Roof Rack and Hitch Setups HERE!

[Augdog1964]

Baja Rack

Love my Baja Rack.. fantastic setup and easy install...

Nice truck... just got her...

Dave Bane
Augdog1964
'11 TE Salsa Red/Toytec Ultimate Lift/Nitto 285/70r17/Weathertechs

 

[IceNomad]

Has anyone used a thule or yakima ski/snowboard racks or a cargo box with the GOBI Stealth rack?

I emailed them and they said that the cross bars were spaced and sized so they would fit but I would love to hear some real world experience.

Yes, the yakima rocket box fits without any problems/modification needed. It will also sit on top of the lightbar which is nice and provides extra stability.

This is a far away picture posted in the ARB bumper thread.

 

[crunch]

Thule Atlantis 1600 XT cargo box

Used my 20% member discount at REI this past weekend and bought the Thule Atlantis 1600XT for my 2010 4R. Was $589-20%. I could have ordered it online but glad I went to get it and try it out before buying.

Here you see it on top - the front cross bar is all the way up. The box is pushed forward a bit as well. I have this on my factory cross bars - it works. The only downside - the clamps can scratch the roof because when they're open, they're taller than the cross bars. So, I'm pretty careful when I install. Putting this thing on is probably a 2 person operation, but it can be done by one person if needed (I took it down myself without much problem). I may end up buying the 450 cross bars so it's raised a bit more and I think the Thule cross bars are significantly stronger than the factory ones.

This is what worried me the most - when pushed forward, the box does clear the satellite antenna by a few inches. And the rear hatch can be lifted all the way.

On my drive home with it on, no noticeable wind noise. I can see the front 6-8 inches of it through my sunroof. It's 178cm long.

 

[AustinCyclist]

Cross Bars and Rocky Mount TieRod Bike Rack

Just installed my crossbars, was a snap. $105ish online.

Ordered a single Rocky Mount TieRod Bike Rack/Tray. Ordered the lock cores to go with it, 2. So effectively, the fork mount locks and the rack itself is locked to the factory crossbars. I found the installation straightforward for everything, the rocky mounts are really well designed.

The factory cross bar needs to be installed all the way forward. With no bike on the rack, hte rear door can open all the way just fine. With my XL 29er on the rack, I can not open the rear door, the wheel/tire hits the door. Annoying, but not a big deal. This is because hte factory racks don't go far enough fwd.

Pics below:

the other thing that is nice about hte rocky mount, for a mountain bike with disk brakes, as you can see on the front left, there is a cutout for the disk assembly to fit into, I have the BB7s from avid on a Reba and it fits fine. Because the factory crossbars have not flat, with the bike on the rack, the bike is just slightly tilted to the left, but isn't something that would jump out at ya.. its just an FYI..

 

[Arc.]

Does anyone have some pictures of a roof rack with a shovel and hi-lift attached to it? I think I saw someone with a rocky-road outfitter rack with them attached, but wanted to see more rack options.

 

[gotpakalolo]

product review for thule 990xt

Here's the hitch rank I decided to go with. It's the Thule 990XT double track. I chose it mainly due to price and features it offered. The XT Model comes with Lock's and Key's for the hitch and bike. I haven't got it yet should be in sometime this week , heck I haven't even got my bike yet that too should be in this week. lol

When I get it all hooked up I'll post some pics of it installed.

hi, i am looking into this same product. any first hand experience you can share with us such as pro's and con's of the product. That would be greatly appreciated. =) :cheers:

 

[muddyYota]

Thule Hullaport Kayak setup using factory crossbars. Everything works well. Great time on the water

 

[toyslug]

nomad 10th: that's a great quality looking hitch! definitely like what i am looking for. :thumb3:

 

[mbskoda]

Thule Ascent 1600

Daytona Beach

 

[kingpin748]

Here is one with a Yakima Double Down and a Baja Rack.

 

[cdcengineer]

I just installed a Thule Ascent 1600 on my 2011 SR5 with factory crossbars. We took it from Breckenridge, CO to Jackson, WY (~1100 miles) the next day. The box clears the shark fin antenna by an inch or so, and the hatch/tail opens no problem. The box does extend more than half way over the moonroof.

It was stable the entire trip, although I could see the front of the box mvoing slightly in the wind through the moonroof. I have no gas mileage to comare to since I had only 200 miles on the truck before leaving. But we averaged 22.5 mpg the entire trip which included times at 26mgp. Running 80 mph on I80 dropped the average down, as did the mountain roads. But I'm pretty psyched.

If I was buying the box new (it came off our outback POS), I would recommend the Atlantis 1600 as the ~2" shorter would still fit my skis at an angle and the added clearance would enhance my view.

I would also prefer Thule bars, but since my vehicle came with these I figured I would try it.

One word of caution, when installing the box I put a towel under the clamps as they will hit the roof only until they're tight (same when/if removing the box).

Hope this post helps someone as the previous posts helped me.

BTW, I'm loving the new ride. I just need winter mats, hood protector and side door protection bumpers and I'm set.

 

[brockeverly]

Great thread! I am looking at picking up the Rocky Road rack and a Yakima Megawarrior with the 22" extension. I was going to go with the Gobi but something about the Yakima draws me in, probably the ease of install and removal when not needed.

 

[dscott25]

I got Rocky Mounts roof bike rack for my 4Runner and Altima. The quality is far greater then any Yakama or thule I've ever had. I highly recommend them. Sorry I dont have any pics yet. They also fit with the factory oval crossbars.

 

[thejuice]

Ditto - sorry about the bum knee, went trough a ACL/MCL/Medial Meniscus a couple year back and it's life changing. No more hard sports.

Have you looked into some of those web-based machine shops - they seem to offer pretty good rates for low volume production runs. I am very interested in either designing my own pro-e/creole model, or borrowing your design. Maybe we should start a group buy for that solution, because if other members are like me, I don't want the giant thule feet that clamp onto the factory rails. Your solution looks really elegant.

Anybody interested in a GB?

So, I was teaching myself AutoDesk Inventor the other day and came up with this. It would basically fix Thule crossbars (cut down to ~44" from what I recall) to the standard SR5 rails. The upper piece has one end that fits into the slot in the rail and the other end fits into a Thule crossbar. Then, another piece is clamped below and fixed to the upper piece via a socket head screw.

The black is the thule crossbar, the white is a section of the T4R roof rail, and the gray are the parts I'd have machined.

Taking a quick look at the spacing between the rail and the roof, I realized that the socket head screw should go through the top section and thread into the bottom section instead of how I drew it up.

Basically, I think this would give me a pretty elegant solution to getting Thule crossbars, to fit all my attachments, on my 4Runner roof without having the huge Thule feet. I'm going to call around and see how much it will run me to have 4 of these machined and get more precise measurements (I was ballparking when I first drew it).

Thoughts? Should I go w/ this setup or the Thule feet? Another engineer that I work with was telling me that there is a company that makes pretty generic shaped steel blocks in all kinds of different sizes that would minimize the amount of machining I'd have to do on these, so I could possibly machine them myself.

I'm totally in love w/ Inventor, btw. What a fantastic modeling tool!

 

[wellRed]

Finally picked up my crossbars this weekend. Does anyone know what the load capacity is for the standard roof rails? I know the OEM crossbars limit it to 135lbs or so.

What length, brand, type are those bars?

 

[Hadley22]

I have used the Thule crossroad adapters for the past 10 years on a land cruiser, lx570 and 4runner. They work as the should. I have carried bikes, skis, and a rooftop box. This allows me to carry bikes from the hitch. I found when using the cargo box I needed the extra height to clear the antenna and the rear door opening.

 

[Quentin]

What length, brand, type are those bars?

Thule. 72", IIRC.

 

[wellRed]

Thanks Quentin - Got my TEP today, need to get a rack on there quick that can hold 2 Kayaks. Do you like that setup long term?

 

[Quentin]

Thanks Quentin - Got my TEP today, need to get a rack on there quick that can hold 2 Kayaks. Do you like that setup long term?

My goal was to get two canoes on there. I haven't used it for that purpose, though.

 

[kylerjones93]

17 4RTE with Yakima JetStream, Skybox and Ski Mounts

Don't know if anyone else is considering/struggling with this - but after a lot of measurements, etc - I landed on the perfect setup for my family:
60" Yakima JetStream bars allow me to carry both a Yak Skybox 16 next to a RockyMounts LiftOps Smalls (that mount to the T-slots). Wind test with the bars and box was great - the JetStream bars really are quiet. I'll follow up with pics whenever I get it all loaded up again.