4th gen 4runner low profile rack options?

Martinjmpr

Wiffleball Batter
Already posted this over at T4R.org but thought I'd post it here, too.

Trying to put a bigger rack on my 07 SR5 but I'm a bit confounded by the rack design. I hate having a rack that sits 3-4" off the top of the roof, my 3rd gen had the crossbars screwed onto the roof itself and could mount a rack that sat on top of the roof.

What options are out there? I like the design of the Rola and Yakima Load Warrior, but, again, my issue is that the only way I know of to mount these racks is to set them on top of the factory crossbars which are already several inches off the roof. What I'd like would be something like a "dropped bar" that would lower the base of the roof rack to just above the roof. I can undersand the need to keep the weight off the roof, which presumably is not designed to carry weight, but I can see no reason for theres to be 3-4" of air sitting underneath the roof rack. Not only does this make the COG higher than it needs to be and create more wind resistance, it looks stupid IMO.

I had thought about maybe getting a Rola or a Load Warrior and then modifying it somehow so instead of sitting on top of the longitudinal bars (the support bars that run fore-and-aft along each side of the roof and that contain the crossbars), to see if there was a way to "hang" the rack so it sat lower. Has anybody here tried that and if so, how did you do it and did it work?

Thanks in advance! :ylsmoke:

EDITED TO ADD: Before anyone does it, no, I'm not interested in a Baja Rack. Having a rack sit 4" above the roof line may be stupid, but IMO that's not as stupid as dropping nearly a thousand bucks on a roof rack. :rolleyes:
 

ebg18t

Adventurer
EDITED TO ADD: Before anyone does it, no, I'm not interested in a Baja Rack. Having a rack sit 4" above the roof line may be stupid, but IMO that's not as stupid as dropping nearly a thousand bucks on a roof rack. :rolleyes:

Sounds like you need to build something out in the back shed and be done with it. :coffee:
 

Lecoq

Explorer
I'd say you're limited to custom building some brackets or maybe a Whitson rack depending on your budget. There's a member on here with a 4th gen (can't remember who) that did a used the factory rails with some dropped cross bars and a Rola rack on top. Shift-E-Eyes also welded some brackets straight from the roof to his Rola rack. Hope this helps.

I love the Gobi Stealth rack but I have a hard time justifying $1500+ for a rack. I'm hoping FrontRunner comes up with a 4th gen rack soon. They said they were two months away back in July:coffee:
 

Martinjmpr

Wiffleball Batter
I'd say you're limited to custom building some brackets or maybe a Whitson rack depending on your budget. There's a member on here with a 4th gen (can't remember who) that did a used the factory rails with some dropped cross bars and a Rola rack on top. Shift-E-Eyes also welded some brackets straight from the roof to his Rola rack. Hope this helps.

I love the Gobi Stealth rack but I have a hard time justifying $1500+ for a rack. I'm hoping FrontRunner comes up with a 4th gen rack soon. They said they were two months away back in July:coffee:

I actually got a good answer over on T4R.org. There is someone out there fabricating "drop" brackets for the Rola rack. The brackets look pretty stout.

I can understand dropping serious coin on a rack if it's going to carry a lot of gear for a long time (like for an around-the-world expedition.) But for my mall crawler/occasional travel vehicle, I don't need the size, weight or cost of a big rack. Additionally, I remove it when not needed (no point in carrying the weight or the wind resistance unless I'm using the rack) so a permanent install is not what I'm looking for either.

Thanks for all the input though.

Here's the link to the drop brackets:

http://www.armortechoffroad.com/03-09-4RNR-Rola-Rack-Mount-Kit_p_347.html
 

Forum statistics

Threads
189,951
Messages
2,922,626
Members
233,207
Latest member
Goldenbora
Top