My installation notes and review of PrinSu Design Studios roof rack

[Qball]

So I finally had a real test/trip with the rack. My configuration is a light bar in the front load bar, stubby Yakima cargo box in the middle, rotorpax double 4 gallon fuel packs and then a small light bar for reverse. Loaded the cargo box with the soft stuff like sleeping bags, tents and chairs so not so heavy. The fuel packs had about 7 gallons of fuel so overall I'm probably around 80lbs on the rack.

The trip involved 500 miles of highway and 40 miles of bump dirt roads and 1 mile of really bumpy Boulder field.

The rack as many mentioned gave me a great deal of flexibility and I was able to configure it just about anyway I wanted it to. With all the shaking of off road trip it did just fine with no drama and everything stayed on.

Overall quite happy with the the rack although the talks of weak mounts did linger in back of my mind.

 

[Qball]

Double post

 

[Box Rocket]

Interesting that some of the clamps are bending. I have had no such problem with mine. The clamps are actually Snugtop parts used to hold Snugtop toppers to bed rails and I would expect them to be more than up to the task with these racks. They most definitely have been for me. I wonder if some light duty clamps were sourced by mistake? I've got well over 1000 miles of rough offroad driving now with the rack and with my heavy RTT mounted. Everything has been very solid and has been working great.

I think the comments/suggestions about a notch in the extrusions for the tie down rings to be inserted is a good one and I've begun notching mine. I have to chuckle a bit when I see comments from people who are worried about the strength of these racks. IMO when you see this in person you see just how solid these racks are. Given the cost and the weight being much less than a lot of other quality rack options I still think this rack is the best platform rack on the market. Even if the cost was the same as other racks I still think it's the best rack out there currently.

There are probably some small improvements that can be made and it will be cool to see how these evolve based on customer feedback. I've been very happy with mine.

 

[NLXTACY]

QBall has this rack and it saw abuse this past weekend at Funnel Lake. It held up just fine. It's solid built. I didn't really notice any deficiency of the clamps at the time of install but I did notice that at least one of the clamps did in fact bend while we were installing.

 

[carbon60]

Where can this be sourced?

 

[msapers]

The rack is available here: http://www.prinsudesignstudio.com/#!80-series-landcruiser/c1wn3

 

[warezdog]

any howling on the highway?

 

[msapers]

Nope, I don't notice any noise from the rack at all.

 

[Box Rocket]

any howling on the highway?

No noise at all from mine either.

 

[Qball]

No real noise with sunroof closed but there is some wind noise with sun roof open, to be fair there isn't a way that many cross bars will be silent.

Also I did notice 1mpg ish lost of gas mileage especially past 70mph.

 

[jeffro109]

Good to note the MPGs...not sure I can take another 1mpg all the time, the Duratracs cost similar MPGs. Going to rig up a garage roof hanger set to take it on/off easier.







Assuming I ever take it out of the damn box and put it together......

 

[warezdog]

Wait, you have one of these STILL IN THE BOX??? WTF??

 

[msapers]

Good to note the MPGs...not sure I can take another 1mpg all the time, the Duratracs cost similar MPGs. Going to rig up a garage roof hanger set to take it on/off easier.







Assuming I ever take it out of the damn box and put it together......

I wouldn't let 1mpg worry you. Honestly, considering the crappy stock mileage plus all the goodies we bolt on to these rigs, gas mileage was pretty much out the window from the get go. Just build it and enjoy.

 

[jeffro109]

Wait, you have one of these STILL IN THE BOX??? WTF??

Yeah yeah, it happens....I was gone for most of a month and getting the old to-do list back down. Got to drill some holes in the cross bars for the clamps to slide in and paint the side rails. I'll get there one year.

I wouldn't let 1mpg worry you. Honestly, considering the crappy stock mileage plus all the goodies we bolt on to these rigs, gas mileage was pretty much out the window from the get go. Just build it and enjoy.

Oh I'm there already, it's a good tank at 13.5 MPG anymore...

 

[msapers]

For those contemplating this rack, here is the installation of my ARB awnings. More photos in my build thread.



I finally installed my ARB awnings today (8 foot on the driver's side for hanging out, 4 foot in the rear which will provide shade for the slide out kitchen that I'm about to build). I'm not sure if anyone else has done this with the PrinSu rack, so here's a couple of tips:

Rear (4 foot) awning: You'll need to do some notching on one side of the crossbar and use longer bolts if you plan to mount an ARB awning to the crossbar of this rack. Not a big deal and the awning is the same width as the crossbar, so it fits between the side rails of the rack without issue.

Notched the crossbar for bolt clearance, used a plate on the back side of the crossbar.


Rear crossbar installed vertically and at an angle to provide clearance between the awning and the roof.


Side (8 foot) awning: The awning needs to be spaced away from the rack in order to clear the screws that hold the rack together and the roof brackets. I used some scrap 1/4 aluminum bar , cut, drilled and painted black (which was not necessary because it can't be seen). I also used longer bolts to make up for the spacer bars.

1/4 inch aluminum spacers. You need three of these:


I used the top slotted hole in the side rail of the rack for the awning's top bolt and drilled a hole in the side rail under it for the bottom bolt. This was done at the front, middle and rear of the side rail. NOTE: This is not an ideal way to mount the awning if you like to reconfigure your rack a lot for different loads. However, my rack will always have the same load on it (awnings and tent), so it was the perfect solution for me.

Front:


Middle:


Rear:


Installation Tip: A ratcheting 10mm box wrench is your friend here. All told In was able to install both awnings in about 2 hours. (Including a bolt run).

 

[Lionsgarage]

Did you use all 6mm metric hardware to mount the awning? If so can 316 stainless hardware be sourced?
Thanks for the great pics and narrative.

 

[msapers]

Did you use all 6mm metric hardware to mount the awning? If so can 316 stainless hardware be sourced?
Thanks for the great pics and narrative.

Yep, I used all 6mm stuff because it slides into the grooves in the awning. I would imagine SAE would work also. I shied away from stainless because it's not as strong. It would probably work ok in this application though.

 

[Dissent]

I just sent them an email to order one. I need it by mid-October though, I hope they're not running 3 months out still!

 

[NLXTACY]

Yep, I used all 6mm stuff because it slides into the grooves in the awning. I would imagine SAE would work also. I shied away from stainless because it's not as strong. It would probably work ok in this application though.

Exactly. Use stainless for looks and anti-corrosive properties. Don't rely on it for strength.

 

[musthave]

Does the sunroof still work with this rack?