Installed: Rola low-profile mounts on 5th Gen

[DUBBZ_CEMENT_PRO]

This setup looks very cool! I have a couple of similar plastic containers that I use, if it is raining, I put them in a giant water proof bag.

 

[5thGen4Runner2015]

I'm a new guy, so I'm just seeing this thread. I don't need the full length rack, so I was trying to convince myself that it wasn't nuts to spend $700 on the short Baja for my new-to-me 2011 LE. Then I saw pics of someone's Rolla in another thread and decide to pick one up to see if I'd really use it. Turns out, I really like it -- solid (even on stock cross bars), cheap, and holds stuff. Oh, and looks pretty decent too. Guess I will pick up the low mounts now and be done with it. Here's two questions though:



1) Anyone mounted an awning on the non-extended version? If so, I'd love to see a pic with mounting detail.



2) Anyone mount a baja or other ladder to ease access? Again, pics would be appreciated....



Thanks!!

I have a Gobi ladder on mine. I’ll take a pic later for you if still interested.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[5thGen4Runner2015]

I have a Gobi ladder on mine. I’ll take a pic later for you if still interested.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TeamShiftPoint]

[MENTION=144051]b407driver[/MENTION], thanks for the inspiration… you saved me about $100 having to buy a set of cross bars to mount my Coleman roof basket!! Fabbed a quick set of brackets out of some 1/4" alum angle. Lest anyone copy the dimensions, keep in mind these are NOT FOR A ROLA RACK!! My Coleman basket measures 39” wide, which I imagine is close though.

In looking at factory cross bars on Amazon some months ago, I read one reviewer who suggested using a paint lid opener to pop off the end caps. BRILLIANT!!

Punched some 3/8” wide slots in a piece of 1/8” x 1” aluminum flat bar to use with some carriage bolts in the factory rails.

Installed.

I plan on doing the same thing you did but flip the brackets so the rack sits lower. What are the dimensions of your bracket?

Found this unequal leg aluminum angle on eBay. 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" - 1/4" thick.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-1-2-x-2-...61Aluminum-Angle-1-5-x-2-5-x-250/200971210084

 

[Off2Mtns]

I plan on doing the same thing you did but flip the brackets so the rack sits lower. What are the dimensions of your bracket?

Found this unequal leg aluminum angle on eBay. 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" - 1/4" thick.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-1-2-x-2-...61Aluminum-Angle-1-5-x-2-5-x-250/200971210084

Yup, 2-1/2 x 1-1/2 x 1/4" angle. I think the brackets were 3" long.

 

[SHagood]

Just got back from my third White Rim trip in the last 10 months, and loaded the Rola up a bit differently than last time. Instead of the big ol' Rola bag, I used a light-ish plastic box I found on Amazon that fits perfectly in the back of the rack. Hauled light stuff, just need to figure out a better way to mount it so that I don't have to remove the straps to access it.

Still rock-solid. It was Jeep Safari Week in Moab, and I ran into three rigs sporting identical BILSTEIN paint jobs. Bunch of nice guys, got to pick their brains and they were thoroughly checking out the Rola with all that gear on it. They yanked hard, and were surprised it didn't budge.

Probably the best $130+$80 I ever spent on my truck.

What did you use to mount the high lift jack on the rack?

 

[b407driver]

What did you use to mount the high lift jack on the rack?

It's in the thread above:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-g...low-profile-mounts-5th-gen-3.html#post2838958

 

[b407driver]

That doesn't sound great.

For my second White Rim run I was carrying 8-gal fuel in Rotopax, 4-gal water in Rotopax, a Hi-Lift, WaterPort (3.5-gal), MaxTrax, and a Rola bag on top of it all (believe it or not) with probably 75-lbs of gear.

Rock freaking solid. And I drove the whole trip like I stole it, trying to see how fast I could get through the lap, even if we did spend 3 nights out there. Fun $hite.

EDIT: One quick note about getting the Hi-Lift branded mounts attached to the Rola rack. The spacing of the 'crossbars' that the mounts need to be attached to dictates that there was a grand total of TWO options that would work for me. One had the foot of the jack too far forward (which I didn't want), so it took about an hour to find a combination to fit the hole spacing of the Hi-Lift on the other side of the vehicle. The main problem is that the 'loose' manufacturing tolerances of the Rola dictate that even very small variances in bar spacing/angles resulted in not lining up with a set of holes that theoretically should line up based upon the average repeated bar spacing. If you try to do this, your mileage will vary, so what works for one rack may not work for another, and it may take awhile to find mounting bracket locations that work (for example, mine has one less bar in between brackets than BigDaddyK's does). It is, however, rock solid, no complaints with the setup now that I've found the magic combo.

One quick clarification, the reason I had to seek out the 'perfect' spacing is because I was attaching the Hi-Lift mounts so that the weight was resting on the edge of one of the bars, to prevent rotation with weight+G's applied. If you want to roll the dice on the jack not rotating, this mounting process becomes easy (place and space however you want, in between bars), but I personally wouldn't count on the metal-to-powder-coat contact providing sufficient friction to prevent rotation under real-world conditions.

 

[Marmot MB]

I had some humming occurring after installing the Rola Rack.

Out on my trip I put a ratchet strap weaved between the small cross bars. Humming stopped.

Once Home I just bought a $2 Bungee strap (36" I think) weaved it through the cross bars and no humming since. Cheap easy fix, wont rust

I had a shovel on one side and axe on the other as well using Quick Fist clamps, but this was not enough to prevent humming. The bungee down the center did the trick.

 

[MountainT4R]

I know it has been asked a couple times already, but I'm wondering about these mounting brackets fitting any other racks, specifically the Curt roof rack? The Rola is listed at 37.5" wide and the Curt at 37". For some reason I just personally prefer the boxier shape of the Curt rack to the Rola, but would like the lower profile look and sturdiness of attaching directly to the rails.

 

[joey2018]

I ordered this rack but plan to have it rhino-lined to avoid fading and seal up the fittings before installing. Does anyone know any reason why this might be a bad idea?

 

[TerpRunner]

Just got the mounts and have the rack on the way, how did everyton install these for the 5th gen? No insturctions at all as to where to put the u-bolts, which way to orient, etc.

 

[pDubs]

Just got the mounts and have the rack on the way, how did everyton install these for the 5th gen? No insturctions at all as to where to put the u-bolts, which way to orient, etc.

I don't understand where your confusion is. Look at the first post in this thread.

You just pop the plastic covers off the OEM running boards so you can slider the bracket, with bolts and washers in this orientation then loosely tighten them:

This pic is upside down

Then just lay the rola rack on, line up where you want the brackets by sliding forward or backward, and tighten up all the bolts on the rails.

Then drop the u bolts in, and tighten the small nuts up.

Here is my Rola rack and brackets I used to have on my 4th gen. Flipped them as OP stated and now have the setup on my 5th gen.

 

[TerpRunner]

Thank you, more so if their are any torque reqs. and where to place the U bolts best to make sure this thing doesn't slide or move.

 

[pDubs]

Definitely not a need to have a torque wrench. Just snug up the bracket bolts with a 3/8 wrench and socket, forget the socket size. The u bolts are pretty small so just snug those up as well (I use a ratcheting combo wrench).

If you look closely at the side view with my mtb on the truck you can see where I have the u bolts. Probably 3-4 inches in from where the plastic end caps are and centered in between the posts on the rack.

Be careful of the antenna up there. I mounted my rack so the back bar of the rack actually goes behind the little shark fin (like Marmot did in his pic above) versus having it in front of the shark fin antenna like here: https://www.toyota-4runner.org/2713586-post29.html


I originally had it in front and it looked too far forward and goofy to me so I moved it back.

 

[TerpRunner]

Thank you! Also any idea on what silicone to use to seal up everything? Rack got here saturday and plan on putting it on this week

 

[b407driver]

Black rooftop box on Rola rack

Several people have PM'd me about the black box shown mounted in the picture of my rooftop several posts up. You can find it on Amazon here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...05__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1&tag=viglink20350-20

Is it worth $90+? Only you can decide.

EDIT: This price is much more reasonable for the quality:

https://www.amazon.com/Dee-Zee-DZ65...A1AVP8SWP7W&psc=1&refRID=97YN40JFWA1AVP8SWP7W

I spent hours looking for the perfect design/dimensions in a box that was the rough volume that I needed, and this was about the only one that ticked all the boxes, so I rolled the proverbial dice. It sets pretty perfectly into the Rola, however I do have some reservations about its long-term viability. The plastic it's made of is not particularly thick, and the lid mounting approach (a metal pin through the plastic with no reinforcement) could easily be sacrificed over time if you are rough with opening it (i.e. you don't want to over-rotate it much beyond 90-degrees).

That said, it's a pretty good option for garbage and beer cans on a multi-day trip, as I don't want that stuff inside with me. I need to devise a better system to lock the thing down, as tie-down straps are a pain to release to access.

Cheers!

 

[Jimbo814]

Looks great!

Just ordered my ROLA rack today, looking to make the mounts myself. Can't believe 4xinnovations charges 80-90 dollars for 4 pieces of angle and some u-bolts with hardware

 

[b407driver]

Just ordered my ROLA rack today, looking to make the mounts myself. Can't believe 4xinnovations charges 80-90 dollars for 4 pieces of angle and some u-bolts with hardware

You should produce them and sell them for half the price! I'll be you'd have many buyers...

 

[Raoul_Duke]

Great thread. Thanks for sharing your experience with this rack and the mounts.

I recently ordered and installed the Rola Rack w/ extension with the low profile brackets from 4x Innovations. I bought some black sealant but didn’t see the need to seal this rack. The rack came with rubber sleeves that cover each of the joints quite snuggly, and I don’t see how water could get in. This must be a recent upgrade. I'm curious if those if the racks that some of you got several years ago had these sleeves.

I loaded the rack with about 130 lbs of water, fuel, and gear for a 2700 mile road trip to Utah and Colorado. The rack held this load no problem on some really rough roads (including part of White Rim Trail). We went through high winds and heavy rains, so I’ll be curious to see if any rust develops in the next few days.

I honestly don’t see how anyone would want to put a much heavier load on the roof of their rig. I could definitely feel the higher center of gravity with the roof load through curves and turns. I ended up emptying the fuel and water as soon as I could for the drive home.

For about $200 (including low-profile brackets), I don’t think you can go wrong with this rack.