FrontRunner vs Rhino Rack vs Eezi-Awn

[Tex68w]

I am only interested in these three racks, of the bunch, which do you think is the best overall product?

I have heard from 5th Gen users that the Eezi-Awn corrodes/wears quickly and I would assume that it has the worst support of the bunch since it is the only one that is an import. FrontRunner is quite popular but always looks like it sits up too far off the top of the roof line. I like the looks of Rhino Rack and their Back Bone system, but I have yet to see on in person.

 

[Gazziza]

I have the Eezi-Awn K9. It's a nice rack but I'm a little disappointed in the quality. I bought it because I live near SLC and Equipt is right in town. If I did it again I'd go with Rhino Rack. That being said even though Eezi-Awn is imported Paul at Equipt is always very friendly and nice with any support issues.

Pros

• Non-drill. Uses a slot channel and feet to hold the rack to the roof
• Good marketing. XO guys use the racks so we at least know they are of a certain quality and durability. There's also a certain amount of cache with a South African designed and made product
• Actually easy to access the underside of the rack. So many of the other racks use some sort of side rail system that makes it hard to fit your hand under the rack. Important if you're mounting an RTT. With the Eezi-Awn there's plenty of room to put your entire hand and arm under
• I've managed to attach Yakima accessories to it without needing other crossbars. The K9 slats run front to back but there are smaller ones that go side to side to support it. I was able to attach my Yakima Fat Cat 6 ski/snowboard to the smaller side-side support rails without any mods. Kept it nice and low
• Should I decide to ditch the rack in the future and just go with load bars they have an option for that too

Cons

• Soft/weak metal. I've been careful about tightening the bolts too much but I've had some of the literally break off where bolts were. You hang an awning off the smaller out rails which use 6mm bolts. I think the stress and weight of the awning put a lot of pressure on the outer rail and caused it to simply crack/break. Equipt installed the awning too so it wasn't like I over tightened it. I think others have had this complaint as well
• Paint scratches and wears easily
• Although the rails are slotted the holes are kind of small. It's easy enough to fit bolts through but some of the holes require a little more maneuvering and work than others
• Lack of accessories. When you buy a rack system you also buy into all of the accessories. Of the 3 Eezi-Awn has the fewest. It has all the essentials but lacks everywhere else. You can augment it again by fitting Yakima or Thule accessories although YMMV on fitment. Fortunately you can still attach Yakima or Thule accessories because the footpads easily attach to the K9 rail system and you can run crossbars but then you'd have a rack on a rack.

So it's done, it's sturdy, and I find it very useful to have a flat platform but if I did it over again I'd likely get a Rhino Rack. It sits the lowest, from what I've seen there are no quality issues, and there are a gazillion accessories. I'd pass on the Front Runner, just doesn't interest me to drill in the roof line.

 

[Tex68w]

Thanks for the reply. Very insightful info on the Eezi-Awn and it mirrors what I've heard from the 5th Gen crowd. In regards to the FrontRunner it says that no drilling is required on the GX460 model, they do require drilling on the 5th Gens.

 

[Itsky]

I had a front runner and changed to rhino rack aero cross bars, foot pack attached to rts track. I found cross bars to be way better at carrying gear than a platform while being better looking, more aero, cheaper, lighter, quieter. Gear tested: bikes, paddle boards, surf boards, fishing poles, lumber, ladders, huge ass Yakima roof box.

Platforms are expedition approved though.

 

[Tex68w]

I had a front runner and changed to rhino rack aero cross bars, foot pack attached to rts track. I found cross bars to be way better at carrying gear than a platform while being better looking, more aero, cheaper, lighter, quieter. Gear tested: bikes, paddle boards, surf boards, fishing poles, lumber, ladders, huge ass Yakima roof box.

Platforms are expedition approved though.

Was this on a GX? I usually run 1650 Pelican cases, kayaks, SUP, Maxtrax, and 4gal Rotopax up top but I plan to move the last two to the rear bumper at some point. I like the idea of a platform rack for mounting side lights.

Front Runner is rock solid with a wide variety of accessories. It sits a little higher than others so you can utilize the bottom slots as well (table slides). Re: drilling holes, there are already holes in the roof for the factory mounts.

I forget that they offer those undermount accessories, not sure I would utilize any of them but I'll look into it. My buddy has a Frontrunner on his 200 and I'll admit that other than how high it sits it looks great and appears to be holding up quite well.

 

[DRANGED]

I had the same (maybe greater) internal analysis paralysis RE: roof racks and platforms! Although I wrestled with DIY as well. I considered Gamiviti towers and DIY versions but fell in love with the backbone (not currently marketed for the 470). It's lower profile, to me it would spread load better than isolated paired towers; so I did my research and found the Prado 120 has a backbone in other markets and I worked with RR verify what we know, the prado 120 and GX470 are the same shell/roof.



I ended up with the Rhino-Rack backbone and pioneer platform on my 470. The backbone is widely available for the 460 and 5th gen 4R.
I like the RR platform's orientation longitudinal (front-rear) vs. front runner's transverse (side-side), but they look like almost identical platform pieces... wide with one slot.

*edit*
With RR platform there are three steel U-channeled bars that mount at the roof mounts and spread platform load. the whole platform has 5 crossbars that fix to the front-rear platform slats, 3 of those five mount directly to the roof mounts (either towers/feet or where the backbone mounts to the roof)
*edit*

Rhino will be introducing a new platform this fall (per RR staff) that is a little lower profile, and has slots on the front and rear side bars AND slots in the underside....

I suspect many frontrunner accessories would work with the RR as the slots are standardized but Rhino offers a number of (pricey) accessories as well.
Here's current pioneer platform on a 5th gen 4r with backbone (76" platform)

Here's prototype next gen platform on a tundra. Note the different leading edge vs the taller straight leading edge in older/current style

I went 86" platform with fairing.

There's a still a little tweaking I'd like to try RE: fore-aft mounting and I want to see if removing the fairing would affect a noise change. It's fine now, but just curious... Some say without a fairing and allowing air to go over and under the platform, there's noise from turbulence generated under the tray because of the open U-channels which is alleviated with various filling solutions.... (80/20 extruded aluminum and various counterfits, have a rubber strip that would fit...

4th gen with ARB and the 120 platform with RR (RR sunseeker 2.5 is covering the platform though)

 

[Tex68w]

Might be a good idea to wait for that new platform then!?

 

[DRANGED]

Might be a good idea to wait for that new platform then!?

Yeah, the prototype looked good. Slightly lower profile from current pioneer, better angle of attack (beveled up and down vs vertical orientation), slots on front and rear cross pieces and under slots. It is pretty low profile so unless you did towers or the RR feet (there are a couple options) you probably couldn't put a frontrunner table underneath. towers/feet allow side access whereas the backbone doesn't, plus the backbone is really the lowest mounting option I think...

You can just barely see the slot under the front crosspiece in this zoomed clip of above pic...

But yeah, if you're not rushed by time or pressed by budget waiting for the new gen could be good. And for the rest of shoppers, they'll probably do big clearance sales on current platform stocks (they tried to push a bunch last year on big sales too).

 

[ducktapeguy]

I have a front runner rack and have never used the other ones so I can't say if one's better than the other. I don't have many complaints about it, I think there are pro and cons for any type of roof rack no matter which brand. Now that I've used it a while, I think I can appreciate some of the features a little more. Overall I'm pretty happy with it and would probably buy it again if given a choice.

The front runner does sit a little higher but not enough to bother me. I think that's necessary to clear the sunroof and shark fin antennae, any lower and you'd have clearance issues I suspect. The height actually comes in handy if you have a RTT. With the Rhino rack or other solid sided racks, I don't see how you'll be able to fit your hand underneath for access if you need to bolt something to from the underside. Even with the FR it's barely enough clearance to get my hands in there, it's really tight. I'm also starting to appreciate the extra clearance when I'm looking at ways to mount my solar panel and tables because being able to mount large flat items on the bottom side almost doubles the usable rack space.

Pros

Ton's of accessories - Whenever I've debated about mounting something to the roof rack, there's always been an accessory for it on the front runner website. Tables, bikes, gas cans, cargo boxes, tires, awnings, RTT, etc. If I wanted to mount another car on top, there's probably a accessory for that too. They're pretty expensive so I've never used them , but at least I know if I really need something it's available and it gives me ideas on how to do it. I think other racks may be able to use the same accessories too but I don't know for sure.

Durable - I don't know how it compares to other racks, but I've heard other people complaining that their crossbars flex too much or didn't trust them to handle heavy loads. I've seen knockoff style racks that put all the weight on the crossbar bolts, which I don't know if I'd trust. The FR rack is solid, I have no worries about strapping things up there and taking them off road or having multiple people stand on the rack.

Cons

Wind noise - with the rack on, it's impossible to use the sunroof anymore. In vent mode it's ok, but don't even think about opening it all the way on the freeway. With the sunroof closed it's not that bad, but I had to add a yakima deflector on the front. I think any other rack without a wind deflector would probably have the same problem

Paint scratches - I wouldn't say easily, but mine is scratched from mounting and unmounting my RTT and other stuff. Just the nature of the best when you have things sliding across. At least it's aluminum so I don't have to worry about rust.

Aesthetics - Not that it's a high priority, but I do like the looks of the more streamlined racks like the SSO better.

 

[nakman]

Thanks for the reply. Very insightful info on the Eezi-Awn and it mirrors what I've heard from the 5th Gen crowd. In regards to the FrontRunner it says that no drilling is required on the GX460 model, they do require drilling on the 5th Gens.

That's because the GX has 3 mount points per side, while the 5th 4Runner only has 2 per side... there are no front holes on the 4Runner. I've seen the new Rhino platforms and would say lean towards that one over the three you mentioned.