be much of an opening, only the depth of your board (plus bag if you use one).
This has always worked well and meant I never had to drill holes etc in the hardcover. If you don't have a hard cover a good option is a Quig tonneu, they would a little like a garage roller door and can be set open at any distance, but are expensive.
BUTCHER IT...make a hole in the metal of the cab big enough to push the nose of board through....pull passenger seat forward....hey presto.... use the cut out metal and some hinges to make a cover for hole when not in use 
take the tray liner out.
ive got a vs. shorter tray. can fit 2 boards a surfboard and 3 sails + all the other bits in no worries
I fit 2 boards and loads of stuff in the VY, locked in. But you can get sexy stainless steel fittings to attach neatly to the hard cover and then put s/steel bars across or just strap the boards down on top of the cover. Boat shops have the fittings, the ones they put in decks.
Or, when effecting movement of boards of extended longtitudinal format, I let them poke out the back and have a long occy strap holding the lid down, works ok, as aus301 says. You can get the occy strap cut to length from bunnings, and the ends which just tie in, easy, cheap, and when not using it, you cant see it.
Can also use the strap to tie your wife up, or flick your mates in the back of the head.
Don't own a commodore ute ! but a rodeo 2003 model tray back and fits a 3 board bag packed to the max, two 460 masts, 4 sails and two eskys, a carton of beer,camping gear, surfboard, surf ski, all comfortably in the back no worries. And cranks along the highway at 120Km/hr.
To the Commodore Ute Owners
There is a guy at Burleigh who does the carry racks for commodores for about $300 . Might be worth getting him to do some racks so you can git all your gear !
I bought a new triton VX in the middle of the year. Dual cab to carry more than two people.
Best part is the power back window. I have added a canopy on the back so I can now fit two wave boards (noses into cab but behind driver and passenger), 3 masts, 5 sails, 2 booms etc etc etc. All locked up tight when not with car.
F150
Tray is 2.6m long and 2m wide... Plenty of room for all the kit you would want to carry along with space for a hammock to chill out while the wind is building OR while you rest up after the first 3 hour session of the day !
Worked a treat in Gnaraloo !
