Factory roof weight rating on 4th gens?
 

Does anyone know how much weight the roof of a 4th gen is rated for?

I'm not looking for the stock cross bars or aftermarket rack ratings - just the max weight you can put on the roof, regardless of what rack you have.

Odd that there doesn't seem to be any info on this online and not even my local dealership knows. Aftermarket roof racks can advertise for high weights, but that doesn't mean that your roof can actually hold that much weight.

Test it and let us know! Jk but I see your point


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Sounds like someone has seen the YouTube videos of racks falling off. Is this info not in the owners manual? I haven’t looked.

LFD Offroad has this disclaimer for their add-on cross bars “Toyota specifies a maximum load of 135 pounds on factory side rails while moving.”

And for their roof rack “Toyota specifies a maximum load rating for the roof of 300 pounds.”

YMMV

I believe it matters which roof rack you have. A lot of full length racks claim 600-800lb static ratings because a full length rack utilizes the A, B, C and D pillars to increase structural rigidity with several cross members. The factory racks claim between 100-200lb ratings because a factory rack is, at most, utilizing B, C and D pillars with 2 cross members. By adding a full length rack you are increasing the structural rigidity of the roof (reducing deflection under load) thereby increasing it's capability. I'd be more worried about your suspension and being top heavy before worrying ab the roof caving in.

My question would be, are you looking for how much weight can the roof, without a rack, handle? Or what exactly are you trying to do?

If you are questioning the strength of your pillars see the attached pic.

^^^ This.

What exactly are you trying to determine? There's a big difference between static weight and what you should be safely driving with that far above your center of gravity.

Even 150lbs is quite a bit of weight slinging around when it comes to making an emergency evasive maneuver in an SUV that is already prone to rolling.

I have had probably close to 900lbs of static weight on top of my '03 with a full length prinsu rack with no issues:
-smittybilt tent
-full recovery gear
-2 grown adults
-a dog

Waaaw, I think this pic fully settles any kind of worries I had :D


900lbs / 400kg is more than I would ever carry. Thanks for confirming it is possible.

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I was looking for this weight rating info just to be able to make an informed decision on how much weight I could safely carry and potentially also walk/sit on my roof rack without having to worry about the roof caving in. Thanks for clearing this up for me :) I started looking into this after I saw this video about odd/unspecified roof weight ratings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r32xd9z4SZ4

Contacted my local dealership, they forwarded my email to the head office of Toyota and the response is - there is no official rating :(

Does anyone know, at the very least, can the roof safely support the weight of an adult (say 180lb) standing vertically?

Just standing in the middle of the roof? Or are you standing on top of a roof rack (prinsu, victory, gobi, Sherpa, etc...)?


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It depends what kind of info you're after. Will the roof collapse and compromise the structural integrity of the car? No. Will the sheetmetal deform if you're not standing on a rack/structural component? Yes. While the roof is a structural component, asking if you can just stand on the roof without any context is going to get you a bunch of blank stares as you're seeing. Roof racks are designed to transfer the loads to the reinforced portions of the structure.

What exactly are you trying to do? A stock roof rack will support your weight without any adverse effect. Standing in the middle of the sheetmetal will put a nice dent in your roof.

Just standing in the middle of 4runner's roof.

Okay, that pretty much answers my question - so it is NOT a great idea to just stand in the middle of the roof.

To give context, I'm a photographer. Sometimes I might be able to get my shot by just standing on the roof, above obstructions, or to get a different perspective. So if not's safe (for the integrity of the roof panel) to stand on it, I'll not do it.

But if I were to want to achieve it, I suppose I would first need to install some kind of platform that mounts to the roof rack. Probably too much hassle at that point.

Weight rating is for distributed weight as stated before. The rating is more about the safety of attaching weight so high off the ground, rather than the total structure of the roof itself (i.e. imagine wearing 100lbs at your waist and at your neck, which one makes you tip easier?)

As for standing on the roof? It will dent a bit, you're not going to fall through it or crumple the roof in a bunch; but you'll put some not great dents on the sheet metal and maybe bow the roof panel.

IF you're dead set on standing ontop of your roof for pictures. I'd recommend getting an aftermarket roof-rack that has a more flat bottom to it and/or just getting like a large firm board you can mount to the existing roof rack. You could probably fabricate something that will fit in the existing roof rails (the rails, not the crossbars) and give you a platform.

You could also invest in a hatch ladder, it's not as tall as standing on the roof; but it's a safer alternative I suppose.

Depends... If you have a business license for your photography (as I do), then that Victory or Prinsu roof rack you'd just love to stand on to take that photo of the lion over the tall grass is just another business write-off. Go for it! :thumb:

Aftermarket it is then. Unfortunately I don't have the means to fabricate my own...

4Runner Roof Rack | 4th & 5th Gen (03+) - Victory 4x4

Looks like something along these lines is going to cost me a pretty penny