New safari Rack Questions

[Dbiz]

Hey-

I'm new to the forum but had couple of questions. I just purchased a new Rola Safari rack and i also want to get off road(fog/driving) lights to put on the rack as well. Any cheaper yet good quality suggestions?

And also, anyone that has wired lights from the roof of their truck? Not completely sure how I'm going to do that yet although I was thinking about going through the weather stripping and the door jam. Any ideas/guidelines would be very welcome.
Thanks!

 

[Ron Helmuth]

Hella or Optilux

Square or Round look? fog or driving or spot beam?

Many of us run the Hella 500s-round and compact. 550s are the square version I believe. $65 or so at most Auto Parts stores. $43.80 on amazin' Amazon when I got mine.

I used to run a combination Optilux unit that had fog and driving lights that I could switch between for differing conditions. Around $55 or so. Worked just fine-complicated as heck wiring.

I believe easiest access point to roof is up from the rear hatch but I have not wired mine up yet. I am dropping my roof rack for fuel economy, last fill up was $57.00!

 

[SilverBullet01]

Re: Hella or Optilux

Square or Round look? fog or driving or spot beam?

Many of us run the Hella 500s-round and compact. 550s are the square version I believe. $65 or so at most Auto Parts stores. $43.80 on amazin' Amazon when I got mine.

I used to run a combination Optilux unit that had fog and driving lights that I could switch between for differing conditions. Around $55 or so. Worked just fine-complicated as heck wiring.

I believe easiest access point to roof is up from the rear hatch but I have not wired mine up yet. I am dropping my roof rack for fuel economy, last fill up was $57.00!

hahahahahahahahahahaha $57, it costs me $80 to fill, but i still just bought a roof rack!

id say back hatch if you know how to do the wiring all from that far back. im still debating on how im going to wire mine

 

[01goldt4r]

i punched a hole in the roof and put sealant around it. I have had the rack for over 6 months (Surco) and have not had any leakage of water, it is also hidden by the factory roof rails. i didnt want to see any wires off the back so i opted to do this but if you dont care than i would do it from the back. (Thats what she said)

 

[Dbiz]

Ya, I was thinking of doing four rectangular lights(2 driving, 2 fog) off the front of the roof rack. I was looking at it and I think I could get it dome through the weather stripping in the door jam which would make it shorter. I could do it through the back too but then I'd have to buy more wires. Not completely sold either way...but the rack gets here wednesday.

 

[Rock Slide]

I ran a roof basket w/ lights front and rear for some time on my 4Runner. (I have since removed it b/c I want to find a lighter rack.) I had 4 square 100wt driving lights up front and 2 square 55wt flood lights out back (I've tried driving, fog and flood lights in the back and the flood pattern by far has the best light spread). I ran all the wiring down by either side of the windshield inbetween the weather stripping.

I have since sold the rack and 4 front mounted lights. I still have the 2 rear 55wt flood lights if anyone is interested .

Check out the pics of my install here:
http://www.yotatech.com/f2/installed-new-rack-tjm-lift-kit-multiple-lights-pictures-included-111728/

 

[Ron Helmuth]

I like the low profile look of rack

Rock Slide that was a nice setup you have-can you expand on those mounts to the factory roof strips?

My Coleman basket is not going to be garage-able after my lift so I am hoping to drop the mounting points to lower on the roof-instead of mounting to the cross rails.

 

[Rock Slide]

Yeah, that was one major issue I had with Surcos...they sit too freaking high off the roof.

As far as the mounts I used, they were the ones that came with the Garvin Wilderness rack. They mount to the 4Runner roof rails similar to that of the Surco mounts. (They slide into the roof rails and are to be tightened down. They act as feet for the basket to rest onto.) As far as bolting the feet to the basket itself, they just bolt into place. Just line up the basket so it is in line with the body of the vehicle and tighten all 4 bolts down with the provided washers and lock nuts.

As seen here:

 

[Ron Helmuth]

thanks for the addl picts.

I gotta go crawl around the hardware department and find something similar...

 

[Sloan]

rock where did you got those black things to cover up your wires? i need some of those for my hellas.

 

[Dbiz]

Ballin Rock. Thanks for the post. That whole setup looks sweet. I was looking at those Garvin rack before I bought mine but they are just too damn much for my budget. They are awesome though. I think I'm going to do the wiring the same way you did for the most part. Through the door jam and the weather stripping and on down to the fuse box and engine compartment. We'll see what happens. But thanks for the advice and the pics!

 

[Rock Slide]

rock where did you got those black things to cover up your wires? i need some of those for my hellas.

Which stuff? In the 1st pic I posted, are you asking about the black wire covering for the rack lights? If so, that stuff was already pre-done like that from IPF directly. My lights came wired that way.

Or are you talking about the 2nd pic, where I used wire loom to cover that main wire? If you need this stuff, most stereo/audio shops or even most auto part stores carry it in all different sizes.

Hope that helps.

Ballin Rock. Thanks for the post. That whole setup looks sweet. I was looking at those Garvin rack before I bought mine but they are just too damn much for my budget. They are awesome though. I think I'm going to do the wiring the same way you did for the most part. Through the door jam and the weather stripping and on down to the fuse box and engine compartment. We'll see what happens. But thanks for the advice and the pics!

No problem. Yeah, the Garvin racks are crazy expensive. Fortunately I got a good deal on it when I bought it and did not loose much when I sold it. Main reason I ditched it, was that it was too heavy IMO (took 2 people to mount it and remove it w/o scratching the paint.) Second, it was 5 inches too wide for my use. When on tight trails, I keep getting it snagged on all kind of crap.

IMO, the yakima load warrior is not only much lighter than the garvin, but the yak is also the perfect width for a 3rd gen 4Runner...which is 39 inches wide. The Garvin is 44 inches wide.

As far as other racks go, the Surcos are too wide & sit too tall IMO and (no offense to others) but the Coleman is too short for my uses. Had I bought the Coleman, I would have also had to buy the extension. At that time, the 18 inch extension was more expensive than the entire rack itself. So at the end of the day, the yakima load warrior met all my needs. (I ran a yak rack w/ lights for a couple months a while back, but since took everything off. I'm just not in the rack mood currently.)

I see that you order a Rola rack...it appears very similar in design and mounting to that of a yakima load warrior. Therefore, you should be getting a good rack all the way around.