Roof Rack

[Lx450inNC]

Mandatory - I've used the search function already mea culpa.

I'm looking at purchasing a roof rack (my first) in the near future and would love your opinions and insight into what brand / type to consider.

I'm going to use the rack mainly for travel. We've got four kids, so a rack is necessary to travel in the 96 LX450 with any amount of luggage/camp chairs/tent/etc.

1. What brand do you recommend?
2. What type do you recommend? Shape/style/etc?
3. What should I def make sure I get? Def avoid?

Appreciate the insight!

 

[SoCal80series]

I have a prinsu rack on mine. It's modular and easy to assemble and install. Here are a couple of pics:

 

[clx16]

What is your budget like? How much weight?
What will you be putting up there? storage box? kayaks, roof top tents? ladders? lumber? Bikes?

There are a lot of options. You have one to consider above and the bowfine cruiser rack and there are two others much like it.

Does looks matter to you?

Recommendation... do not use at all of the stock roof rack or any part of it.

Depending on what your needs are, you could go as cheep as a 150 dollars US, all the way up to thousands. What you need vs your budget is the question and we can help from there.

 

[jfz80]

There are 30 pages of of roof rack threads so I get the notion of being overwhelmed by info but this seems to be mostly preference based and contingent on type of use.

How do you plan to use? Just hauling gear or possibly considering an RTT one day? flat or basket? Tracked rails for mounting accessories desired? What’s the budget? Have any fab skills? Etc Those answers will all affect the responses.

prinsu above is nice but now that it’s been taken over by CBI and there were some wait time issues I’d consider the very similar offering by bowfin cruisers. Probably the one I’d grab if I was buying a rack tomorrow. Plus you get to support a cruiser enthusiast supplying the community with a quality product.

Ive been pleased with my front runner rack for many years.

full length Or 3/4 basket style ARB are stout.

load bars and a basket for multi use I’d look at Baja racks.

DIY ona budget look at the atv ramp ideas ala wildyoats.

 

[Kay9Cop]

I haven’t bought mine yet, but I settled on Bowfin based upon their latches. When I researched, there were reports of some rack’s latches bending rain gutters and popping off. Bowfin had the best feedback for solid latches.

 

[CanVanLX96]

roof racks like many other things are really personal things; if only functionality is what you're after than pretty much everything with some raingutter mounts on it would work for that; you can find on ebay, CL or FB / IG some old Thule 300 or equivalent Yakima mounts and load bars for very cheap like under $100 for a pair and with a bit of imagination you're set.
Personally the Prinsu / Bowfin type of racks are not my cup of tea. I much, much, much prefer the platform style rack with Gobi racks (LAND CRUISER 80 (1990-1997) Archives - Gobi Racks) especially the Stealth being my first option and Gamiviti (80 racks — Gamiviti) being very close second; but that's just my preference.

 

[skhochay]

I recommend ARB alloy full roof, can't get any better

 

[CanVanLX96]

yes, that's right, I forgot to add the ARB alloy full roof as my third option. the only thing I don't like about the ARB is their raingutters mounts.

 

[Tachycardic]

Price will be one of the top considerations. You can spend $1500 for a Gobi or $150 for made-in-China rack off Amazon. How much are you looking to spend?

 

[CanVanLX96]

Price will be one of the top considerations. You can spend $1500 for a Gobi or $150 for made-in-China rack off Amazon. How much are you looking to spend?

Personally I would anytime go for a "Made in USA" Gamiviti vs a Chiaicom junk (off Amazon or other...) (I don't know where Gobi are manufactured - yet - but manufactured origin would be one of the decisive decision factor for me if choosing between Gobi and Gamiviti - with Gamiviti being made in USA.)

 

[NorCal97]

yes, that's right, I forgot to add the ARB alloy full roof as my third option. the only thing I don't like about the ARB is their raingutters mounts.

The alloy full-length (49" x 87") basket-type ARB was the best thing I've done for my rig - had it for about 11 yrs now. Lets me haul a 17' canoe, two small kayaks, and still has room for camp chairs, table, and whatnot. Doubles as a pickup truck bed when needing lumber or pipe. The expanded aluminum mesh floor makes a fine open-air 2-person bed when camping - don't need no stinkin' tent. The build quality is fantastic, and I can load far more weight on it than is smart to have on a roof (too much and the rig gets top heavy and wonky in corners). The only disadvantage is constantly being volunteered to load it up with firewood when out camping with friends.

If low-profile is a big deal to you, or if you ever intend to get a roof-top-tent, the full-basket style rack would not be the best option.

Not following the concern about the rain gutter mounts. The ARB mount concept is pretty typical, and is much stouter than most. Do you mean you'd prefer something that did not utilize the rain gutters at all? Can't imagine that would be better.

 

[NorCalFJ100]

I just went through the design and purchase process with Tim over at Gamiviti. It was awesome. He's super helpful. You can customize the rack quite a bit. Makes it very easy to dial that in upfront.

 

[REKCUT]

I have bowfin and love it. He is also very active in the community. I have run into him on several outings. I love supporting someone on this forum who is actually a cruiser lover. Bowfin Cruisers - Roof racks and more

 

[ZIFFFZJ80]

Another vote for the bowfin- the latches are great. Ive also seen the Gamiviti racks and they are well built, plus Tim is great to work with. It’s just depends on your preferences. I wanted a modular aluminum rack.

 

[Cruzerman]

While flat racks are the rage and make sense for some uses, I find racks with side rails a better choice for putting in cargo such as luggage, tents, etc. JMHO.

 

[Lx450inNC]

Ok - this has been extremely helpful. A few points: I'd like to keep it to $1,000. I'm very interested in the BowFins, but would prefer side rails with the type of cargo we'll be carrying, as I said in the initial post (family luggage, tents, etc.)

Another consideration is wind noise. How is the wind noise on the bowfin and ARB alloy full?

Thanks to everyone for your input! It's appreciated.

 

[clx16]

Bowfin doesn't seem to have much wind noise that I noticed. My roof top tent (when mounted) does make noise. A couple of notes on the extrusion type roof racks (prinsu, bowfin, lost industries etc) is that what you can attach to them is extremely easy if you spend time looking at websites like www.8020.net and www.tnuts.com. I use mine for mostly hauling plywood and drywall, along with lumber, plumbing items and my kayaks etc, but purchased it for a roof top tent. All of those types of racks that use extrusion, you can add and change the cross bars to different layouts for different things. It is an extremely modular design. I like others would not choose prinsu now, not because it is bad, but because there are, imho, better options that provide more personal service and better latches.

Obviously make sure that you can do what you need with whatever rack you are going to get, and I think you will find that the ARB rack will also offer a lot of options and customization with the same amount of creativity.

 

[CanVanLX96]

The alloy full-length (49" x 87") basket-type ARB was the best thing I've done for my rig - had it for about 11 yrs now. Lets me haul a 17' canoe, two small kayaks, and still has room for camp chairs, table, and whatnot. Doubles as a pickup truck bed when needing lumber or pipe. The expanded aluminum mesh floor makes a fine open-air 2-person bed when camping - don't need no stinkin' tent. The build quality is fantastic, and I can load far more weight on it than is smart to have on a roof (too much and the rig gets top heavy and wonky in corners). The only disadvantage is constantly being volunteered to load it up with firewood when out camping with friends.

If low-profile is a big deal to you, or if you ever intend to get a roof-top-tent, the full-basket style rack would not be the best option.

Not following the concern about the rain gutter mounts. The ARB mount concept is pretty typical, and is much stouter than most. Do you mean you'd prefer something that did not utilize the rain gutters at all? Can't imagine that would be better.

No, not at all, I definitelly prefer the raingutter mount method for my LX450.
There are multiple incidental reports of low quality parts (including significant rust after short period of time) related with the ARB 3700050 Roof Rack Fitting Kit required for mounting the ARB alloy platform. I have not seen / experienced personally though, however, these reports were the main reason for me discarding the ARB as my favourite.
Please see: Amazon product ASIN B004LQHC1Y for example

I had the opportunity to see and feel both Gamiviti and Gobi rack on the 80 series Landcruiser and I can really appreciate the high quality of both racks mounting systems.

 

[ZCissner]

Brand i went with ---Rhino rack
type/style i went with---Pioneer platform flat rack
thing to avoid--- anything attached to any part of the factory rack/load bars

 

[NorCal97]

No, not at all, I definitelly prefer the raingutter mount method for my LX450.
There are multiple incidental reports of low quality parts (including significant rust after short period of time) related with the ARB 3700050 Roof Rack Fitting Kit required for mounting the ARB alloy platform. I have not seen / experienced personally though, however, these reports were the main reason for me discarding the ARB as my favourite.
Please see: Amazon product ASIN B004LQHC1Y for example

I had the opportunity to see and feel both Gamiviti and Gobi rack on the 80 series Landcruiser and I can really appreciate the high quality of both racks mounting systems.

Copy that. I'm a left-coaster and don't have to deal with road salt, so I may not see what others see, corrosion-wise. There is a smidgen of rust around some of the stamped steel mounting plates where the stainless steel bolt heads engage, but I've had the rack on and off many times, so it's not unexpected to chip the paint.

Retail cost of the big ARB in aluminum is over the $1k mark even before adding the rain gutter attachment kit (~$1100 + ~$230). But, you might find deal that will keep you close to your target budget.

Wind noise is increased with the basket-type ARB, but not by much. Never any annoying whistling or humming, just a slight uptick in the overall noise level. Can't say I notice it, really.

The ARB top rail is 1", same as Yakima load bars. I have used some of the Yakima clamps for attaching odd-n-ends - nice to have that compatibility.

The mesh floor is a big deal for my use...easy to walk on and sleep on with a normal Thermarest or foam pad, and I don't have to worry about cargo slipping out or dipping down and contacting the roof.

It's cool you get to ponder so many good options...wasn't always like this.