Prinsu rack vs. Front Runner and Dissent (1 Viewer)

[Grumvee]

Hi all! Building out my new-to-me 2011 LX. Next up is roof rack.

Primary rack uses:

• Occasional camping/overlanding trips to include ARB awning; one or two 4-gallon fuel Rotopax; 58 inch Plano. (BTW, any concerns with putting all of that on the roof of my 200? Back of the envelope math suggests it will be 200 - 250 pounds.)
• Ski rack during the winter (Yakima Freshtrack 4). Will need to figure out how to attach this, but I'm not too worried.

I'm having a bit of analysis paralysis given all of the great options out there, but I think I've decided on Prinsu. The price is almost 50% of the others I'm looking at (Front Runner; Dissent) when you factor in the fairing and shipping.

Total costs (including fairing + shipping):

• Prinsu: $960
• Dissent: $1,625 ($1,475 rack + $150 shipping)
• Front Runner: $1,587 ($1405 rack + $182 fairing, which isn't even in stock now)

Reasons I can see for spending extra for the Dissent are the incredible fit, finish, and styling. But my sense is that I'd rather have the T-slot and extra crossbars that come with the Prinsu.

Reasons I can see for spending extra for the Front Runner include more attachment selection (though maybe you can attach FR stuff on a Prinsu?) and greater strength (I've heard). Perhaps a more straightforward install ?

But ultimately I can't justify $600 extra for either of those, and therefore I'm ready to pull the trigger on the Prinsu.

Questions:
- Am I missing anything significant in my thinking here?
- Anyone know if Prinsu runs any regularly-scheduled sales? If so, how much can you save?

Thanks!

Grumvee

 

[coleAK]

For the price of the ones you mentioned you can get Yakama rail grab with round bars, a Ski rack, skinny warrior basket, and rocket box. And have a much more versatile system that if you want to remove comes on and off in 5-10min. I have a buddy with a prinsu and another with a front runner. Unless you need to regularly carry 8’ sheets of ply wood my Yakama is better and more versatile then either of their set ups.

On this set up I carry: two fresh track 6 ski racks, two skyboxes, a skinny warrior with 20 gallons of fuel/shovel/traction boards/firewood, 6 salmon dip nets, a 16’ canoe, extra bikes (when we take more >4), and RTT, ~6.5’x8’ ARB awning, camp shower.

 

[dougparis]

Picked up my Prinsu on Black Friday, I think I saved 10%. They did just send an email saying prices were going up because of material cost.

Prinsu is a great rack and don’t have any issues with it.

I’m installing a light bar and side downlighting next week.

 

[ATwoZ]

Following as I'm in the same spot.

Prinsu has a ton of accessories. I've heard that the Prinsu is not as 'robust' from an engineering standpoint and may flex more under heavy load - this may be hearsay, so would be curious what those that have one think about that (especially RTT with multiple people etc).

Dissent I think is quite robust and killer looking, but does not have as many stock accessories...

Front runner has a boat load of stock accessories which makes it similarly compelling to to the Prinsu. It is the one that Slee tends to recommend when I've talked with them.

 

[lx200inAR]

Prinsu w/ 270 Awning - mount AluCab or Eezi Awn

After speaking with Prinsu/CBI, their customer service told me 1) Prinsu mounts don’t work with ANY 270 awning and 2) they don’t recommend mounting 270 awnings to their racks. I couldn’t get a straight answer as to why. I have seen plenty of people here with 270s on their 200 series but who has...

forum.ih8mud.com

Here's the only real negative i've read about with the Prinsu. Not recommended to hang a 270 awning off it because it's not strong enough to support the weight all being on one corner.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

I owned both FrontRunner and Prinsu racks on my previous vehicle. The FrontRunner is easily 10x the better option. No comparison IMO.

 

[Grumvee]

@eatSleepWoof Thx, but can you elaborate a bit? Thx!

 

[lx200inAR]

Also, here's a recent not so favorable Front Runner thread, so as to not seem like I'm bagging on the prinsu. I'm personally definitely more in the camp as @coleAK with adapting the factory rack to my needs. Looks like you aren't far from the OP of that thread, so similar climates. Although you have an LX, so if you are going to go factory, you should be looking for an LC rack.

Front Runner issues

Hi all. So those that have followed my build thread and posts know that I have been a big fan of my Front Runner SlimLine II roof rack. Recently though, I started to notice that all of the hardware has extensive rust. This includes all of the hardware for the platform and all of the hardware for...

forum.ih8mud.com

Also i don't see it up there, so not sure why you are not looking at it, but if I had gone with a rack, I like the Rhino Pioneer platform plus backbone (or SX to factory rails) system.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

@eatSleepWoof Thx, but can you elaborate a bit? Thx!

I had originally posted the following on another forum, some years back:

Recently received & mounted my Prinsu cab rack and wanted to share some details/thoughts on the rack and the install process...

First, the finished product (with the exception of the front windscreen which was mistakenly left out of the box that was sent to me):

Each side of the cab has a strip of weatherstripping rubber, underneath which are five threads/nuts to which roof racks can be attached. The Prinsu rack requires that holes be drilled in this weatherstripping and tall spacers be installed in the newly-drilled holes, on which the rack then sits. This process is a pain - a huge one. First, the weather stripping has a thin metal rod running through it, so you have to cut that out from the bottom side of the weatherstripping. Then you can drill a 3/4" hole from the top of the weatherstripping, but due to being a soft rubber, the material moves around a ton and makes it borderline impossible to drill a hole with any precision. Even when the weatherstripping is clamped down to the work surface, it still manages to move around where you're drilling.

With the holes drilled, you apply a generous amount of silicone on/around the holes with the threads, re-install the weatherstripping, install the spacers, place the rack on top, and then bolt everything down. The big problem here is that the threads in the roof are not perfectly vertical. Most of mine were at a rather big angle, I'm guesstimating the 20-30 degree range. According to my mechanic buddy at Toyota, and some reports I've read online, this is very much "normal" for Tacomas and should be expected. This "angle issue," combined with imperfectly-located holes that you just drilled through the weatherstripping makes it incredibly hard to get the bolts started and actually tighten down the rack. (Don't forget that you're on the clock as silicone is drying!) Prinsu's instructions recommended assembling the rack on a level surface, and then placing it on the roof. I tried this approach, but had to remove numerous cross bars when the rack was on the roof, to give myself that extra bit of access and flexibility in moving the rack around so that I could get the threads started. I would suggest simply placing the two rack sides on the roof, getting those threads started, and then assembling the cross-bars.

So, the end result is a rack that does not sit perfectly in contact with the spacers:

Tightening things down further is a bit risky - the bolt is tough to turn, and it's possible to rip the threads out altogether from using too much force. This is not a Prinsu issue, but rather a Tacoma issue. Likely to be expected on most of these trucks, with most of the rack setups available out there.

As for the rack itself, having used a FrontRunner rack before (which I still own), I'm left with a feeling of not being entirely happy with the Prinsu. It is not up to par with the FrontRunner stuff - not by a long shot.

Here are examples of things that stand out as being small issues...

The cross bars simply bolt-in to the sides of the rack. There's no support below them at all, which means that all of the weight that's placed on the cross bar is resting on the two bolts. I'm sure this will work fine for the light loads I'm expecting to carry on my roof, but it does not instill a sense of confidence. It never occurred to me to research this detail ahead of time. By comparison, on FRO racks, the cross bar first slides into a channel, resulting in the entire width of the cross bar being supported above and below itself by the channel, and is then tightened down with a vertical bolt, through the channel and cross bar. Much, much better design.

If you decide to move a cross bar after having previously mounted it elsewhere, you are left with marks at the previous location. This was not over-tightened at all:

No such issues with FRO racks.

The cross bars themselves are made from regular 80/20 Inc components, so you could easily order more of them straight from the manufacturer, without having to go through either CBI or Prinsu. The downside here is that there's no hole for "entry" into the c-channel, so you have to unbolt the cross bar from the rack in order to slide anything into the c-channel. If you have something resting on the far side of the same cross bar you're trying to unbolt, you'd have to remove that item. Not only is this going to be a pain in the butt, but it'll also add unnecessary wear & tear on the torx bolts that hold the cross bar in place.

With my FRO rack and cross bars I've come to take for granted the ability to slide an M8 bolt head in any time I want, without disassembling anything. Further, with these 80/20 extrusions, you can't just slide any old hardware in there - you've got to use stuff that's specifically shaped for this extrusion, so forget being able to go to your local hardware store and pick up what you need in minutes, and get used to ordering it from 80/20. A small pain that I hadn't thought to foresee ahead of time, but definitely worth considering.

The powdercoat finish on the rack's sides is also not too great. Look at all the flaking around the edges of the (totally unnecessary) logo. This is present on both sides of the rack:

All in all, keeping in mind the ~2 month-long wait for this to be manufactured (vs. FrontRunner, RhinoRack, and other competitors being pretty much always in stock and ready to go), I can't say I'm thrilled with the rack. I do like the Prinsu's look (I didn't initially, but it grew on me), and I love how tight it sits to the cab, but other than that, it has nothing going for it that puts it above other options. The slightly more expensive FrontRunner rack will very likely suffer from the same installation pain (as it's more of a truck issue), but the rack itself will be 10x the product. And I suspect RhinoRack products to be just as good (wish I had considered them earlier!).

Food for thought.

 

[coleAK]

Also, here's a recent not so favorable Front Runner thread, so as to not seem like I'm bagging on the prinsu. I'm personally definitely more in the camp as @coleAK with adapting the factory rack to my needs. Looks like you aren't far from the OP of that thread, so similar climates. Although you have an LX, so if you are going to go factory, you should be looking for an LC rack.

Front Runner issues

Hi all. So those that have followed my build thread and posts know that I have been a big fan of my Front Runner SlimLine II roof rack. Recently though, I started to notice that all of the hardware has extensive rust. This includes all of the hardware for the platform and all of the hardware for...

forum.ih8mud.com

Also i don't see it up there, so not sure why you are not looking at it, but if I had gone with a rack, I like the Rhino Pioneer platform plus backbone (or SX to factory rails) system.

I’ll add to this. I’ve been trying to get some LC rails for years. No one wants to ship to Alaska.

 

[ATwoZ]

I’ll add to this. I’ve been trying to get some LC rails for years. No one wants to ship to Alaska.

Even if you're paying shipping? I've heard Eric has helped folks before with takeoffs...

 

[lx200inAR]

I’ll add to this. I’ve been trying to get some LC rails for years. No one wants to ship to Alaska.

I thought surely the Chinese knockoffs would ship there no problem, but looks like they definitely don't all. First couple I found excluded Alaska, but this one doesn't. I'm sure this isn't OEM part, but don't imagine it is any worse. I'm pretty sure some other guys on here are running the knock offs.

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[WCDAVE]

There are pros and cons to all three from the OP. Having said that, I went with the Dissent as it seemed to lend itself more to a DIY approach to configuration and designing accessories. Also, it is insanely light weight. As part of the install I had to remove the factory rack. I have a fair amount of respect for it after taking it apart. It's quite robust and adding a couple extra cross bars would beef it up and open some options. The flat deck of the three mentioned are a huge consideration over the stock rack. The real limiting factor of the factory rack is how far fore and aft the rail tracks go.

Also, I am a fan of what some guys have done with 80/20 too, but think I would go 15 series route versus the more prevalent 10 series attempts I've seem posted......

 

[lx200inAR]

Even if you're paying shipping? I've heard Eric has helped folks before with takeoffs...

This is how I got mine, but I suspect that well is running dry with no new LCs driving off the lots.

 

[kem]

You're asking good questions and doing great research.

Here are a few benefits that are unique to the Dissent rack:

• More rigid load bars, we considered 80/20 but felt it flexed too much under heavy loads for rack use
• The ability to through-bolt an accessory to the load bars
• Low-profile design is lower than the factory rack, additionally, it can support a double row lightbar without having the lightbar be higher than the load bars (great for transporting items that are longer than the roof)
• Wider rack design allows you to lean tall items against the roof rack (vs the vehicle body) when loading up
• Quiet, our load bar design makes for a quieter load bar when it comes to wind noise

 

[NCNB]

For the price of the ones you mentioned you can get Yakama rail grab with round bars, a Ski rack, skinny warrior basket, and rocket box. And have a much more versatile system that if you want to remove comes on and off in 5-10min. I have a buddy with a prinsu and another with a front runner. Unless you need to regularly carry 8’ sheets of ply wood my Yakama is better and more versatile then either of their set ups.

On this set up I carry: two fresh track 6 ski racks, two skyboxes, a skinny warrior with 20 gallons of fuel/shovel/traction boards/firewood, 6 salmon dip nets, a 16’ canoe, extra bikes (when we take more >4), and RTT, ~6.5’x8’ ARB awning, camp shower.

This is the route that I am going with. I'm putting on LC racks for a little more length. I had ruggedized cross bars on my 4runner, which were nice, but since those don't exist on this market yet, I'm doing yakima crossbars. What width bars are these? 60"? Also I'm curious about your wind noise with how wide they look?

 

[coleAK]

Even if you're paying shipping? I've heard Eric has helped folks before with takeoffs...

I’m on Eric’s list and nudge him from time to time. I am willing to pay shipping.

 

[lx200inAR]

This is the route that I am going with. I'm putting on LC racks for a little more length. I had ruggedized cross bars on my 4runner, which were nice, but since those don't exist on this market yet, I'm doing yakima crossbars. What width bars are these? 60"? Also I'm curious about your wind noise with how wide they look?

Those are pretty cool. The LC bars are about 2” longer, maybe you could do a 1” spacer and longer bolts to use those. Not sure if it’s worth all that though.

 

[coleAK]

This is the route that I am going with. I'm putting on LC racks for a little more length. I had ruggedized cross bars on my 4runner, which were nice, but since those don't exist on this market yet, I'm doing yakima crossbars. What width bars are these? 60"? Also I'm curious about your wind noise with how wide they look?

Mine are 66” and I wouldn’t go narrower, they don’t extend that far, here is a picture with a plumb line. With just the feet/bars I don’t notice any wind noise but I’ll add I’m not sensitive to wind noise.

Most wind noise of all my set ups is is when I have 8-10 pairs of skis on the ski racks and when I have the skinny warrior loaded. The canoe, RTT, and box are surprisingly quieter then skis/tray.

 

[NCNB]

Those are pretty cool. The LC bars are about 2” longer, maybe you could do a 1” spacer and longer bolts to use those. Not sure if it’s worth all that though.

It would be tricky, since the hardware they use wouldn’t match up and would take some real creativity to find the right pieces.

I’ve been tempted to message them to see if they would make some for our platform but I think they are busy enough with the T4R, Tacoma, and GX crowd to want to dive into the 200 series. May not hurt to ask though.