Redd

I was planning to put a canoe on the roof racks, and normally I'd secure that by cross-tying it to the front and rear tie-down points on a car, not just to the roof cross-bars, which are much less secure for a long load like that.

But of course, Audi doesn't have tie-down points, they've hidden the one front hard point behind a bezel, and with a tow hitch they delete the one rear hard point as well.

Has anyone found a good place to use, or to install tie-down points front or rear?

I'm thinking the simplest rear solution will be to put a 2" cross-bar into the trailer hitch, so there are points at both rear corners. But in the front...

Maybe removing the three outboard front screws from each side of the road pan, and fitting in a 1/4" plate to extend forward of the fascia and provide two convenient hard points up under there? Assuming what's under there is firm chassis metal, and that with proper bolts it will hold a reasonable load?

Kris Hansen

Doesn't the Q5 come with a screw in tow hook for the front or rear? Why not just use that?

Redd

Kris-
It comes with one of each, with complications. To use the one front tow point, you have to force out the right side fog lamp bezel. And risk breaking it. When I asked the service manager to show me how it pulled out, he couldn't do it, couldn't get a firm grip.
So to use the tow hook, you have to remove that bezel, if you can, and you know how "snap apart" plastic sometimes just breaks.
But assuming it does so without issues, that still leaves you with only one hard point. To secure a load from side-to-side shifting, you need two hard points, one on each side. If there's only one, it is best in the center, not off to one side. Yes you can "make do" with less, but there are proper ways to secure a load, and kludge jobs. I'd rather not kludge it.

Then there are the rear hard points. As I said, if you have a tow hitch, the factory DELETES THE ONE REAR TOW POINT entirely. So all I've got is the one centerline point, the hitch. I'll put a bar across that so it gives me two proper hard points, well separated, and not just one on the center. (If you have just the one factory tow point? You may also find that removing the plastic cover damages the paint on the bumper. Sometimes, it comes off with the cover, and then the cover stays loose and gets lost as well. Not impressive.)

Bottom line, if you have four good hard points, one at each corner, you can secure a load and KNOW that it is not moving, not shifting, not coming off. With just the factory cross bars? No really, does Audi think everyone who has ever loaded a pack mule doesn't understand how to secure a load? Audi are the only folks who don't even let you secure it from side to side. At all, with or without the bars.

dsackman

Not that complicated...

I made two loops out of nylon strap and fastened them under the hood - one on each side. They stick out when I need them for the kayaks and I just fold them back when not needed. I do not use anything at the rear. I did this on the '11 2.0T and now the same on the '13 3.0T

I use the standard cross-bars with Yakima boat holders.

Have taken two kayaks over 85mph with this setup with no issues. The boats are an Epic GPX (13') and an Epic 16X (16').

I will take pics later and show.


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erik.wahlstrom

I did the same thing. Attaching to these:



I padded the gap between the hood and fender with a strip of masking tape. Worked like a charm.

awryexperiment

There are commercially available loops by Thule and Rhino. I see them quite a bit.

Redd

Interesting, thanks guys. I would never have thought of passing something up through the sides of the hood, would have thought it either wouldn't fit, or would damage the sides of the hood, pinching it.

Eric, Ford used to call those "K" arms, running from the shock towers back to the firewall usually, to stiffen the front end.

Warhead

I know this is an old thread, but I cam across it last week when looking to tie a 15.7ft canoe to the top of my 2016 Q5. I noticed as well that the normal tie down points were not there. I ended up using 4 ratchet straps to secure the canoe to the OEM roof rack. Two over the mid section at each cross bar and one at the front and rear points tied back to the bar itself. I tried using foam between the canoe and the roof rack but they compressed to much while driving causing the canoe to move too much. I went with directly laying it on the cross bars and it hasn't moved and inch now with bad roads, high winds (its like a kite up there) and highway speeds (120km/h)

This works for me and I didn't have to rig up something odd to do it.



Side view



Front



Rear

Redd

Thanks for the reality check, warhead.
In another thread, I found out that if you take the plastic shrouds off the crossbar bases, they're actually simple to work on. The rear bases are a full 2" lower than the front ones, so adding some 2-1/4" tall blocks will raise the rear rack so that it is slightly higher than the front--the way the gods of lift and drag prefer these things to be, when you're not attempting flight. And the bases can be installed with or without the crossbars. If they're installed without them, they become very easy to stow, and eye-bolts on top make for easy tie-downs in either case.
Your extra strap probably helps take out some wiggle. One summer, I was in charge of securing the luggage for an entire tour bus--on the roof. And was quite happy that we were the only bus in the group that never ever lost one single piece from our roof. So...yeah, I'd still like a front tie down. I've got a record to keep.(G)

MurrayA4

Yeah I tend to agree with you.I'm not anxious to get a canoe in the eye !
I've had two close calls with flying objects.One was a sheet of plywood that came off a leading vehicle because the lift snapped the attaching straps.Sailed about 6" above my roof.So close I can tell you it was 1/2" spruce-rough finish hah.