[volkinator]

Originally Posted by apohl17

In my not-so-relentless search for ditch light brackets, my research narrowed down to Rago, CBI, and SDHQ all with 4th gen offerings.
I know that they all would do the trick, but my findings led me to believe that the Ragos would be higher profile than what I want, CBI were cowl mounted (which I was shooting for under-the-hood), and SDHQ, although extremely nice, were twice the cost. I kept digging....

And found that Cali Raised LED makes a bunch of brackets, they are quite nice, and lots of guys run them (Ditch/Hood Light Bracket - Ultimate Guide & Poll (Pictures) | Tacoma World). But, on their website, it specifically doesn't mention any specific brackets for 4th gen rigs. I wasn't too worried, because I could easily modify a set of brackets in the shop if need be - but after reaching out and talking to Jacob at Cali Raised, he put me on their Tundra brackets and I ordered them up on the spot. Excited to light up the eyes of the pesky deer this winter!

Check out RA Motorsports. They're based out of Canada but their prices seem in line and they seem to have quality stuff. I really want to get their skid package...

[apohl17]

@volkinator Yeah, I've seen their stuff! Looks quality.

Going to have lots of updates slowly being posted today - the biggest one being this guy right 'ere... @SherpaEquipmentCo
Teaser shot:

[apohl17]

Alright, well here goes. The mighty Princeton Rack install. It all starts with the fedex man and this righteous painted logo.

And of course, a quick peek to see what was inside...

mmmm, stainless bits, packing list, more goodies!

[apohl17]

Alright, enough jumping ahead, time to get to work on making the old sport rack take a hike. First up, pop the covers off each corner qith a screwdriver, then take your favorite T40 tool to crack those 8 pesky M8 bolts attaching the rack to the roof. One side of mine had green loctite, the other had red, so equally fun. Don't strip these!
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With all 8 bolts off, take the whole shebang down, but thred in the old bolts a turn or two so you can clean out the channels without dirt, grim, and lovely bits of debris from making it in the truck (above the headliner).

(Optional) Take a gander at your rack-less rig:

[apohl17]

Brush out, remove old silicone, blow out with air, wipe down with a rag, etc. until it looks smooth and as clean as it's going to get, then take some of your favorite color RTV/silicone and make a nice bead around the plastic bolt fittings. Even though Sherpa provides rubber blocks of goodness to seal the holes up, it will make you feel better knowing that things are sealed up nicely up there.

Then, take each leg, the new M8 bolts, bonded washers, and THE CORRECT FEET (*note, each leg has a designated corner of the vehicle for angle purposes, I did not catch this right away) and bolts down til good 'n tight.

[SHagood]

Clean.

[apohl17]

Next up, the two "main" crossbars. Note that out of the 10 total crossbars provided, one is packaged with the fairing, and the other 9 are identical. The instructions designate two main crossbars to be used, and all they mean is that these are your starting bars, what the legs attach to. The install sheet deviates from the next step on, since their new hardware is all t-nut style vs carriage bolts as designated - I reached out to Sherpa and gave them my feedback on the matter. You'll have to take the 8 SHORTER 1/4-20 bolts to attach the main crossbars to the legs, as the rest of the bolts are too long to clear the channel groove. It's obvious when it's in person, so no big issue besides it might trip you up if you didn't see it coming.

*edit, turns out I was using the old installation guide. Make sure you go to the updated on on the Princeton product page to find the right one! Haha
The shorter bolts:

The crossbar:

The shorter bolts installed in the main crossbars:

Front crossbar, completed:

Obviously, this bar needs to be centered left to right along the centerline of your rig, take measurements from both sides until you get to a happy medium. Repeat for the rear....

[apohl17]

Next up, fairing. go ahead and pre-install the bolts and nuts onto the fairing itself, then slide the 80/20 rail over the t-nuts until flush, then tighten. Overhead view:

Then slide it up until it sits nice with an even gap:

And at this point, install all of the crossbars - I kept an opening near the sunroof, so the 5 bars at the back are 7 1/8" center-to-center, and the 4 at the front are 8 1/8". Then go around and tighten down all of the hardware to your liking.


Donezo!

[apohl17]

Originally Posted by SHagood

Clean.

Ooh, ya got me mid-Sherpa writeup! haha
Thanks mate

A couple more pics of the rack for good measure:

[apohl17]

Also this weekend got around to checking my TPMS sensors and found two bad ones - eventually I will replace them and re-enable my TPMS because, why not?


And then unrelated, found slop in my passenger side ITRE so replace the ITRE and OTRE with Proforged components. Pretty straightforward!
Old:

New:

Installed:

[apohl17]

Frosty morning driveway shot...

[apohl17]

Signed up for the Secret Santa! If you are reading this, definitely go check it out and sign up. The more, the merrier
T4R 2019 Secret Santa

[apohl17]

For the last couple months of owning my rig, this rattle has driven me to the point of going out and buying an entire new sunroof assembly so i could play with it and determine what the rattle was off the truck. (And I robbed the glass off for a different 4runner, so I needed the assembly anyways). Well, I think I found an easy solution.

I started off my greasing the channel documented earlier in this thread (#1), and that didn't help. My rattle was coming from further back. After playing with this assembly, I found that the hinging mechanism had lots of play, where the pin is in the "wavy" channel, as well as the base of the triangular support. So while the sunroof was closed, I removed the two plastic rail covers, took some thick lithium grease, and squeezed it into those two spots, and for the last few days, my rattle has been non-existent. Only time will tell if it is long term, but so far, so good.

[SherpaEquipmentCo]

Thanks for your email as well as sharing your install on here! Truck looks amazing!

[apohl17]

Originally Posted by SherpaEquipmentCo

Thanks for your email as well as sharing your install on here! Truck looks amazing!

Appreciate it! It's getting there