Cargo / Ski boxes on a '19 TRD-Pro tubular roof rack..

Since I searched a lot and found little info, I thought I would share my findings in searching for a cargo/ski box for my 4runner that is compatible with the 2019 TRD-Pro Rack.

My criteria started out as a box that fits my longest skis, (194s) and and a few snowboards (so it needed to be wide) and works with the tubular TRD-Pro rack... This proved to be more difficult than I thought....

First off, any of the boxes with recessed channels for the cross-bars is going to fit poorly, if it all. NO amount of shifting crossbars would allow a super low profile INNO box fit. The other big hurdle we hit, was most boxes couldn't shift far enough forward to open the hatch. Which was something I found unacceptable. So I started looking for flat bottomed boxes, Thule has some, and one that is long enough for my big pow skis...

At the shop (rackNroad in Seattle) the guys helped trial fit a few boxes. Very few wouldn't crash into the rear tubular bars....After the 4th or 5th box, we eventually found one that fit, a Thule Box. And due to a very upswept rear edge, it looked like it would fit with cross bars on the lower..

Here is the Thule Box mounted on crossbars on the top tube of the Rack:









And here she is nestled down on crossbars mounted on the lower tube, with a few mm to the rear lateral tubes, and fully open rear hatch. It over hangs a bit more than I would like in the front, but should be fine for now...
One thing that does annoy the heck out of me, is access to the key/lock. It is a tight fit as it lines up directly with the top tube of the rack. I'm trying to tell myself that the lock becoming hard to reach is a safety feature.... I'll see how annoying it gets when it is freezing cold and covered in snow..

Good info, I myself have been doing some research to no avail on finding anything that would fit our stock Pro racks as far as roof top tents and etc. It almost seems that the rack is just for carrying light stuff and/or for cosmetic perks. Planning on replacing it with a longer and lower roof rack in the future so I can install a Tepui Hybox on it. My other option was to just get a over landing trailer. Hopefully within the next year we might get a little more support from the aftermarket products since the 2020 Pro's have the same rack.

Hey! I used to work there! RackNRoad that is.

The FJ has the same-ish issue and rack deletes were created for that. I Found that most factory racks were the pits for over-all usability. On our 97 i removed the factory track and installed longer tracks (Thank you RNR for teaching me that) for more capacity and extendability of the rack.

TIL the pro rack isn't really a rack, it's still got normal crossbars. Even more useless than I originally thought!

I'm impressed you managed to fit a cargo box up there though

You can fit 194's in there? Must be close. When I skied competitively years ago, I had 210's for GS (Head Competition) and 220's for Downhill (Heart Javelins). I had a roof rack that fit on top of my car with suction cups and clips that attached to the rain gutter. It worked great and was lockable. I guess rain gutters on cars are a thing of the past though - good luck.

flyrv9 said:

You can fit 194's in there? Must be close. When I skied competitively years ago, I had 210's for GS (Head Competition) and 220's for Downhill (Heart Javelins). I had a roof rack that fit on top of my car with suction cups and clips that attached to the rain gutter. It worked great and was lockable. I guess rain gutters on cars are a thing of the past though - good luck.

Click to expand...

The Box brochure thinks 205s will fit,,, it would be snug!

I can fit everything I need..

a pair of 185s,
161cm Snowboard
a pair of 194s, and a pair of 195s.

Looks good - I'm surprised all that fits. I did notice when storing skis bottom to bottom that they can rub some which dulls the edges that I spent time sharpening. I first used electrical tape; which froze and was a PITA to pick off. I ended up using a couple of towels instead.

Thanks for trying this all out. The box actually looks good on the lower mount!
I have an older Mont Blanc box, hopefully it fits. (2020 on order) I also went out and bought a stock rack, (although mainly for parkade clearance) we will see how it goes.

Purely conjecture, but I think the cross bars on the lower tube of the TRDPro rack is super close to where they would be on a non Pro style rack... within a half inch, I would bet...

Thank you M_RED for the information! Can you give specs on the Thule box model? Also, could you share the vehicle clearance with the box on the lower mount?

Color matched the box.... it looks better in the sunlight..

Do you know what you ground clearance is with the box? Any issues with parking garages? Thank you

Did you ever find out the THULE model of the cargo box that this guy fit on top of his TRD PRO?

It amazes me that they even put this rack back on vehicles after seeing how horrible it was with the FJ. They literally created a kit to do a roof rack delete based on how useless these things were back then.

Has anyone compared the two with specs, I feel as though Toyota found a warehouse with thousands of FJ racks left over and just found a way to make money off them.

These look good. May have to consider....

I can see from another thread this was the Hyper XL, Thule doesn't show it on their site any longer, but I do see it from some 3rd parties still, REI, etc.

Anyone else go with any other models/brands?

Looks good on there, glad it fit. I have a similar Thule all black box that may be a bit longer that doesn’t fit on my 5th gen as it rests on the antenna. Fit my 3rd gen just fine, wish I had a solution for this problem aside from putting a whole new rack on top

Correct, it was a hyper XL...

But I think a lot of boxed that DON'T recess the attachment feet for crossbars will probably work fine.. I saw another PRO at Stevens Pass the other day with an INNO box mounted on the lower bars like mine... It was way shorter,, more cargo than skis,,, but it definitely fit...

Curious if anyone else has successfully mounted any other cargo boxes to the lower bars of a Pro Rack. My thule box broke, and I need to replace it. I found out a Hyper XL is both discontinued and out of production...
Crap...

Good info to know. I’ve got a couple old boxes lying around that will hopefully fit on my 15 TRD Pro I’m picking up next week. I guess you could always drill new holes in the box to scoot it forward to clear the hatch?


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