I was hoping to get some feedback/comparisons on the Prinsu full length, K9, and Gobi. I've been doing a bunch of research on here and the K9 seems to have the least amount of mentions on here. I'll primarily be using the roof rack for weekend camp trips, trying down firewood, water storage, camp equipment storage, and possibly a RTT far down the line. Most important things to me for a roof rack are:
1. Height clearance. Still want to fit in my garage with awning attached, currently have 9 inches from vehicle roof to garage door opening.
2. Accessories. Mostly want a lower profile awning mount to keep overall height down and would love to be able to mount the front runner 40 L water container to it when traveling. Maybe a roof top tent sometime in the future.
3. Sunroof function. More so the airflow of sunroof rather than the views.
4. Cost. Willing to pay a little more if it is really worth it but would obviously like to keep cost down.

As of now, I'm kind of leaning toward the k9, either full length or a slightly shorter version that doesn't completely cover the sunroof. 2nd is Gobi but I really like the T slot feature of prinsu and K9. Also, I don't mind the Gobi wait times. Prinsu obviously is the most cost effective but have heard issues on their quality control and having to find different hardware to mount other companies accessories. Any input would be great. Thanks

You should look at RPM fab, it's at similar design as prinsu.but it's built better and quality is great ! .
It's owned by a father & son it's truly a family business !

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I have seen them and have looked into them. Only concerned about the accessory compatibility. If front runner accessories could be used easily they might be a winner, especially since I could drive down and save on shipping costs. Any knowledge on compatibility with the frontrunner accessories?

I got the Southern Style Offroad roof rack specifically because of the height restriction at work (78"). My requirements were similar to yours, camping equipment, canoes and perhaps an RTT down the road.
I have an ARB awning and while didn't have it in time for this camping season I don't see any issues leaving on for the summer next year height wise.

I'm very happy with the look, functionality and quality. You can remove the cross bars covering the sunroof if you want.

I've been meaning to measure the height, will do that this weekend and report back. Have stock sized A/T's, no lift but leveled.

EDIT: and is "no drill"

What about the LFD? LFD Off Road - Full 5th Gen 4Runner Roof Rack Just curious myself to hear some feedback on this one compared to the ones you’ve mentioned.

I have not seen anyone really give you feed back on the 3 that you mentioned.

I have the prinsu and I love it. The quality is there and I bought mine second hand and have had 0 issues. The T slot feature is easy, but to me the best about the T slot is that if it isn't prinsu specific you can basically go to ace and spend 10$ and make your own mount. I don't have a sunroof so i cannot speak to that. I also went to ace and found some rubber mounts (which I can share with you if you need) so I didn't have to drill anything and have had 0 issues with that. I do suggest the rubber seal as it makes any wind noise non existent.

I do see you want to put an awning on it. They do offer mounts for them but it puts it really high and kinda looks goofy. That being said, as i mentioned earlier, you could either make your own or figure out a way to utilize the mounts in a different way to make it fit the way you want.

The profile is very slim. I currently have the rack with a ski rack and 8" rifle case on top for storage and I fit in my down town parking structure at work and my garage at home (which is 80"). I'm close, but I do clear.

I know people love the gobi but every time i see one here in Denver, they're rusting. Im not sure if a ton of people experience this but that is just my small sample.

Hope this help!

From a quality perspective, I would forgo the Prinsu rack.

Sso intrigues me as well. I’ve lumped sso, rpm fab and prinsu together in the same category. They seem to have very similar designs with some subtle differences. As far as the gobi rusting, I’ve heard that as well but I’m currently living in AZ so hope that won’t really be an issue. However we may end up moving back east at some point so may want to consider that. It’s interesting to me that the k9 seems to have the least feedback/reviews on here. Is that due to price? Seems like a pretty solid and reputable rack.

For what it’s worth I just replaced my Prinsu with an SSO rack.

Thanks for the advice! I kind of want to avoid my own fabrication as I don’t really have that skill set. What bolts does the prinsu use for their t slot? I would think they would just sell the hardware required to mount things on their site but I don’t think they do...

If those are your only choices:

1. Prinsu - Lots of documented quality issues. I would skip, sounds like it's hit or miss and a lot of headaches.

2. K9 - Proven company, lightweight, lots of accessories

3. Gobi - Proven company, heavy, reviews of the truck feeling top heavy with unloaded rack

Personally i'd go with the Eezi-Awn or Gobi, decision comes down to if you care about weight. Fully loaded, every lb adds up to GVWR.

For what reason if you don’t mind me asking?

Just carriage bolts! They do sell them on their site but they have an upcharge. the bolts are .25 cents at ace hardware. They have some accessories but not a ton.

I love my K9- full length/2.2M- We've had a really good experience and would buy it again, no question.

The K9 is a high quality product, the fit and finish is spot on, plus being aluminum it wont rust out like powder coated steel. The rack is low profile and doesn't create a lot of wind noise.

The no drill install is great, no chance leaks and its plenty strong. I have a 230lbs RTT plus another 100lbs of gear on it. The rack is solid, we wheeled the shit out of our rig on a 30 day camping trip in Moab and SW Colorado and nothing shifted or needed adjustment. That's impressive as that is a lot of weight up there getting rocked around. In addition to that we've done numerous other off-road trips totaling about 120 nights camping which usually involves some kinda 4x4 action. In short the rack is holding up to everything we've thrown at it.

The rack has slots for bolts that run the length of each slat and also on the outer rails, so you can literally bolt on anything, in addition to the options offered by K9. We use the shovel mount and hi-lift attachments, plus we modded the left over parts from the hi-lift mount to hold maxtrax too, which makes for a decent fairing.

Ohh and when I ordered mine from Equipt in Utah, it arrived 5 days later at my house. So bonus for having product on hand and no unreasonably long lead times. Which ironically steered me to looking into other options, as originally I was angling towards a Gobi. But 6 months was not gonna work. Wise man once say "We're not here for a long time, We're here for a good time!"

Good luck on your search.



IMG_E3462 by todd wilson, on Flickr

I've been extremely happy with my Front Runner rack. Plus there are a ton of accessories that you can get.