WMW Christmas Full Length Rack Special

Glad to see you are able to offer up another sale.

Looking forward to putting in an order for my rack in the next couple weeks if my axles sell.
 
Hey Whitson,

I want to put an order in for a rack this week hopefully. (The axles sold on Friday). Looking at shipping together with Drew "SantCruzRunner" to save some of the cost, but not sure when he will be able to pay for his in full. Any chance I could drop a deposit to hold the $545 cost and pay the rest when Drew comes through?

Trying to figure the best financial way to do this. Would be a shame to pay full up front only to have to wait 2-3 months for Drew to come through with the rest.

Anyone else in the SF Bay Area that is looking at picking one up if Drew can't finance one right now?
 
Also, how is the front doing with just a press fit on the mounting base? anyone experience any unwanted rattling or shifting of the front?

Also with those of you who have the original design with it super snug to the center of the roof,
how much weight have you mounted to it?
Have you noticed any deflection or movement that got too close for comfort making contact with the roof?

Reason for asking is I do a fair bit of desert and dune running with a lot of high speed bumpy travels and need a solid setup that can support the weight without contacting body panels.

Weight in the center of the rack would be 2 4 gallon rotopax gas cans along with a 60 in hilift and pop up canopy along the sides. Need to make sure the original design allows enough clearance for this or if I need to request another 1/4-1/2" clearance for deflection.

Thanks,
 
it would likely touch on bumps like what you're describing, however, the rack is stationary so a "touch" isn't going to ruin your paint job or dent your roof or anything. One solution, if its paint damage that concerns you, would be put some clear vinyl protective stuff under the tightest points. Another, as you pointed out, would be to simply build in a little more clearance, though i wouldn't go more than 1/4" extra as theres really not much deflection when i stand on mine. theizzardking posted pictures of his loaded down for a trip once, maybe he'll chime in.
 
Weight in the center of the rack would be 2 4 gallon rotopax gas cans along with a 60 in hilift and pop up canopy along the sides. Need to make sure the original design allows enough clearance for this or if I need to request another 1/4-1/2" clearance for deflection.

Thanks,

i'm pretty sure whatever you plan on carrying up there will be fine...
full size futon mattress, climbing gear, number of backpacks with gear in them for 5 days and we drove something like 1,500 miles....these things are pretty rigid.
DSC00296.jpg~original

DSC00300.jpg~original

DSC00301.jpg~original



that said the clearance is bit tight, but it should be this is meant to be a low-pro style rack, and i appreciate that, i got plenty clearance in parking garages and it hugs the lines of the truck and looks good in doing so, i really wouldn't worry much about deflection, your roof will cave before the rack deflects to much....

i think i have one of the first few racks shipped out, there was 1 minor issue with the fit at the front but that fixed with 2, .30 cent nyloc nuts and has since been fixed in later revisions, so that's a non-issue and nothing to worry about.
 
Thanks for the responses both of you.

I think when I put my order in I would possibly request an additional 1/4" maybe. As it sits there is currently about 1/4" clearance on your production models correct?

I know that my rola rack mounted to the factory cross bars on my 06 deflected a ton when I was running washboard and whoops. Granted it was mounted to aluminum crossbars which were quite thin. Maybe I would be ok with it snug. I think the gas cans would only be about 60lbs total for the two. Worse case with 3 I would be looking at 90lbs right in the center.

Also I know you made a couple racks with round tubing for the center supports. Square would be the stronger route though correct?
 
ok good to know. And I guess that the mesh welded to each tube helps to bridge the gaps and strengthen the entire package.
 
Good to know.
I am working to get a hold of Drew to find out about estimated time to get his rack paid for. As soon as I hear back I will be putting a deposit down. ;):

PM me with what you would want upfront to hold the pricing. Probably the only change would be no light tabs up front. Just bare as I havent decided yet what I want to do on the front. Probably end up with my own tabs for a wind fairing.

Thanks,
 
I'll chime in here with my experience too:

The rack does fit pretty close to the roof, but really the only area of any concern is IMO the second front crossmember ( I posted a pic of the gap earlier in this thread) - as that is the closest point to the roof. However, I think that if your going to be loading the front of this rack up with a ton of weight, you should be more concerned with the structural rigidity of the roof itself. The 4Runner roofs are paper-thin and with the "feet" for the rack displacing it's weight on the sheet metal, your going to bend/dent the roof before anything on the rack. I discussed this briefly with Josh. It's not a design flaw on his behalf at all, simply a weak point on the 4Runner. If I was planning on loading up the entire front section of the rack on a regular basis, I would probably be re-inforcing the underside of the roof.

As the rack sits on the truck straight from WMW, it doesn't bounce or move at all. Or at least mine has made ZERO noise (other than wind....) or had any signs of movement.

CrazyDubman - I plan on running a very similar setup as you in the spring. Dual RotoPax, my Hi-LIft, and possibly an awning. I would have no concerns with mounting that gear up on this rack... at least with my offroad uses in mind: crawling, logging roads (lots of high speed as we usually find ourselves racing... hahah), etc. Although my truck wont ever be seeing any air time. Take it FWIW. Cheers
 
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Thanks for chiming in Rickashay.

Thats the info I was looking for. The rotopax will be set up against the back edge so very minimul if anything will be loaded up front. Most if not all of the weight will be over the factory mounts. I will not be having mesh over the sunroof as I like having that part clear. Plus the wife likes watching the stars as we drive down the backroads at night :p

Question though. do the factory crossbars that run along the roof stay installed or are they removed when the rack is installed?
 
Thanks for chiming in Rickashay.

Thats the info I was looking for. The rotopax will be set up against the back edge so very minimul if anything will be loaded up front. Most if not all of the weight will be over the factory mounts. I will not be having mesh over the sunroof as I like having that part clear. Plus the wife likes watching the stars as we drive down the backroads at night :p

Question though. do the factory crossbars that run along the roof stay installed or are they removed when the rack is installed?

No problem.

The factory cross bars are deleted. You only use the factory roof rack "slide tracks". The WMW slide mounts insert into the factory tracks and then the WMW rack mounts to those slide mounts. This enables the WMW roof rack to be slide forward or back just like the factory crossbars to allow for your desired mounting location. It, obviously, doesnt move as much because it is a full length rack but I would guess that you have around 8-10" direction as to where you want to tighten the rack down. I have mine so it is mounted further back, so that the rear hatch opens just behind the rear of the WMW rack. I like the idea of keeping the majority of the weight, above the mounting points on the factory tracks.
 
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Ya thats the way I would mount mine. Keep most of the weight over the factory mounts. Keeps the front of the rack tighter to the roof as well. I don't have a rear spoiler like some so it can be moved even more towards the rear.

Ill be making a form fitting wind fairing for the front that sits snug on the roof with a piece of weather stripping between the fairing and the roof. Want to keep it as aerodynamic as possible. Probably get some 1/8th or 1/16th lexan and wrap it around the front to the first upright using a head gun to soften the bends so it holds its shape. Then just simple nut bolt and some fender washers on the face with rubber washers between all layers to isolate it.
 

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