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Tie Pods

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by blueumbrella, Jun 4, 2010.

  1. blueumbrella

    blueumbrella Member of Prius Regeneration

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    These work great for securing things to the top (or side) of your Prius (or any other vehicle) when the interior space is too small. Follow the link and watch the video.

    Now you can make good on that threat to those out of control kids -"don't make me have to tie you to the top of the car-" Just kidding!!

    http://www.tiepods.com/products.asp
     
  2. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    Suction cups can be useful and fun. But on the outside of a car I would not trust them. Should one come loose, whoosh! there goes all your cargo onto the highway where the car in back of you will hit it and possibly swerve and have a horrible accident.

    I have a suction cup mount for my Garmin Nuvi. It attaches it nicely to the inside of my windshield and works great. When it falls off, it just lands on the floor of the car. No harm done.

    But for fastening stuff on the outside of the car? Forget it!
     
  3. blueumbrella

    blueumbrella Member of Prius Regeneration

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    Daniel - these are the real deal. They do work on any smooth surface and support up to 60 lbs. I have used them and they are very secure. Like you, I was also initially very skeptical. I have the same Garmin suction cup you are referring to and the design of these is different and far superior. I understand that many people will not trust these because
    of past experiences with suction cup failures related to poor design. However, used within their limits, these provide a handy alternative which is effective.
     
  4. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    Suction cups use suction. Suction can be broken. I do not doubt they work very well, and 999 times out of a 1,000 will hold for the duration of a trip. For me, that's not good enough, considering that a failure could cause a crash (of cars behind you hitting your cargo).

    I believe there are alternatives which hook onto the door frame. Much less cool, but much safer.

    Also, remember that the suction cup is only holding onto the top layer of clearcoat over the paint on the car. And that an imperfection not visible to the eye can admit air and eventually break the suction.