Prinsu 200 Series Rack INSTALLED

[jflow88]

Hi Folks, thanks for the in-depth guidance here. planning to order the Prinsu this week. primary reason for the upgrade is my 21 cu ft yakima rocketbox does not fit on the stock lexus rack, sits too far back on the truck, the tailgate hits it when open. looks like a few of you have a yakima or thule box on top of your prinsu, any issues fastening the box to the crossbars?

 

[radman]

Hi Folks, thanks for the in-depth guidance here. planning to order the Prinsu this week. primary reason for the upgrade is my 21 cu ft yakima rocketbox does not fit on the stock lexus rack, sits too far back on the truck, the tailgate hits it when open. looks like a few of you have a yakima or thule box on top of your prinsu, any issues fastening the box to the crossbars?

1/4” carriage bolts fit into the Prinsu t-slots.
I took off the stock Yakima feet and bolted the box onto the bars using the carriage bolts.

Post in thread 'The Big Bad Rad Dad LX Build'
Builds - The Big Bad Rad Dad LX Build - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/the-big-bad-rad-dad-lx-build.1208847/post-13223284

 

[jflow88]

1/4” carriage bolts fit into the Prinsu t-slots.
I took off the stock Yakima feet and bolted the box onto the bars using the carriage bolts.

Post in thread 'The Big Bad Rad Dad LX Build'
Builds - The Big Bad Rad Dad LX Build - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/the-big-bad-rad-dad-lx-build.1208847/post-13223284

thank you radman!

 

[Cruisin911]

I have Thule boxes with recessed feet. As such, I couldn't mount it to the all flat Prinsu. I got the frontrunner load bar adapters and a set of thule aero bars. I like the versatility to be able to run the cargo boxes or slide in the ski rack.

Adapters: Rack Adaptor Plates For Thule Slotted Load Bars - by Front Runner - https://www.frontrunneroutfitters.com/en/us/front-runner-rack-adaptor-plates-for-thule-slotted-load-bars.html

Thule aerobars: Thule AeroBlade Bars - 60 - https://www.rei.com/product/830386/thule-aeroblade-bars-60-pair

I am pretty sure I got the shorter bars. Prinsu is ~48" wide and the bars don't stick out so maybe 50" wide?

Works quite well.

 

[BigMF]

Also, here's some other hardware you might find useful for the Prinsu rack:

1/4"-20 x 2" bolt - fits perfect in the slot. Different sizes available. I used these in combination with the plastic knobs below (and fender washers) to secure my MaxTrax and axe.

Plastic knobs - You'll need to get some 1/4"-20 nuts to drop in. Readily available at HD/Lowes.

Tie Down Rings

T-Slot nuts. I used them for the rings above but plenty left over for other things.

 

[jflow88]

I finally got around to purchasing the Prinsu rack, and had my local Toyota dealer install it, it looks awesome! The rack was delivered 6 business days after i placed my order, and the Toyota dealership installed it in a day. Toyota mechanic has an LC, does most aftermarket installs at the dealership, and said this one was challenging, he did not lose any brackets, no need to drop headliner, but took a long time to get everything to line up exactly square. dealer charged me $500 for the effort, was well worth it in my opinion. The rack looks great, and is super sturdy.

 

[HSTexan]

I finally got around to purchasing the Prinsu rack, and had my local Toyota dealer install it, it looks awesome! The rack was delivered 6 business days after i placed my order, and the Toyota dealership installed it in a day. Toyota mechanic has an LC, does most aftermarket installs at the dealership, and said this one was challenging, he did not lose any brackets, no need to drop headliner, but took a long time to get everything to line up exactly square. dealer charged me $500 for the effort, was well worth it in my opinion. The rack looks great, and is super sturdy.

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I'll never advocate for someone forcing themselves to do something they aren't comfortable doing, so if you're ok with spending the money that's cool. I am super curious as to what kind of labor charges you paid if it came out to $500. A Prinsu is just about the most basic/easy/simple rack to put together and install--it's two rails, a wind fairing, and a bunch of 80/20 slats all held together by a handful of 1/4-20 bolts. The first time I put one together I did it solo in about 2 hours. I then did my buddies 4Runner with him while we were on a camping trip in the middle of the woods and it took about an hour. Even at $125 I don't see how any mechanic worth anything could take 4 hours to get it done, especially if he didn't lose any clips.

 

[Tex68w]

I didn't want to be the one to say anything but my jaw dropped when I saw that labor charge as well. To each their own but that's nuts, that said, I know of a shop that is quite popular that would likely have a similar charge as well. On another note, I love those OZ Racing Rally Raid wheels, they've got me reconsidering the Method 314's.

 

[jflow88]

I didn't want to be the one to say anything but my jaw dropped when I saw that labor charge as well. To each their own but that's nuts, that said, I know of a shop that is quite popular that would likely have a similar charge as well. On another note, I love those OZ Racing Rally Raid wheels, they've got me reconsidering the Method 314's.

I know i overpaid, and picked the most expensive route, but it was already going to be at the dealership for some scheduled maintenance, and I have been stupid busy these days. I am really glad i chose the OZ wheels and the slightly oversized KO2s, they look and drive great, thank you for the compliment. Now I am going to go overpay for a yakima skybox and fly rod holder!

 

[Tex68w]

Take my advice here and get the Big Sky Rod Box.

 

[radman]

Check the clearance on your shark fin. I can see that they didn’t use the rearmost hole for the last crossbar.

 

[jflow88]

Check the clearance on your shark fin. I can see that they didn’t use the rearmost hole for the last crossbar.

the crossbar is sitting aprox .5 cm above the fin

 

[radman]

the crossbar is sitting aprox .5 cm above the fin

interesting. several of us had to use the last hole so the last crossbar would sit behind the fin (red areas). I'm no where near high enough to be above the fin. see this post from earlier in this thread:

Prinsu 200 Series Rack INSTALLED

The OCD in me purchased many spacers, shims, washers in addition to what is supplied to get the fit as low as possible without contact. did you ever have any water intrusion issues? It seems like each additional washer below the rack is an additional water entry point. Meaning, one solid...

forum.ih8mud.com

do you have a similar gap at the blue area?

 

[jflow88]

interesting. several of us had to use the last hole so the last crossbar would sit behind the fin (red areas). I'm no where near high enough to be above the fin. see this post from earlier in this thread:

Prinsu 200 Series Rack INSTALLED

The OCD in me purchased many spacers, shims, washers in addition to what is supplied to get the fit as low as possible without contact. did you ever have any water intrusion issues? It seems like each additional washer below the rack is an additional water entry point. Meaning, one solid...

forum.ih8mud.com

do you have a similar gap at the blue area?

View attachment 2610118

the blue area gap measurement is approx .3 cm on mine, I have black spacers that are 2.3cm tall, I notice most on this site have silver spacers, maybe they are shorter? also i took a measurement at the lowest part of the curve in the back of the rack, sits about 2 cm above the roofline.

 

[radman]

I’m not sure what’s going on. If my metric conversion is correct, .3cm at the blue area should look identical to my picture. Unless Prinsu modified the design, I don’t understand how you’re above the shark fin.
Also, did you pay $500 CAD?

 

[jflow88]

I’m not sure what’s going on. If my metric conversion is correct, .3cm at the blue area should look identical to my picture. Unless Prinsu modified the design, I don’t understand how you’re above the shark fin.
Also, did you pay $500 CAD?

nope, $500 american dollars, I just prefer the metric system. That last hole is sitting 4 1/2 inches above the roofline

 

[terdrocket]

I know i overpaid, and picked the most expensive route, but it was already going to be at the dealership for some scheduled maintenance, and I have been stupid busy these days. I am really glad i chose the OZ wheels and the slightly oversized KO2s, they look and drive great, thank you for the compliment. Now I am going to go overpay for a yakima skybox and fly rod holder!

Don't buy a skybox. I have the skybox 16, pre carbonite finish. It lifts up in the front at higher speeds. I've seen online photos of other instances and worse. Everybody seems to be happy with the Thule boxes.

 

[jflow88]

Don't buy a skybox. I have the skybox 16, pre carbonite finish. It lifts up in the front at higher speeds. I've seen online photos of other instances and worse. Everybody seems to be happy with the Thule boxes.

i agree, i just dumped an older skybox 21, locks were freezing, the internal lifting mechanism was failing, would lift when empty, POS, however the skybox will attach directly to the Prinsu, the Thule box will not, see a few posts back from @Cruisin911.

 

[calixto]

Anybody attach surfboards to a Prinsu? Any issues? Hard to find pads to fit the crossbars? Clearance issues with an item (surfboard) that has "rocker" built in to it? I was hoping to use the rack primarily for surfboards without having to do a separate surfboard rack riser or something besides actual soft foam pads that go over the bars. I would be tying them down with some traditional surf straps similar to a ratchet strap that would be looped around the bars on either side of the boards. I believe one issue could be that the wind fairing is taller than the crossbars? Thinking the height of the surfboard foam pads would make it clear or worse case scenario buy the fairing that has the light bar cut out. I just bought a used 2019 200 series that currently has a monster sized ARB Touring rack on it. I don't plan on putting a RTT on my truck & the ARB is steel & I live by the beach so I want to get something more useful & less rust prone. Truck also came with King 2.5's, Method Wheels, BFG KO2 & 4 ARB Intensity Lights....however unfortunately it has a few problems as well including the messy install of the ARB rack. Solving them one by one.

 

[hedd]

Don't buy a skybox. I have the skybox 16, pre carbonite finish. It lifts up in the front at higher speeds. I've seen online photos of other instances and worse. Everybody seems to be happy with the Thule boxes.

I have not seen this, pretty crazy. I have two yakima boxes one is 14 years old and is now left on my truck camper and the other is a skybox carbonite 21. Both have worked well on the Prinsu and I have not had any problems. The 21 is huge!