Mounting a roof rack on a camper shell

HAB

New member
Hi all,

I've got a 2000 Tacoma with a camper set up in the bed, and a Snugtop camper shell. I'd like to put a roof rack on it to carry skis, but the shell doesn't have rails for putting a rack on, and I'm a bit leery of drilling holes in it for rivet nuts or similar, and thereby compromising the waterproofing of the shell. Has anyone done this, and have thoughts on sealing the holes off? Or a clever alternative that I haven't thought of that doesn't require drilling? I did some searching, but didn't find a ton.

I'm not looking to carry a lot of weight, for what that's worth. I've seen the metal frame ladder racks that sit on top of the bed rail and run outside of the shell, which would work, but I'd prefer something cheaper if possible, and those seem like overkill from a weight perspective.
 

robert

Expedition Leader
Yep, getting up the nerve to drill the holes is the hardest part. There are several threads on tacomaworld.com in the shells forum including at least one that I wrote a long time ago. The first part of this goes over it and you can see the funky nuts that you use with the fiberglass shell- not nutserts or rivnuts.
https://www.rackattack.com/product-instructions/yakima-60-inch-track-with-bolts-instructions.pdf
They are rounded and sized so that you won't split your head open if you hit them. Lay down blue painters tape, measure half a dozen times from your center line all while stressing out about putting holes in your top, have a beer then start drilling.

I did mine by myself but it'd definitely be easier with another person. Be sure to inspect your cap before you start measuring- if it's like most of them it will have a thicker section which has a cardboard honeycomb type reinforcing in it. You do not want to drill into it, you want your tracks outside of it. If you were to drill through it then put your bolts in they will crush it as you try to tighten them (you could do it if you really wanted to but you'd need to glass some sort of non-crushable inserts in place). Instead of silicon I would use 3M marine adhesive sealant; unlike silicon, if you have to pull a nut out or reseal it at some point it's much easier to put more on whereas silicon is a mess trying to get new silicon to stick to old silicon and it's a bear to clean it completely. I painted the exposed metal with touch up paint before applying the sealant. Remember to use sharp/new drill bits and drill small pilot holes before going to your final size in order to help prevent cracking. When drilling your holes, if you have carpet lining in your cap the bit can grab the carpet and twist, a step bit can help prevent this or I just wrapped tape around the bit as a depth gauge. If you have anything inside you may want to remove or cover it first in order to keep fiberglass dust off of it.

Enjoy. Mine's been on since 2006 and no problems to date. I've carried boats, bikes, lumber, furniture, pipe, etc. Depending on what you think you may carry I'd recommend going wider rather than narrower on your bars; I think mine are the 66" bars. They are up high enough that you won't hit your head on them and the extra real estate can come in handy when you carry multiple boats, as a place to hang a solar shower, etc.
 
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HAB

New member
Thanks for the super detailed response! I take it that the sealing is quite effective? I sleep under the shell regularly (and live in the Pacific North Wet), so keeping things as waterproof as I can is a real priority.

I've got a couple sets of old Thule square bars in my garage that I'll plan to use. I forget what lengths I've got, but I'll go with the longest ones. I see my main use case being just putting skis on the roof, so I don't need a ton of length. Currently I've got removable risers that I can put under my sleeping platform that gets the bed up high enough to put skis underneath, but I'd like to get the headroom back.
 

robert

Expedition Leader
I sleep in mine a good bit and haven't noticed any leaks so far. If I do I'll just pull the bolt, reapply sealant and then put the bolt back. Silicon just doesn't stick to itself well after it's dried and it's a bear to clean it up, especially in a funky shape like the rail channel. the tracks are pretty standard across most of the major manufacturers from what I've seen so most any bases should work.

I'd say put up the longer bars, try them out then cut to the length you like. For me it just works out having the longer bars since I can carry loads such as a bike, boat (flat in Hulley Rollers, not in a cradle) and a Space Booster box. Being able to hang stuff off the ends comes in handy as well; I hang a solar shower off of them, lights, sleeping bags in the morning to air out, etc. Personal preference.
 

HAB

New member
Glad to hear it about the waterproofing. I'm confidant that I can make whatever tracks work, I'll poke around and see what I can find on the cheap. Thanks!
 

TommyG

Adventurer
I have a Leer shell with Thule tracks in the roof also and have never had a leak. Like anything else it comes down to taking the time to do the job properly. I have seen crew cab trucks with the tracks drilled into to the roof of the cab go many years with no issues either. Get some extra hands to help and take your time.

If you are really concerned, check with a local body shop that you trust to see how much they would want to install them. It wouldn't take them long and paying cash for their labor might net you a reasonable price to get it done.
 

Ducky's Dad

Explorer
I have two SnugTops with racks mounted and have never had a leak. Both of mine use Yakima 60" tracks that mount to holes drilled through the shell, with stainless screws and big plastic nuts on the inside to distribute the load. The advantage of using tracks is that it's easy to slide the crossbars fore and aft to adjust for different loads or rack configurations, and you can easily remove the crossbars when you don't need them. If you still don't want to drill the top of your shell, Yakima has/had a system called Sideloader (I think) that actually mounted to the vertical sides of the shell, near the roofline. Whatever you do, use all stainless steel hardware and seal all penetrations with silicone. I have 20 years on one rack and 13 years on the other with no leaks, ever.
 

nastav

Adventurer
Glad to hear it about the waterproofing. I'm confidant that I can make whatever tracks work, I'll poke around and see what I can find on the cheap. Thanks!

You could do the Yakima 1A raingutter towers, Yakima or Thule artificial rain gutters (sideloader) and crossbars for probably around $100 or a bit more via craigslist and eBay.
I'd recommend new sideloader brackets for new hardware, the rest used.
The raingutter tower is old technology that works well and drilling holes in the upper sides of your shell is better and less complicated than the multiple holes required for top mounted tracks.
I had this system on a shell that had tons of saltwater exposure from surfboards dripping, and it lasted 8 years......no leaks.
 

efog

New member
I mounted Rhino Rack tracks, HD towers, and HD crossbars last year on my bed cap for our RTT. Used it rain or shine all last year with 0 issues. I highly recommend it and love the setup.
 

Bayou Boy

Adventurer
That Marine Sealant that he's talking about is 3M 4200. DO NOT mess up and use 5200. It is permanent and not the right thing for this application.

Also, mask the area before you drill and drill in reverse. Gelcoat has a habit of chipping if you don't drill this way. Start your holes with the smallest bit in your box and then go up to whatever size you ultimately need to keep the bit from wandering. I have done a lot of holes installing all sorts of stuff on boats over the years and this is what works in fiberglass.
 

rnArmy

Adventurer
I have a 4x4 dodge truck with an ARE topper. I wanted a rack on the top, so after a little junkyard searching I found a Chevy Tahoe rack that was wide and long enough. After a lot of measuring and positioning to get it just right, I marked and drilled holes in the top (that was a little nerve racking). I used SS button-head bolts, running them from the bottom up. That way there's not much hanging down inside. I used silicone in the holes, and SS fender washers and rubber washers to help complete the seal. So far no leaks.
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The only issue with running the bolts up from underneath, is you can't slide the cross bars fully from one end to the other (as there's a nut with a bolt blocking part of the path). So you need to position your crossbars where you generally want them before doing the final attachment of the rack's front-to-rear runners. At least for my application.
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Truck towing Willys.jpgRack.16.jpg
 
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CodyMcD

New member
HAB- Mounting crossbars to your fiberglass topper is a breeze. I used the Rhino Rack Y Kit w/ tracks. This system is yet to leak and has a quick disconnect feature. Not to mention $399 all in for a locking aero crossbar solution. For water proofing I added a simple RTV silicone. I used about a "chocolate chip" size over the holes and haven't had a problem.
 

Ducky's Dad

Explorer
OP, easy fix if you want to slide the bars on that rack. Just run the screws down instead of up, and order a handful of Yakima track nuts. These things are large enough to distribute the load on the underside of the fiberglass shell and have threaded inserts to catch the screws, and they are rounded so that you don't bang your head or catch jackets on them. Use silicone again to seal them. I don't remember the thread size, but you may need to buy longer screws anyway.
 
I have a Century cap on a 2003 Silverado. I wanted to be able to haul my 17' canoe and didn't want to spend a lot of money. Like a previous person mentioned, I headed to the local pick-n-pull and took a factory roof rack off of a similar year tahoe. I figured the roof contour would be very similar. I bought some stainless bolts, fender washers and nuts at Tractor Supply. Between the rack and the hardware, I had about $50 in it. I will repeat the measure, adjust, measure, then measure again idea. I was also very nervous about drilling holes in the cap. Be very particular before you drill. I also avoided the honeycomb section. I had a tube of chaulking/silicone in the garage. I don't know what it is specifically, but I put it around the underside of the heads of the bolts and dropped them through from the top down and put the washers and nuts on the underside. Haven't had any issues with leaks yet. Did have some concern about the bolts poking through and doing some damage to my nearly bald head, but so far so good. This setup is somewhat temporary as I hope to build a rack/basket for the top in the future. I will make sure that it mounts in the holes I have already drilled and I will create some type of gasket to seal the mounting plate and prevent leaks. Sorry, no pictures.
 

robert

Expedition Leader
I have a Century cap on a 2003 Silverado. I wanted to be able to haul my 17' canoe and didn't want to spend a lot of money. Like a previous person mentioned, I headed to the local pick-n-pull and took a factory roof rack off of a similar year tahoe. I figured the roof contour would be very similar. I bought some stainless bolts, fender washers and nuts at Tractor Supply. Between the rack and the hardware, I had about $50 in it. I will repeat the measure, adjust, measure, then measure again idea. I was also very nervous about drilling holes in the cap. Be very particular before you drill. I also avoided the honeycomb section. I had a tube of chaulking/silicone in the garage. I don't know what it is specifically, but I put it around the underside of the heads of the bolts and dropped them through from the top down and put the washers and nuts on the underside. Haven't had any issues with leaks yet. Did have some concern about the bolts poking through and doing some damage to my nearly bald head, but so far so good. This setup is somewhat temporary as I hope to build a rack/basket for the top in the future. I will make sure that it mounts in the holes I have already drilled and I will create some type of gasket to seal the mounting plate and prevent leaks. Sorry, no pictures.

Swing by Lowe's, Home Depot, etc, and get some rubber thread covers. They're usually different colors depending on the size but they just slip on the exposed bolts and should help save your head. Gotta look out for the bald heads! (y)
 

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