LC200 BajaRack : Long Term Review (1 Viewer)

[maujkar]

After much pondering , I thought of sharing this with the fellow mudders.

I purchased two Bajaracks back in July-2013 (me+friend) and at that time, the Baja folks were very considerate to fabricate it with low profile legs (so we could fit it inside our garages) and added a few tabs, front , rear for our LEDs. So basically we have been using them for over 3 years now. We have the full shazaam of bajarack mounts i.e. spare wheel, hilt jacks, maxtrax, awning.

You can see few pictures at my dedicated thread : LC200 GXR Winch.

So around about somewhere mid 2015 we started to spot few rust spots and my friend went ahead and applied a rubberized coat. I didn't, I was lazy, and hence by early 2016 the rack had started to literally fall apart and leave rust stain marks on my roof. I was horrified. I took off all the mounts, LEDS and was appalled to the level of rust - see pictures below.

I contacted Bajarack, (sales & tech team) before summer this year, and asked for a viable explanation to this phenomenal rust : here is what they had to say : 29/04/2016 ,

Hi Ahmed,
The rack looks terrible, we have never seen such destruction on one of our products, can you please get a quote from a local powder coating place to see how much it would be to sand blast and re-paint the rack.

Ok so, to be honest, I was relieved that at least there is acknowledgment of the problem and some kind of monetary support from Baja folks. We exchanged numerous emails and I kept them abreast with the rack fixing process. Long story short - it cost me around $350 and the Baja folks were notified. This is what they had to say after I shared all the fixing process.. 24/05/2016

Hello Ahmed
Thank you for the feed back and we are taking your experience under review in the powder coating process, we already made several improvements working directly with the chemical treatment suppliers and we have change our powder coater....

So I sent them my account details for the 'principally agreed' cost - and haven't heard from BajaRacks ever since. sent them a reminder or two .....

Anyways - you will see the pictures BEFORE & AFTER - in the After process, I went with ;

• Full sand blasting of the rack and all the mounts, (did i tell you that the mounts were equally rusted?)
• Galvanization of the rack and all the mounts
• Red rust proofing primer as the base layer -
• checked all the joints , welds etc were intact or not..
• 2 coats of powder coat
• oven bake
• 1 coat of some shiny stuff - don't know what that was..

the rack is back on the LC200 : the good thing is that the painter accidentally painted the BajaRack logo and it looks much nicer.

Since 2013 , there is a lot more rack variety in the market for LC200. so folks choose carefully ...

 

[maujkar]

RUST PICS : BEFORE : please observe the BroWN stains on my roof !

 

[maujkar]

And the mounts ! All equally rusted..

 

[maujkar]

AFTER : Sand blasted - galvanized - pics

 

[western flyer]

Wow. That is some gnarly rust.

 

[maujkar]

AFTER : the bake - final powder coats and fixing the rack back on...

 

[mark71]

Wow, that sucks.

Makes me glad I got aluminum.

 

[brasskey]

I actually had similar issues with my MegaMule. I can't find all the pictures, but most of the rusting was due to the old style light tabs rubbing against the frame of the rack. But, it did have rusting in other spots. They've fixed the light tab issue as they're welded on now, but interesting to see they're still having issues with powder coating. I've been looking at racks for my 200, so your issues worry me about their 200 rack.

EDIT:They were very receptive with me regarding my MegaMule issues and did help in getting a free replacement minus shipping.

 

[maujkar]

I've been looking at racks for my 200, so your issues worry me about their 200 rack.

Try front runner - a friend got it recently for his LC200 and its a much better make, https://www.frontrunneroutfitters.com/en/be/slimline2/

 

[usmcHOG]

I highly recommend the Eezi-Awn K9 2.2 Meter Roof Rack System for Toyota Land Cruiser 200 Series

 

[Markuson]

I highly recommend the Eezi-Awn K9 2.2 Meter Roof Rack System for Toyota Land Cruiser 200 Series

What jumps out at me after looking at that eezi-Awn is that the top slats run front to back--the entire length of the rack, rather than side to side like most racks I've seen. I'm trying to think about how that might be an advantage or disadvantage in use. Hmmm...

 

[gaijin]

What jumps out at me after looking at that eezi-Awn is that the top slats run front to back--the entire length of the rack, rather than side to side like most racks I've seen. I'm trying to think about how that might be an advantage or disadvantage in use. Hmmm...

Less wind noise maybe? Wind would travel along the slats rather than across them ... maybe it's just the beer talking ...

 

[Markuson]

Less wind noise maybe? Wind would travel along the slats rather than across them ... maybe it's just the beer talking ...

That was my first thought... Maybe less wind noise.

These things are so hard to compare...because unlike tires that we try...then maybe try another brand/model...most ppl keep their rack for the life of the vehicle. Hard to hear real world comparisons as a result.

But wow... That rust up there is incredible if that's only a few years.

 

[T4Runner]

I think eezi-awn and front runner are comparable. Slat direction being the main difference.

I have an eezi-awn rack with a gobi ladder on my 4Runner and have been pleased with it. I don't run a fairing and it's pretty quiet even with an awning, two pelican riffle cases, maxtrax, hi-lift, shovel and pulaski tool mounted up there. The only downside of the slats running the length of the vehicle is the Toyota's stupid tailgate spoiler blocks the underside of the rack from being used to stow tables, etc. underneath.

If and when I throw a rack on the LC, I'll likely be another eezi-awn but I'd alternatively go with front runner if for some reason I couldn't get my hands on an eezi-awn.

 

[jblatl]

I am picking up my Baja rack next week, that really freaks me out. Was the rack exposed to sail conditions?

I wonder if it sat outside for a week prior to powder coating?

 

[Willy beamin]

the other advantage of the front runner would be to access to utilize your sunroof - slats can be moved to allow an opening

 

[Willy beamin]

@pdxlc200 - I think he had the same experience with a Baja rack if I'm not mistaken - working off a tired memory - he's up in the northwest - so mucho rain

 

[mark71]

Agree with Willy, the FrontRunner's moveable slats make it fairly easy to customize for your load. Now that I'm not carrying crap up there, I've moved my slats so that I have my sunroof back again.

Thing is also very light for how incredibly strong it feels, but I admit I haven't walked around on top of any other racks.

 

[maujkar]

I am picking up my Baja rack next week, that really freaks me out. Was the rack exposed to sail conditions?

I wonder if it sat outside for a week prior to powder coating?

they just had a very poor powder coating done - now they are claiming to have 'improved' it -

 

[jblatl]

There so many manufacturers that make metal racks and coat them like ARB. I hope they have improved it for my sake.