ARB Awning Install: 3rd Gen 4Runner w / Stock Roof Rack

[Utah KJ]

It was time to move my awning from my Jeep to my '97 4Runner but all I have is the stock roof rack. I bought some ARB brackets from Cruiser Outfitters and went about the business of figuring out how to mount them to the roof.

The first thing I did was remove one of the thumb screws to determine which bolt would fit into the stock rails; what I found was M6x1x25mm would work. Then I lined up the bracket with the rail and drilled a hole to add a 2nd nut & bolt.

I added this bolt because I thought I needed it to level it out but it wasn't needed so I deleted it.

It's very solid, in fact, you can grab the awning and rock the vehicle back and forth. The beauty of this is I can remove the factory thumb screws on the other side, remove my bolts and either put it into storage when not being used or reverse everything and put the awning on the passenger side pretty easily.

 

[FLYFISHEXPERT]

Great idea! How long is the awning?

 

[Utah KJ]

I have the 6.5' awning, there is a size larger and a size smaller. I believe all three sizes pull out 6'. Since I am in the process of selling off one vehicle and building this one there's no $ for a proper rack at this time. Since I already owned the awning and wanted to use it for my MOAB trip coming up soon I figure this was the best option. This solution cost me $30 (the brakets are spendy but very beefy) and it's rock solid.
My plan is to get a Baja Rack with an RTT soon and hopefully come up with a solution for the awning with that. If I am successful, I might just sell the rails and brackets as is to another 4Runner owner who might want to save $ on an awning mounting solution.

 

[GhostRing]

Great post!
I seem to have the same rack on my Gen 2 and this seems like a good method.
I have enough material to make my own brackets and was curious if tucking & tilting the awning closer to the roof is ok?
(i.e. does the awning need to mount vertical, or can it lean inwards ~30° )
Having never had my own, I'm not sure if there are certain clearances that must be accounted for...

 

[Utah KJ]

You could tuck it in more but you would have to space it up an inch or so to clear the transit bag so it doesn't interfere with opening and closing of the doors. If you did not want to space it up, you could wrap shock cords around the bag to hold it tighter to the extrusion but then you would impact the quick deploy nature it was designed for. The other "problem" you would run into is you would have to put the awning farther forward to allow the hatch to open leaving more of the extrusion unsupported and exposed to crosswind. If you went with the smaller model, you'd be saving about a foot of length so it would be less of an issue.

This awning has been great so far, whenever we stop for lunch on the trails, I deploy and relax in the shade. Its especially nice in the desert where natural shade is hard to come by. After opening and closing it about a dozen times, I'm real close to the 30sec time ARB advertises.

 

[GhostRing]

Thanks for the extra info! - I imagine it would be quickly apparent to me with everything in hand.
I'm very anxious to get mine - expo or not, I feel it is a brilliant addition to any rig/group that spends time in the sun.

 

[CYi5]

Clean install! I'm finding fewer and fewer uses for my Yakima crossbar setup. It's good to know I have options utilizing the factory equipment. Keep me in mind if you ever do sell your brackets, trying to get back to the basics and streamline the roof setup. I really wish ARB made the mosquito net option available for the 6.5' version and not just the 8'.

 

[Utah KJ]

Thanks for the kind words. I'll keep you in the know if I do decide to sell 'em

 

[4mul8]

Resurrecting this thread, and now the image links are dead. Did you attach the brackets to the rails that sat flush to the roof, and not the roofrack bars, onto which you'd attach other things like bike racks, etc? I'm pretty sure I remember that from when I saw this thread before the image links went down. And how did that hold up over time? Did you ever have any issues with this setup?

 

[pluton]

This is old and of limited interest, but it's a good example of why you shouldn't use image-hosting sites for photos in the forum.