ArthurHawk
New member
Dude the guys roof is dented in 4 spots because he trusted a brand to give him a roof rack that wont damage the vehicle and he payed over a grand for it........ if you don't care does not mean everyone else out there does not.
Advisory: Baja Racks
- Thread starter Keith_PDX
- Start date
Dude the guys roof is dented in 4 spots because he trusted a brand to give him a roof rack that wont damage the vehicle and he payed over a grand for it........ if you don't care does not mean everyone else out there does not.
991-GT3MJK
New member
I feel the same way about the powder coating , or lack their of!! For what i paid for the Gobi the powder coating was rubbed off in a couple of places!! I called and *****ed, they are sending me out dome touch up paint
GSPRunner
Senior Member
Yeah that's BS man. Whether people can see it or not, this is an almost new 40k vehicle that now has dents that would require extensive, expensive work to fix. If anything is going to damage my vehicle, I want it to be because of me, not a part I put on it or someone else working on it.
OP, I would be livid if I were you.
1engineer
Moderator
Guys, everyone is different when it comes to things like dents, scratches, washing and waxing and such. Some guys wash and wax their 4Runner all the time. Some guys never wash it or wax it. Some guys touch up every chip and some guys have brush scratches down both sides. Some of you are OCD and demand perfection and others are like "meh." Respect everyone's opinion knowing it is probably different than yours. Oh and $40K is not a lot for a nice vehicle these days. Need to get up to around $80K to get into the "niiiice" territory lol.
GSPRunner
Senior Member
Again, different opinions. I'm cool with brush scratches and shit because that's my fault. This is a part this guy put enough trust in to purchase and it quite possibly has a design flaw that messed his vehicle up.
wfo9
New member
Why would anyone ever fix a dent that you cannot see. Again. It's not an ideal situation and i can see thinking about it for about 10 minutes..., but nothing to freak out about. Its a very avg price vehicle, nothing special in any way shape or form Just utility. Not a collectors item or anything . There will be many more noticeable value diminishing dents... to come. Much more important things to get upset about in life. I would just move on and enjoy the truck and stop worry about something that does not really matter at all. It's 100% functional and aesthetically pleasing as it sits.
I seriously think you guys that are so anal about your rigs... A scratch on the powder coating... Might want to re-think why you are doing these modifications in the first place.
I'm not saying BR should not fix their rack... If it has a bad foot design... But, it's not the end of the world either. There is a simple fix and even without a fix it is functional.... Just give it some time and I'm sure it will work out just fine.
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I believe you forgot to quote [MENTION=106176]wfo9[/MENTION] in this post.
Jeremy556
New member
I wonder if maybe the roof sheet metal was changed slightly during the 5th gen? I seem to remember some roll over rating being improved in the '14 model year.
I just went out and checked mine - the mount is still a few mm away from the roof sheet metal where the OP's is dented. Ironically, I wouldn't care if mine was dented. Of course, I have been driving around without a rear bumper cover for 2 months, and actually kind of dig the look.
I just went out and checked mine - the mount is still a few mm away from the roof sheet metal where the OP's is dented. Ironically, I wouldn't care if mine was dented. Of course, I have been driving around without a rear bumper cover for 2 months, and actually kind of dig the look.
Porqupine82
New member
I drive a 4th gen, and drilling isn't required for mine, but is for yours. Also, the whole rack is modular, so you can remove, and replace bars as needed, such as when you want to raise your sunroof, or need more storage.
ETA, I'm not affiliated, just saw them first on Mountain State overland youtube channel. Can't wait to get mine.
TK-422
New member
I have my Prinsu full length sitting in my garage ready to install this weekend.
It is good looking and affordable.
Since it is modular you can mount the cross beams where needed avoiding the sunroof area. I plan to do just that since I have one.
The drilling is required but not that big of a deal as some are making it out to be. It makes a secure mount for the unit as a whole and is located in the rain gutter area so even if you removed the rack for some reason it would not be seen. I will also be drilling in that area for my LED light bars with waterproof connections.
Being made of aluminum it is light weight and should not have problems with rust as other racks are having.
I will make a nice post once I have it installed.
It is good looking and affordable.
Since it is modular you can mount the cross beams where needed avoiding the sunroof area. I plan to do just that since I have one.
The drilling is required but not that big of a deal as some are making it out to be. It makes a secure mount for the unit as a whole and is located in the rain gutter area so even if you removed the rack for some reason it would not be seen. I will also be drilling in that area for my LED light bars with waterproof connections.
Being made of aluminum it is light weight and should not have problems with rust as other racks are having.
I will make a nice post once I have it installed.
BradBrad619
New member
K9trainer
New member
Not sure why it bothers you so much that a person wants there truck kept pristine.
Damage like this take value away from a resale.
To me it looks like a defect in the design, when the rack is bolted down, if the feet go past the point of it just sitting flat of course it going to bent the sheet metal, give the bolts a couple more turns and get more bend.
Danimal
New member
Agreed - I bought a $36k 4Runner because I didn't want to have to be worried about dents, scratches, and a dirty interior. I've had cars that I have felt the need to baby, and I don't think it's very fun.
But man - if you're the type that worries about that stuff, one look at the design of those Baja Rack feet should tell you what's going to happen to your roof.
Dan
jimster716
New member
Have to wonder if those dents are potential areas for the paint to crack and for water to seep in causing corrosion without even knowing it. Next thing you know, roof rack flies away with some of the roof with it. Highly unlikely but entertaining to imagine a random sight on the freeway, a roof rack doing aerial flips at 70mph.
Swede71
New member
the one trip we just did with the baja rack and gear on top along with 8ft awning and yakima cargo box, we experienced very strong winds coming from the Rockies. I watched through the sunroof and everything was secure as it should be. We stopped several times and I checked the rack and mounting points and everything was fine. Have had many rack types on many SUV's over the years and have never had any sort of issue with any of them. Either way always good to make sure the rack is neither over or under tightened to the top.
JSparky
New member
I've heard of this happening anecdotally. I dated a girl briefly when I lived in Tucson who's friend welded up a massive rack for his fj cruiser that he attached to the factory fj rails. They only got a few hundred miles into a big trip down to baja when the whole rack ripped off the roof on interstate 8. I saw the fjc around town once and the factory rails had literally ripped in half. As far as I know there were no accidents, luckily. Either way, good reminder to always consider load ratings, I can't recall how many times I've passed vehicles specifically cause I was leery over how they "secured" their loads.
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coversion
New member
I have the flat utility rack on my '12, and it's doing the same thing, although not as severe as OP. My typical load is either a canoe or a skybox, nothing out of the ordinary. To me it's clearly a design flaw that needs to be addressed by BR.
These were installed in good faith, assuming the design was tested and the potential load placed in the proper spots. Obviously putting any of that load outside the channels is a bad idea, as it turns out.
I sent everything over to Baja to see how they want to address this, so we'll see. Dents and dings happen, but as mentioned, eventually this will crack through the paint and be a much larger issue.
These were installed in good faith, assuming the design was tested and the potential load placed in the proper spots. Obviously putting any of that load outside the channels is a bad idea, as it turns out.
I sent everything over to Baja to see how they want to address this, so we'll see. Dents and dings happen, but as mentioned, eventually this will crack through the paint and be a much larger issue.
Jabberjaw
New member
I have the same issue with my Baja Rack/roof. Even when tightening to the required in/lb specs. When I started I didn't have a in/lb torque wrench and just carefully tightened with a wrench. Caused slight deformation. Went and picked up a in/lb torque wrench and the same thing happened when torquing to spec. Then I checked the first bolts with the torque wrench and they weren't tight enough. Personally, I'll never take the rack off; it's a DD/trail vehicle; and I plan to own the vehicle for a long time. Not really concerned about it.
