Roof Rack for Roof Top Tent on 3rd Gen

[Triton's Toy4R]

I want to carry a roof top tent (Welcome to AutoHomeUSA - Suppliers of Roof Top Tent Campers for SUVs, vans, trucks, or cars) on my 2001 4Runner, but the RTT is 88" long... way longer than the OEM rack. Also, the OEM crossbars are bowed up in the middle, so I can't use them. I'd like to put a flat crossbar near the far back of the roof and one near the very front so that the bars are far enough apart to properly support the RTT... with me in it!
Has anybody done this? Any ideas? I'm trying to avoid buying one rack for the factory rails and one for the door frame -- too pricey.
Thanks for your help!

 

[Socco]

I want to carry a roof top tent (Welcome to AutoHomeUSA - Suppliers of Roof Top Tent Campers for SUVs, vans, trucks, or cars) on my 2001 4Runner, but the RTT is 88" long... way longer than the OEM rack. Also, the OEM crossbars are bowed up in the middle, so I can't use them. I'd like to put a flat crossbar near the far back of the roof and one near the very front so that the bars are far enough apart to properly support the RTT... with me in it!
Has anybody done this? Any ideas? I'm trying to avoid buying one rack for the factory rails and one for the door frame -- too pricey.
Thanks for your help!

Really, will a buying a proper roof rack break the bank, when your talking about spending $3,000 on a tent? IMO, S**tcan the factory rack altogether and get a quality aftermarket one, like a Gobi.

 

[willtell]

Baja Rack

They also have a long rack (not for RTT), Baja Rack, that is 82". I would imagine another 6" would hang over the front a bit.

I have not seen a RTT on the factory rack before, not that it can't be done, but the load limit is only 150lbs on the factory rack, so when you put a tent and a person up there, you have exceeded the load capacity. The bajaracks and other roof racks for a RTT should have attachment feet that attach to the slides directly and not just sit on the crossbars.

 

[the great him]

i totally agree with Socco, why would you do this, a nice good rack would cost $400 tops but you are going to spend $2500 minimum on the tent, please be real. thats like going out and spending $2k+ on nice wheels and then buying some junk used "maypop" tires to go with them. if you look around on the sight they have a section that talks about mounting and the spread of cross bars and even tells you some systems they recommend. on top of that the tent is only 88" when fully open, so it will only have the static load on it at that time, you dont drive with it up and open,

 

[josh.bunch]

Check TRDParts4u.com. They have a roof rack/tent combo on there that seemed reasonable last time I looked.

 

[Triton's Toy4R]

Thanks for your help and ideas. I like the Gobi rack! very nice.

BTW -- I got my RTT off of Craigslist... not payin' retail for one of those!

 

[99runnerwa]

First off... man you are lucky to find one used. i looked for about 6 months before buying one new. Second, i wouldnt trust the factory rack. I removed all of the factory rack including the rails. Then had a set of full length after market rails installed and some thule towers and cross bars to mount the tent to. It is very stable and i dont have to worry about it at all. Also you dont need a rack under the tent so the price of the aftermarket rails will be offset by not needing to buy a rack.

 

[Triton's Toy4R]

I didn't know aftermarket rails were available. Where did you get yours? I'm building a rack right now for the RTT and hang gliders, but the mounting to the existing rails is the sticky point. Any info you could provide would be great!
Thanks!

 

[99runnerwa]

I had my rails installed by Rack-N-Road in Seattle. They are universal rails from Thule i believe. Basically removed the stock rails drilled new holes and mounted the new rails in their place.

 

[Mf Baker]

you can always to to the junkyard and get another factory rack and bolt it in front of the existing on. i've seen one like that before. not with the roof tent, but two oem racks. it was a 2nd gen runner with two 3rd gen racks on top. also, my friend has a 2004 tacoma quad cab with a camper. he said he wanted a roof rack for the camper, so i suggested just getting a 3rg gen runner rack for it. he did, it fits perfect and looks oem so its a triple win really.

i would bet that a 2nd oem rack to spread the load out and raise the capacity to 300lbs would work great and would be cheaper than a new rack, and will allow just about any length. using a gobi or such for something like that will still put the weight on the back points, as well as waste a lot of the weight capacity.

imp:

 

[Triton's Toy4R]

Thanks for the tips! I should be able to put something together with this. It's all about the mounting points to distribute the load.