Guys,
I have had my TI for almost 1 year - love it.
I car top for 2 reasons:
1. I tow a camper trailer and so I can't tow a second trailer.
2. I don't have room at home to store a second trailer.
To save room I hoist my TI to the ceiling of the garage roof.
As a few have said if both I didn't have either of these constraints then I would also put the TI (or AI for that matter) on a dedicated marine trailer.
There's also (at least) 3 reasons for that:
1. If you don't have a lifting solution, it is risky for you and the car.
2. When the TI is loaded on the car after being out in sea water (which is most of the time for me) there is a risk that the salt water and sand gets on the car. Even if you leave it to dry first - murphy says it will rain before you get home and hence the salt gets washed onto the car. As a result I'm going to the car wash after every time to thoroughly wash down the car and then spray a protective wax coating on it.
3. To ensure the car and TI are safe even in an emergency stop or swerve situation, the tie down needs to be done very carefully - which takes more time.
However, given I can't use a trailer I am very happy with my solution.
It is actually quite quick to get down from the roof.
I can put the TI onto the car and take it down completely solo - there is no manual lifting.
I don't have to disassemble the AMA's / AKAs and tie down / store them separately.
With the forward support pole, the dynamic forces of sudden breaking or road undulations with strong head winds are taken care of.
Here's a video that shows how I store the TI in the garage and subsequently get the "beast" onto my 4WD:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJgO0_V74NQ[/youtube]
Regards,
Ian