Roof baskets

T

TKinstler

New member
I have a 2007 SR5 that came with no factory roof rails. So essentially I have a bare roof. By the time I purchase factory roof rails and a basket the expense is more than hoped. I love the look, style and use I can get from a baja rack or a gobi rack that will permanently mount to the factory mounts, just not the price. Is there any other brands that are less expensive that will permanently mount in the factory locations like gobi or baja do? Appreciate any help.

New to this site and love it! Very helpful and cool to see what others do. Have already done many of the weekend mods.
 
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[MENTION=165]momo.75[/MENTION] can help you, he recently received his. As far as full length racks go, I'm pretty sure the rest of them will be more expensive. (I think)
 
The Whitson Metalworks rack is just as good as the Gobi but half the price. I just got mine today and am in the process of prepping/painting it. I should have it mounted by the end of the weekend. You can't beat this rack for the price.
 
Momo let me start by saying awesome 4runner and thank you for all the posts you've done. As mentioned before this site is awesome for newbie 4runner owners. The whitson rack looks well built from their web site. So if your painting and prepping it does that mean it comes delivered as raw steel? Does it mount cleanly to the roof? I love the gobi rack just not the $1500 price tag. Found baja racks for around $700. Was hoping to find a rack around $500 but realizing fast it's not possible.
 
Thanks man. Yeah, the Whitson rack comes as bare steel. This is because of two reasons. Where Josh lives and builds the racks there isn't a good source for having the racks powder coated. But it also gives the customer the option to have it powder coated or painted in any color or texture they choose. I had thought about powder coating but i am pretty good with prepping and rattle can. It does mount very cleanly on the roof. When Josh dropped mine off, we test fit it, since he hasn't personally mounted one on a 4th gen since he made the very first one. He was interested to make sure his templates/jigs were still the same measurements......it was dead on. I will be posting some shots after i get it all finished and mounted. I had also purchased a 40" single row led light bar that he fabbed mounted tabs for. I can't wait to get it finished and installed.
 
Ok, makes sense why it comes as raw steel then. I agree as far as painting it besides if it gets scratched or scuffed a clean look is only a rattle away. Good to know about the fit. I was a little nervous about fitting the factory threads. I will have to hit him up and see if they will ship to MN. Seems like for the money this maybe my best option. Call me a cheap bastard or what not, but just looking for the best bang for my buck. And considering mines a 2007 figured there would be more options. Guess I was wrong.
 
Thanks again for all the information momo and kkz. I am going to contact whitson and see.

Keep the posts, mods and info coming! Even though my 4runner is 6years old it's new to me.
 
TKinstler said:
Ok, makes sense why it comes as raw steel then. I agree as far as painting it besides if it gets scratched or scuffed a clean look is only a rattle away. Good to know about the fit. I was a little nervous about fitting the factory threads. I will have to hit him up and see if they will ship to MN. Seems like for the money this maybe my best option. Call me a cheap bastard or what not, but just looking for the best bang for my buck. And considering mines a 2007 figured there would be more options. Guess I was wrong.
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Josh ships to Calgary, Alberta, Canada so I'm sure he'll pretty much ship anywhere. I don't have a rack unfortunately but a @rickashay had one on his 3rd gen. so yeah, if you've got the cash, he'll ship it to you.

actually I should change that, he shipped it to northern Montana but I'm pretty sure if you lived here and you were crazy enough to pay the shipping over the border, he'd still ship it to you lol most people around here ship things to Montana and then drive down to get them.
 
Thanks Red! I emailed Josh, but haven't heard back yet. To be honest I didn't realize how well known he was. Thought it was a guy out of his garage that has done 1 or 2. Did you guys (@rickashay [MENTION=165]momo.75[/MENTION] ) notice a lot of wind noise with these racks? Crazy to hear that people from Canada drive down to Montana to save shipping. Never would of guessed that, but makes complete sense. Learn something new every day.
 
I am actually in the process of painting mine right now. i hope to have it on the truck tomorrow afternoon or Sunday morning, so i haven't really had a chance to hear if there was wind noise. I do plan on making a fairing for it so i am not too worried about it.

Josh aka [MENTION=77764]Whitson Metalworks[/MENTION] does work out of his garage, but the quality of his work is pretty amazing. He really takes pride in his work. I know he is tied up this weekend because he dropped my rack off yesterday on his way to the Vintage Motorcycle Festival at Barber Motorsports Park. Being a motorcycle guy, i am sure his head is spinning from all the cool bikes out there.....lol.

I will be posting pics and a write up on the rack after i get it all finished up......i am going as fast as the paint will allow....ha!
 
Thanks for the heads up on Josh. Figured I would hear from him next week or so. Let me know how everything goes momo. If I were you I would honestly probably be watching the paint dry in anticipation. :) I am very interested in how it looks, goes together and if any wind noise or misc.. I was wondering if a fairing would help it or not. The tube steel is not to thick and wouldn't think the noise would come from that but more so from the grate. Keep me posted please.
 
TKinstler said:
Thanks Red! I emailed Josh, but haven't heard back yet. To be honest I didn't realize how well known he was. Thought it was a guy out of his garage that has done 1 or 2. Did you guys (@rickashay [MENTION=165]momo.75[/MENTION] ) notice a lot of wind noise with these racks? Crazy to hear that people from Canada drive down to Montana to save shipping. Never would of guessed that, but makes complete sense. Learn something new every day.
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If you emailed through the website contact form I won't get it since I apparently have the worlds worst email forwarding service... I have to go in every night and dig through the error messages to find them, and I'm out of town. Feel free to PM here or use the "send me an email" hyperlink on the site. Happy to answer any questions!
 
+1 For Josh's roof racks. They are without a doubt as nice as good of quality as any of the big name roof racks on the market, and probably better!

I did get wind noise when I first installed mine, but a $20 home made wind faring solved the issue very easily.
 
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