Prinsu Rack Q- removing crossbars to add attachements?

[LZH55]

I have been looking at the Prinsu racks but have a question for those who have them- what is your experience with having to remove the rails in order to add attachments points?
Is there a way to mod drop in points?
Is it a non- issue?
I really like everything about these racks, but the inability to quickly add/change configurations is giving me pause.

Will you share your experience with this?

 

[honda250xtitan]

I haven't used them but they (other hardware companies, not prinsu) do make "drop in" t nuts. So you wouldn't need to remove the crossbar.

removing the crossbars to add stuff is pretty simple. remove one side, slide the attachment in, bolt it in.

The prinsu full length thread has some links to tacoma world with a HUGE thread for prinsu stuff.

 

[sn_85]

I have been looking at the Prinsu racks but have a question for those who have them- what is your experience with having to remove the rails in order to add attachments points?
Is there a way to mod drop in points?
Is it a non- issue?
I really like everything about these racks, but the inability to quickly add/change configurations is giving me pause.

Will you share your experience with this?

I have the 3/4 Prinsu rack and will be getting rid of it for a few reasons

1) I want to get full length. I always knew I'd want a full length rack but got the 3/4 with a group buy discount for the interim

2) While the modular aspect is good it does become an annoyance when you have to move bars back and forth for your other branded accessories. You could end up buying more bars to suit different mounts but then again that's an additional cost as well

3) The lack of a drop in slot IMO is another inconvenience. While it's not hard to remove one side of the bar and slide in your mount it is another step you have to go through and if you change your config more frequently then it does become an issue.

I will likely be going with either Eezi-Awn K9 or Rhino-Rack. Their racks have drop in slots and they both have a lot of add-on accessories made for their racks. No need to adjust cross bars or remove any bars. Makes life easier IMO.

 

[e60ral]

Couldn't you make a drop in slot pretty quickly with a drill?

 

[Ohio_Steve]

It isn't a pain until you have things attached to both sides and can't get to the screw heads. I have an awning on one side that would need to be removed any time I want access to that side of the rail. And a Road Shower on the other side, so I can't slip things on the rails it is attached to. I will admit that I got frustrated when trying to mount my Renogy panel and had to remove/move other things I didn't want to move.
[MENTION=139465]Ohio Hawk[/MENTION] and [MENTION=149963]JMFP![/MENTION] had access holes milled in every slot before assembling for $80 per rack. Perhaps Mike will post a photo. I've since kicked myself for trying to save a few bucks when I didn't do mine at the same time...

 

[Ohio Hawk]

It isn't a pain until you have things attached to both sides and can't get to the screw heads. I have an awning on one side that would need to be removed any time I want access to that side of the rail. And a Road Shower on the other side, so I can't slip things on the rails it is attached to. I will admit that I got frustrated when trying to mount my Renogy panel and had to remove/move other things I didn't want to move.

[MENTION=139465]Ohio Hawk[/MENTION] and [MENTION=149963]JMFP![/MENTION] had access holes milled in every slot before assembling for $80 per rack. Perhaps Mike will post a photo. I've since kicked myself for trying to save a few bucks when I didn't do mine at the same time...

Here you go. I went to a machine shop because they could dead center the hole and had the ability to fix it in a vise better than I could. $2.00 per hole and they did it with an end mill. I had the top 2 tracks done and also the front and rear face. I skipped the bottom tracks. No idea how I'd get a bolt in under the rack it's so low. I put them dead center. I thought about the ends, but then which end and doing both would have run up the total cost. My only complaint about the rack, solved for $80.00. I also had the bars stripped and reanodized so the raw metal wasn't showing. [MENTION=149963]JMFP![/MENTION] didn't do that and his is holding up fine.

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[sn_85]

Here you go. I went to a machine shop because they could dead center the hole and had the ability to fix it in a vise better than I could. $2.00 per hole and they did it with an end mill. I had the top 2 tracks done and also the front and rear face. I skipped the bottom tracks. No idea how I'd get a bolt in under the rack it's so low. I put them dead center. I thought about the ends, but then which end and doing both would have run up the total cost. My only complaint about the rack, solved for $80.00. I also had the bars stripped and reanodized so the raw metal wasn't showing. [MENTION=149963]JMFP![/MENTION] didn't do that and his is holding up fine.

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How much was it to have each bar stripped and anodized?

 

[honda250xtitan]

Here you go. I went to a machine shop because they could dead center the hole and had the ability to fix it in a vise better than I could. $2.00 per hole and they did it with an end mill. I had the top 2 tracks done and also the front and rear face. I skipped the bottom tracks. No idea how I'd get a bolt in under the rack it's so low. I put them dead center. I thought about the ends, but then which end and doing both would have run up the total cost. My only complaint about the rack, solved for $80.00.

Dope. Time to take advantage of my buddy who has a machine shop. They actually now look like the Nissan Utilitrack system they use in the truck beds. Probably the best part about my old titan lol.


FYI there are drop in nuts that work with the crossbars as is

 

[Ohio Hawk]

How much was it to have each bar stripped and anodized?

I paid $50.00 to have the 10 bars that came with rack. I also had 2, 1x1 bars that I bought in silver because Zach couldn't provide it at the time. It was pretty cheap overall, but the process of getting it done correctly was painful.

The first time I got them back they looked horrible. They had blue chalking in all of the grooves. I took them back and they redid them. This time they reconfigured their jig so the bars were at a slight angle. The theory was that the solutions were not settling in the grooves properly because there was air getting trapped. It all worked out well in the end, but it took almost 2 months to get it right.

Make sure you go to an anodizer that can provide an architectural grade finish. My limited understanding is that it is uv stable and a double coat process. The non-architectural coatings will turn purple in the sun and get very chalky.

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[Ohio Hawk]

Dope. Time to take advantage of my buddy who has a machine shop. They actually now look like the Nissan Utilitrack system they use in the truck beds. Probably the best part about my old titan lol.


FYI there are drop in nuts that work with the crossbars as is

We wanted the ability to not have to load up the tracks with drop in nuts. We also couldn't find a source for stainless steel ones. In Ohio that is critical. Everything rusts here! The holes we had machined accept standard 1/4" carriage bolts that we can source in 316 stainless. That's the reasoning behind our choice. Everyone has different requirements.

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[LZH55]

Thank you for all the helpful replies!