hopefully getting an airtop RTT ("medium": 57" x 83", ~130 lbs.) within a month or so, to be mounted on a 2010 toyota 4runner. anyone out there have this same setup? how did you mate it to the roof? stock rails occupy about 60" along the sides of the roof, but only 42" is usable for mounting load bars and that spread is located too much toward the rear. considered replacing the stock roof rack (rails and all) with a track system, but the roof design is not really amenable to that idea. anyone considered a Gobi stealth for this? seems like overkill but ought to work. any other ideas? i'm disappointed with toyota on this -- 2010 model seems very good in general, but the roof design and stock roof rails/rack kinda suck.
mounting airtop RTT on 2010 4runner
- Thread starter djg1971
- Start date
Corey
OverCamping Specialist
PS, they do have some 5th gen racks.
http://www.bajarack.com/toyota-4runner
Toyota 4Runner Gen 5 (2010-2011).
EXP rack (Roof Top Tents)
Part No:
BR-TY4RG5-EXP-1-0
$ 610.00 dlls.
I can attest to the high quality of BajaRack gear too.
http://www.bajarack.com/toyota-4runner
Toyota 4Runner Gen 5 (2010-2011).
EXP rack (Roof Top Tents)
Part No:
BR-TY4RG5-EXP-1-0
$ 610.00 dlls.
I can attest to the high quality of BajaRack gear too.
Lemsteraak
Adventurer
Hi Guys,
My advice is to use an expedition basket only if you need it. All the AutoHome tents are designed to mount on two aftermarket roof bars, and they mean it. You will see on occasion a three or four bar setup but that isn't for the tent, it's for the vehicle. The factory says that the minimum span front to back is 28 inches but I think 30 or 32 inches is a better minimum and maximum span is I think 57 inches. If you need a longer span than that, it isn't a problem but you will have to drill some holes in the base of the tent.
One of the early Maggiolinas, the Adventure, was great, it would double as an expedition basket. The front half of the tent was reinforced so you could throw stuff up there that you didn't want in the truck and strap it down. It was pretty trick, the small one weight only about 110 pounds so it was the weight of an expedition basket alone.
My advice is to use an expedition basket only if you need it. All the AutoHome tents are designed to mount on two aftermarket roof bars, and they mean it. You will see on occasion a three or four bar setup but that isn't for the tent, it's for the vehicle. The factory says that the minimum span front to back is 28 inches but I think 30 or 32 inches is a better minimum and maximum span is I think 57 inches. If you need a longer span than that, it isn't a problem but you will have to drill some holes in the base of the tent.
One of the early Maggiolinas, the Adventure, was great, it would double as an expedition basket. The front half of the tent was reinforced so you could throw stuff up there that you didn't want in the truck and strap it down. It was pretty trick, the small one weight only about 110 pounds so it was the weight of an expedition basket alone.
Lemsteraak:
On a 2010 4runner the stock roof rails occupy about 60 inches along the sides of the vehicle, located from basically the back of the vehicle forward. But only the middle 42 inches of that length is actually usable rail. That means that if you use the stock setup, a tent as long as the airtop would be well supported in the rear and basically not supported at all in the front -- essentially the whole front half of the tent would have no support. I would love to use the stock rack and 2 load crossbars and forego hundreds of extra $$, but it seems like a bad idea when you are standing there evaluating the situation. I think Toyota really designed a lousy roof rack for the 5th gen 4runner. It is by far the worst feature of the vehicle and could easily have been so much better.
On a 2010 4runner the stock roof rails occupy about 60 inches along the sides of the vehicle, located from basically the back of the vehicle forward. But only the middle 42 inches of that length is actually usable rail. That means that if you use the stock setup, a tent as long as the airtop would be well supported in the rear and basically not supported at all in the front -- essentially the whole front half of the tent would have no support. I would love to use the stock rack and 2 load crossbars and forego hundreds of extra $$, but it seems like a bad idea when you are standing there evaluating the situation. I think Toyota really designed a lousy roof rack for the 5th gen 4runner. It is by far the worst feature of the vehicle and could easily have been so much better.
Outdoor Logic
Supporting Sponsor
We are working on something right now...
Once it is a little further along I will post some pictures. After we make/test/ it will be added to our product line.
Once it is a little further along I will post some pictures. After we make/test/ it will be added to our product line.
Lemsteraak
Adventurer
Yeah, I see your point, your 4runner's raised bars starts at the "B" pillars, would be nice if they gave you another six inches up front.
What you need is an attachment for another bar up front. Turns out it isn't so bad. Here is how I would do it.
http://thule.com/en/US/Products/Bas...irect Mount TK Base for Sheet Metal Roof.aspx
We used to call these "landing pads", they look like little nubs on the roof when you take the bars off. The trick to these is to get good placement. You want to mount them right into the roll cage of the truck. I like to set them up wide, almost at the edge of the roof, where it turns.
So, I would set up one Thule bar forward on "landing pads" and have two crossbars back on the raised factory bars, I like the old low profile Thule 440's. The tricky part is that since you will have three bars, they might not line up on an even plane. I used to "pad" the front and rear bars so that they would all line up. If things wouldn't line up quite right, I'd cut a couple strips of plastic or wood to place on top of the front and rear bars to line them up. The square "U" bolts might not be long enough to go around the now thicker bars and pads so you can replace the "U" bolts with longer 1/4 inch carriage bolts. AutoHome's mounting plates are designed to allow carriage bolts. If your bars still don't line up exact, it isn't a problem. Think of a Maggiolina or Columbus as a big fiberglass spring, they will take up 1/2 an inch easy.
It will take some fiddling to get it all set up but most shops that do custom installs of Thule stuff shouldn't have any trouble. In this case I prefer Thule's square bars over Yakima's round, they allow for easier adjustment. If you have a good shop, have your tent shipped direct to them and they should be able to get it all done in a couple hours.
What you need is an attachment for another bar up front. Turns out it isn't so bad. Here is how I would do it.
http://thule.com/en/US/Products/Bas...irect Mount TK Base for Sheet Metal Roof.aspx
We used to call these "landing pads", they look like little nubs on the roof when you take the bars off. The trick to these is to get good placement. You want to mount them right into the roll cage of the truck. I like to set them up wide, almost at the edge of the roof, where it turns.
So, I would set up one Thule bar forward on "landing pads" and have two crossbars back on the raised factory bars, I like the old low profile Thule 440's. The tricky part is that since you will have three bars, they might not line up on an even plane. I used to "pad" the front and rear bars so that they would all line up. If things wouldn't line up quite right, I'd cut a couple strips of plastic or wood to place on top of the front and rear bars to line them up. The square "U" bolts might not be long enough to go around the now thicker bars and pads so you can replace the "U" bolts with longer 1/4 inch carriage bolts. AutoHome's mounting plates are designed to allow carriage bolts. If your bars still don't line up exact, it isn't a problem. Think of a Maggiolina or Columbus as a big fiberglass spring, they will take up 1/2 an inch easy.
It will take some fiddling to get it all set up but most shops that do custom installs of Thule stuff shouldn't have any trouble. In this case I prefer Thule's square bars over Yakima's round, they allow for easier adjustment. If you have a good shop, have your tent shipped direct to them and they should be able to get it all done in a couple hours.
