looks good! I like the Greenlane Offroad style gutter blocks.

I just installed my Prinsu full length no drill yesterday. I used silicone underneath the 8 supplied black round spacers and am hoping that is enough. I am thinking of pouring water on it to test and see later today. My question is the front mounts are secured by 3M tap that you have to cut away the weather stripping to place. Has anyone had any issues with this? Seems like now that the weather stripping is cut and there is no continuous seal, water is going to get in and not drain properly. Not sure how everyone else's Prinsu racks have held up.

It's a high temperature silicone rubber sheet I cut to fit (actually had it laser cut).

McMaster-Carr has a bunch of different options (thickness, shore, shapes, color, etc.).

McMaster-Carr

The whole rack. Those spacers look legit.

This is exactly how I'll be doing my rack next year. I have the RA rack, but I'm still uncomfortable with the mounts even though they seem pretty solid (it's still essentially a cup so if any moisture gets into the spacer, it just sits there which I'm not comfortable with). To be 110% sure about leaks, I want to get aluminum spacers fabbed up.

Would you be willing to share the dimensions/measurements by chance? I found a fabrication shop, but wasn't planning on getting aluminum blocks fabbed up until the spring.

Thanks!!

As of right now I am not going to share dimensions. Couple reasons...

1) I want to finish the rack and use it for a while (and test water intrusion)

2) I used greenlane offroads idea they termed "gutterblock"

Its 100 percent my own measurements and made to my own CAD models, but still their original design idea.

I'll share some photos when the rack is finished!

Gotcha. Greenlane is where I got the idea from as well. Unfortunately they don't sell just the spacers.

That's cool, I'll let the fabrication guy figure it out.

On either side of the silicone sheet, it might be advisable to slap a bit of butyl rubber on either side to really make things stick. I'd also dab a bit on top of the heads for the bolts that are holding the spacer.

For those with the prinsu rack.. Did anyone try installing the front mount underneath the weather strip instead of cutting it? Possible ?

Weird. I didn't have to cut the weather strip at all for my prinsu install when I had it.

I feel like my research keeps going in circles.

Do you guys think the Sherpa Crestone or the Greenlane Offroad rack is "better"?

They both went with novel approaches to the mounting, though greenlane still uses silicone. Sherpa includes more crossbars.

Otherwise they sorta seem so similar... and I haven't seen either in person.

Unless someone here has experience with both racks, it’s going to be hard to say one way or the other. What I can say is that, so far, I do really like my Crestone and would purchase again if I had to do it over.

looks like sherpa does sell their mounting feet that come with the rubber inserts, wonder if these would work with some other racks

Adjustable Leveling Mounts — Sherpa Equipment Company

Mounting Feet — Sherpa Equipment Company (optional include rubber)

Bonded Washers — Sherpa Equipment Company

Great thread. I’ve been spending hours on YouTube watching installation videos and some of them
Look horrible. Glad people are starting to notice this.

Just installed the Sherpa Crestone on my 21 TRD PRO, simple install and fully seals the factory mounting points.. 👍

If you look at the RA mounts they have this spongey looking rubber foam seal; that's basically what Toyota uses on most if not all their roof racks. Basically rubber foam washers that compress a lot and fill the nooks and crannies; they work pretty well. Though we have seen some issues with the new Rav4s leaking from the front "clips" because Toyota went to a, IMHO stupid way to mount the roof rack to the vehicle compared to how they did it on every other Toyota.

Honestly? Same reason a lot of customers get shocked when I show them how extensive rodent infestation gets in their cars sometimes. Any/all the water will for the most part follow the curves of the body and headliner, being shuttered to the A, B, C, and D pillars where they'll likely just drain down out of sight and out of mind.

I have seen entire junction blocks ruined by poor windshield sealing after a replacement (usually the upper corners & top edge), it just flows along the A-Pillar, down the open corner in the dash and drips on-top of the junction blocks. Most people won't notice unless the leak is bad enough to make the carpet squishy/soggy or when they start noticing a moldy/musty smell (even then some people don't even notice it).

Basically it's one of those things that unless it's dripping on you or in your field of vision or causes an electrical or functional issue, most customers/owners won't notice or complain about it.