Roof Rack Options (1 Viewer)

[CarlSeattle]

Hello! If you’re reading this, you care about the right roof rack for your Toyota Land Cruiser. This thread will focus on the 1991-95 FJ/Z80 but I think will be useful for owners of other rigs too.

I’ve been researching the many options, and will lay them out here for comments before pulling the trigger. There are many threads on many sites and I’ve spent hours compiling them so please don’t say “That’s been addressed in other threads” without posting links.

SPECIFICATIONS
The rack should be flat, preferably with the option of removable basket sides. There should be a large assortment of accessories available. No drilling should be required for mounting. Should allow easy side-mounting of awning, Hi-lift, shovel, etc. Should allow easy standing and sitting on. Preferably be made of aluminum for weight and corrosion advantages. Preferably will have a sunroof cut-out. Preferably will accommodate a 40-50” light bar at front. Customer service is important.

Tl;dr
After hours of research, I am probably going to go with the modern standard: Front Runner. That said, see below for why!


RACK COMPARISONS
Roof Rack: First hand experiences with Prinsu, FrontRunner, or K9 Wanted He went with the PrInSu
Recommend a roof rack
Front Runner and Prinsu - accessory compatibility???
Roof Rack Options Lots of PrInSu & Gamiviti fans

MANUFACTURERS
All prices are for 87” racks, with typical options (sunroof cut-outs, mounts and windscreens with light-bar cut-outs) if available. Some charge S&H, some do not.

ARB
http://www.arbusa.com/uploads/PDF/accessorizeYourRig/toyotaLandCruiser80Lexus450.pdf
http://www.arbusa.com/Uploads/PDF/newProductAdvice/2018/ARB_Flat_Rack.pdf
Steel or alum
The original and trusted brand.
Basket: ~$1148 with $330 fitting kit
Flat (just released): $1300
No sunroof cut-out

Baja
Baja Rack: racks_list
Baja Rack: racks_list_inside
Steel, round. (not as desirable as flat sides)
No sunroof cut-out
Many accessories: Baja Rack: accessories
$1065

Front Runner
Toyota Land Cruiser 80 Slimline II Roof Rack Kit / Tall - by Front Runner
Aluminum. Flat-sided for easy mounting. Should be able to omit a cross-bar above sunroof.
Flat cross-bars work with M8 hex nuts and can be comfortably walked/sat on.
Supposedly good customer service
Probably #2 used brand after ARB
$1200

Tons of accessories
Off-Road Tough Gear Holding Accessories | Front Runner
Also fits Yakima accessories
Tall mounted version allows table or solar panel to fit underneath then slide out when needed
Check if can add removable back basket bar

Gamiviti
80 racks $1100-$1500
Roof Racks
Steel, powdercoated.
Apparently good customer service. They encourage contact to plan the build.
A big selling point is that you can apparently unbolt and flip it around to make flat. Lots of options including lower “basket” middle and snap-on wind fairings
Your dream Gamiviti rack
Roof Rack Accessories

K9
Eezi-Awn K9 2.2 Meter Roof Rack System for Toyota Land Cruiser 80 Series
Aluminum flat
Out-of-stock
$1500

PrInSu
www.prinsudesignstudio.com
$865
Looks bad-ass and is super-affordable buuuuuuut
Practically no accessories. Apparently M8 carriage bolts slide in, tho you have to remove the entire side to get it in. Front Runner accs do *not* work. “1/4 bolts ground down a bit on the sides work” Here are lots of attachment accessories:
Shop
Terrible customer service.
http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/transaction-feedback-buyers-sellers/623001-prinsu-roof-rack-terrible-terrible-service.html 03-13-2017
Often ship wrong parts or damaged in shipping
“Zach sold Prinsu to CBI Offroad out of Boise, ID. Anything purchased prior to Jun 16th was to be handled by Zach. Everything after that date is CBI.” Also, “I replaced all the hardware using tamper proof or safety Torx heads on all items in Stainless Steel and going with thicker washers that wont bend as easily. If you are thinking of going that route, I can dig out all my hardware orders and share with you from whom and what I purchased.” – SilvFx Forum Master at fjcruiserforums.com 8.23.17
I msged through contact form and received no answer.
Made using these cross-bars: 80/20 Inc. - T-slotted aluminum framing system

Rhino
Pioneer Platform (84" x 56") Unassembled | Rhino-Rack
$1140
Aluminum
Looks comfortable for sitting, standing.
No way to make space for sunroof
Not as many accessories as Front Runner Load Securing | Rhino-Rack

Warrior
Platform Rack Mounts & Systems - Warrior Products
Universal flat rack. Not available at the online dealers they pointed me to.
Round steel, doesn’t look as quality as FR rack.

RESOURCE LINKS
“PrInSu Design Studio Roof Racks BS Thread”
PrInSu Design Studio Roof Racks BS Thread
Mega-thread started by Zach Scott, owner/fab at PrInSu
Flat Top Roof Racks Flat vs basket racks
Roof rack decision, flat or basket? Pro's vs Con's Flat vs basket racks

Installation
Front Runner Slimline II Roof Rack + Light Bar Installation Issues Detailed explanation of common installation issues to be alert for.
(There are tons of links and videos showing installation for most brands)

CONCLUSION
I will likely get the Front Runner rack, through Slee, as I like supporting vendors that are involved in the community. The rack is a bit pricier but looks highest-quality. Tons of accessories, good customer service, no down-side that I can see.

Happy roof racking!

 

[Fj81]

@dogfishlake here on the forums makes a damn nice rack too. Might want to look into it, since he is a supported vendor here. Or you could build your own like I did using some gamviti or other universal gutter mounts. I went with @reevesci gutter mounts and used alumminum C channel sides, with 51 inch 10 series tslot aluminum cross bars from www.tnutz.com.

 

[tmarx]

Have you considered Roof Racks ? IIRC they do ship to US

 

[RFB]

Have you considered Roof Racks ? IIRC they do ship to US

too bulky, ad way too many domestic builders here. jmo that being said i built my first out of hanna steel but went with a frontrunner slimline 2 for lightweight

 

[CarlSeattle]

I don't seem to be able to edit my original post. Must be a time-limit.

Just ordered a Prinsu rack and 40" light bar from CBI. Spoke to Mike and Kenny over there. They were very helpful and estimated 1-2 weeks to ship. CBI appears to have ironed out Prinsu's delivery delay issues since they bought the company about a year ago. The light bar is made by KC (as in "The KC Lights") and was only $380. Anxiously waiting for delivery. Will update.

 

[cody c]

I built a rack for my 80 the other year and I believe someone on the site builds/sells something similar. Some pics of the rack on my 80, to show you can have something lower profile

Edit: isn't really higher than the factory rubber trim on the roof, some more pics in this thread: ultra low roof rack


sorry the other one to add to your list at top is bowfin, at $850, designed more specifically for the 80 and with a lower profile, I think you should reconsider your order of most desirable racks:
Bowfin Cruisers roof rack and more..

vendor link
80 Series Roof Rack

 

[CarlSeattle]

Nice rack, Cody C! I looked for anyone offering such for sale but couldn't find. Do you have any further info? The Bowfin rack looks like a good 80/20 option.

 

[cody c]

There is a link at the bottom of my above post, you can order from them through that link

 

[half k cruiser]

Nice rack, Cody C! I looked for anyone offering such for sale but couldn't find. Do you have any further info? The Bowfin rack looks like a good 80/20 option.

Do you have the OEM roof rack ?

 

[cody c]

Nope. removed it, just has the rubber strips on top. The rack is roughly the same height as the rubber strips (at the back, assuming the rear sits taller than the front it is basically no taller than the roof rubber strips), and I can still fit the thing in the garage! Assuming I remember to drop air out of the airbag suspension before driving in (in cab control/ride height)

 

[CarlSeattle]

Rack's on! And I must say, it is splendid. buddy and I threw it up there the day before a weekend rough riding, in which it performed perfectly. I haven't really bolted anything to it yet, just used bungies and a rooftop carrier.

The CMI folks made me an excellent deal on a 40" KC light bar too. Here are some assembly shots

All-in-all, very happy. I take back my previous gripings about timeliness and customer service concerns. Looks to me like they've ironed things out and deliver an exceptional product at a super-low price.


Cody C, I appreciate your follow up. But I was asking if anyone sold the form-fitting aluminum racks like the one you built. I've already got mine but I'll bet other folks reading this would be curious.

 

[AbodeOnTheRoad]

Carl, how did you attach your Yakima box to the Prinsu rack? I have the same rack and a similar cargo box (a Thule actually) but the bottom of the box is recessed so it doesn't mount flush to the rack. Does the Yakima have a flat bottom?

I'm throwing together my own solution for now at least, but wondering if something exists. I'm coming up empty here.

 

[ColoradoCarlisle]

I’m sure some are having OK luck with the prinsu rack But I had a 4Runner with a prince you rack in the customer service was very poor it also spent four of the eight small bolts holding up the roof top tent it’s literally aluminum pieces made by a company called 8020 inc Attached to a thin rail with light duty screws
Probably would work great to throw up a highlift extra fuel or other light material but a four person roof top tent is way too heavy for this type of rack

 

[REKCUT]

Bowfin rack is a 10. Nothing about it that i don't like and if your looking to buy from active cruiser member then its a double plus. I personally think the rack attachment is heads above prinsu.

 

[RFB]

Bowfin rack is a 10. Nothing about it that i don't like and if your looking to buy from active cruiser member then its a double plus. I personally think the rack attachment is heads above prinsu.

View attachment 2028545

What are the differences over Prisnu? Im not seeing it or any.

 

[REKCUT]

Biggest difference is prinsu uses a bolt type of attachment. Not sure if they have addressed it yet but several threads on having to source specialty washers to get the angle correct and not hit door.

You can see the scuff marks I'm talking about. Nothing major and it would clean up very nicely to repaint. But the rack is aluminum so it's not going to rust. Also, if used, the rack will just get scuffed again so I'm not going to touch it up.

View attachment 1896701

View attachment 1896702

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[REKCUT]

Bowfin uses claps. I can remove my rack with a friend helping in less than 1 min.

The light bar fits down into a cutout area in the wind deflector. The base of the cutout is the 1x 2 extrusion. You just use 4 t-nuts/bolts (included when you order the light bar style) to bolt the brackets that come with the light bar.

View attachment 1635371 View attachment 1635373

 

[REKCUT]

I am not sure of difference in 100 series as i have helped install a 100 bowfin but have not seen a prinsu 100 rack

 

[RFB]

this is above nad beyond bowfin and prisnu its aircraft aluminium and I made the clamps myself, because for what I do especially with an alu cab up top, I want ti held down for real. Ihave those other quick claspse and I wouldnt run em. JMO

 

[brownbear]

I've seen a few of these on trucks. They are quite nice.

https://www.primedesign.net/products/alurack/