Choosing a full roof rack for a gen 5 4Runner w/ no drilling required.

[rioga74]

Hey All! I’ve been wondering for a while what roof rack people are putting on their rigs, specifically a gen 5 4Runner. Ideally I’d like it to be full length, carry up to 300+ lbs moving and static, but also Doesn’t require any drilling whatsoever. Lastly, I’d like to have a ton of accessories so I don’t have to fabricate anything. Cool factor is always a plus! I don’t have a sunroof on my rig, and I don’t plan on adding a roof top tent. Knowing my luck, I’d probably roll my big ass off that baby and break something. Plus I prefer the ground tent anyway. Can you guys help out a newbie please? I’m planning a trip to Angels Camp near the Utica reservoir close to Spicer lake in California. Any help is appreciated.

PS, budget isn’t a problem on this purchase. Thanks, Rioga out!


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[Ben Cleveland]

Pretty sure front runner AND eezi-awn both have a full length rack option for the 5th gen, and neither one require drilling. Check out the 5th gen forum on t4r.org. Quite a few threads out there on this topic.

Prinsu also makes a no drill option but it’s not quite full length for the 5th gen. Much less expensive though. I have a prinsu with a bunch of extra crossbars on my 4th gen. It’s good. If money were no option though, I’d go with one of the more expensive welded setups though.


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[davis31052]

I built a 3/4 length flat rack using a Harbor Freight ATV Ramp, for around $200. No drilling required on the truck.

 

[Daniel Etter]

I highly recommend BajaRack! I’ve had mine for over a year now and absolutely love it. Very durable and tough and has plenty of accessory options. Also they offer a few different styles, all full length and have optional sunroof cutout. No drilling required and they can support a lot of weight.

 

[WrightRunner]

I have the GOBI roof rack and I have no complaints i love it. I do not use a RTT. I like having the side rails on it to secure every thing. I have had situations where all the boxes on top where secure, but when on the trail rocking back and forth they would still want to slide a little. No side rails would have been a disaster! It just seems a waste to me to have a roof rack with no side rails if you do not plan on having a RTT.

 

[Ben Cleveland]

Gobi is amazing from what I’ve heard. But for the OP’s benefit, customer service and lead time is a major issue with them. Do some searching on gobi lead times and responsiveness to customers.

If time is no issue then they’re great. Their products are bombproof. But if you want to get a product in a timely manner and have customer service support you might want to go elsewhere.


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[WrightRunner]

it took me 6 weeks on the dot to get mine. same for my CBI rear bumper. took me 16 mo to get a LARUE complete upper.some times you have to wait for the good stuff!

 

[rioga74]

Wow! All this info is a wealth of knowledge I hope to pass on to other newbs. I was leaning to the Gobi, and also looking at the EZ-awn. I’ll give Gobi a call tmw to see what their lead time is from production to delivery. If it’s too long, then I’ll look into the Baja rack and the Frontrunner.


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[MOBO_TOYO]

Not to be discouraging, but it took my Gobi Stealth rack 24 weeks from the time I ordered it to the time it arrived at my door (19 Feb - 7 Aug), and that was with me emailing them on a monthly basis.

Aside from the ridiculous wait time, the rack is built like a tank and in my opinion it's the best looking rack out there. It was worth the wait.

Just be prepared to wait 4 - 6 months.

 

[LostInSocal]

Yep...lead time is a huge issue with Gobi. Mine took almost 5 months to receive. I didn't mind the wait as I didn't need the rack immediately. Quality has been there and I like the enclosed design with the surrounding rails. Having said all that, I don't know if I'd go with Gobi again. I would seriously consider a Rhino Rack. The one downside is being potentially tied to their accessories, whereas with the Gobi, it take some ingenuity to pack securely and properly.

 

[JoshMTN4R]

I’ve seen multiple people start with gobis and move to frontrunners. I’m going to go with a Frontrunner out of the gate, always comes highly recommended.

 

[Lost-Again]

I built a 3/4 length flat rack using a Harbor Freight ATV Ramp, for around $200. No drilling required on the truck.

Yeah, that didn't happen unless you post a pic of it ;)

 

[davis31052]

Yeah, that didn't happen unless you post a pic of it ;)

Nah. If I said it happened. It happened.

Post and pics below if you want to eat crow. Absolutely no drilling to the truck what so ever.

https://www.overlandbound.com/forums/threads/another-home-built-roof-rack.6655/

 

[rioga74]

Hey guys, I finally committed to a rack...and i chose Frontrunner for its accessories and misc features. My only thought is that I didn’t want to drill into my baby so I went with the 3/4 rack. Any thoughts, advice, or input? A little remorse bc I’m thinking I should have gone with a full size rack.

 

[Ben Cleveland]

Hey guys, I finally committed to a rack...and i chose Frontrunner for its accessories and misc features. My only thought is that I didn’t want to drill into my baby so I went with the 3/4 rack. Any thoughts, advice, or input? A little remorse bc I’m thinking I should have gone with a full size rack.

Are you putting a rtt up there? If so then you might want to cancel that order and go full length instead. If not, you’ll probably be fine.

Love the front runner racks, you made a good choice.

 

[rioga74]

@bencleveland, thanks man, that’s a huge relief. No RTT for me. I have a great tent and I actually prefer sleeping on the ground. My thing was that I didn’t want to drill. I was initially so close to buying the EZ-Awn K9 rack, but saw that the accessories for it weren’t very plentiful. The price and the quick delivery was worth the $$ I paid. Also the list of crap I had to finish for my wife so she’d let me buy the damn thing guilt free! Worth it!!

 

[Ben Cleveland]

Yep, if you aren't using it for a RTT, I'd say the 3/4 rack still has quite a lot of usable space. I can't imagine using all of my full legnth prinsu rack if I didn't have the RTT on top full time.

If you don't have a solid plan for how you're using your rack yet, I'd suggest looking at some videos for rack storage, and just doing a lot of research. Then get your rack installed, and play around with how different things are organized on the rack. Don't go and bolt on all the accessories at once.

I follow Jason Koertge on youtube, and he just traded out his k9 eezi awn for a front runner. These videos give some really great closeups of putting the rack together, as well as some info on how he organized and installed stuff on his rack. It might be useful to you, although you won't need his experience in drilling holes.

What are you putting on the rack? I'm always curious how other people plan for their roof rack usage.