That's a fantastic design. There are no common holes for water to get into by using divorced hardware, that's great! They got so far... And then they messed up by using silicone (and they don't provide any or even tell you what kind to use).





I suggest not doing that, the root problem isn't really being addressed and now you won't be able to diagnose future leaks. Good luck removing that gunk should you decide to change anything though!

There was NO way the stock mounting hardware was going to seal without silicone.
I just didnt put enough on the first time I mounted everything.
And I think putting some on the bolts themselves was the key to my issue.
I find the typical clear silicone not all that hard to remove when you need to.

The bracket shown above would definitely work much better, but should still be mounted with some silicone.

Yes, I understand that things need to be sealed and everyone's living in the now. What about five years from now? Is that silicone rated for continuous outdoor exposure? Is it UV stable? Will it expand and contract properly to maintain a seal after thousands of heat and load cycles? Will it dry out and harden? These are all questions that nobody is asking before they smear this stuff all over their roofs. And rack manufacturers don't seem to care either.

Im sure it probably wont last years and years of weather and abuse,
But that still doesnt mean you can get by without any of it on there.
These brackets arent made with perfect fitting custom rubber orings, so, you have to seal it up.
I agree is would be best to have a better solution, but I would rather have silicone on there that is going to fail years down the road, rather than none at all, and it leaking the first time it rains.

Yes but it's sort of kicking the can down the road isn't it? I'd prefer to keep the stock rack with less utility and be assured that my truck won't have chronic rust issues, electrical gremlins, or a headliner full of mildew.

I just think it's troubling that all of these aftermarket rack manufacturers spend a ton of time making their racks look cool, adding accessories, and marketing them. Then they spend precisely zero time concerned about how to keep water out of their customers' trucks. Imagine if Toyota sold you wheels for your truck and when you asked about lug nuts, they told you to "use whatever you can find at Home Depot".

That's why I designed my own...

The NiseRack looks like a great way to add capability while retaining the factory side rails and seals. Nice!

I'd still love to know WHY the 4runner roof rack just doesn't go full length... obviously all these other racks work, and work with the sunroof.

Wind noise and MPG. Both suffer with a full length roof rack. I think I found out that I can get better mileage with my aerodynamic cargo box than I can with the rack empty. Go figure.

Which cargo box you've got? I'm searching for one and some of the other stuff I've read is some of the longer ones (I ski!) have trouble mounting and hitting the hatch, cause the rails can't go any further...

Yakima skybox 16. We board so we didn't really NEED a longer box, don't know how much ski you're riding but this will hold up to a 185. Any bigger and I would have a hard time getting it on the roof by myself. The 18 and 21 will take it all the way to the windshield, but I can't speak to whether the crossbars will move forward enough to prevent hatch interference.

mynameistory's not-a-build thread

I’m looking at this rack currently and the thread is a great resource.
Question is, are there any 2010-2013 trail edition folks here that have installed one? Looking for a picture with the old body style (just for curiosity) and is the mounting the same with the older trail edition rack? Any issues unique to this body style? My plan was to order mounting hardware with the rack separately to ensure everything mounts up properly and it’s clean new hardware. But I’d like to get some feedback from the group on any challenges.
Also, for any western Canadian folks I was able to get a price from Country Hills Toyota in Calgary that was competitive with ordering from SSO directly and the shipping was cheaper as far as I can tell. There may be some volume discount at work.

Cheers

Dear RJM,

We have not heard of any issues with people mounting this on that year as of now. As far as Country Hills, they just may not have our updated 2021 prices, so that's where the issue may be!

Thanks for the quick reply, I assumed no news was good news on the mounting for the early 5th gens. The dealer up here mentioned that they hadn’t purchased anything for a while mostly due to COVID restrictions so they were going to seek out updated prices on their own.
Product looks great and I appreciate the feedback.

Never a problem, also feel free to call us with any more questions! 225-726-7979 extension 3 gets you to me!