Wescott Designs or Prinsu Rack?

[nugget]

What’s the consensus for roof racks? Trying to decide between Wescott and Prinsu. This won’t be a rack for a tent, but it will be for bikes, gear and what ever redneckery I put up there.

Looking for quietness, ease of install and durability.

Thoughts?

 

[tbisaacs]

Unless you are going to hard mount stuff on would highly recommend a factory rack with extra cross bars, or make your own with extruded aluminum

Get more from your factory roof rack with t-slotted aluminum (8020)

Hey gang, In the summer I keep an XL Thule box on top, plus maxtrax, shovel, and a pop-up shelter that I hope to replace with a fixed awning. Someday I want to get a Gobi or FrontRunner rack for my 570. But today ain’t that day. One common improvement is extra crossbars. But rather than do...

forum.ih8mud.com

Full disclosure, I have a prinsu now.

 

[nugget]

Unless you are going to hard mount stuff on would highly recommend a factory rack with extra cross bars, or make your own with extruded aluminum

Get more from your factory roof rack with t-slotted aluminum (8020)

Hey gang, In the summer I keep an XL Thule box on top, plus maxtrax, shovel, and a pop-up shelter that I hope to replace with a fixed awning. Someday I want to get a Gobi or FrontRunner rack for my 570. But today ain’t that day. One common improvement is extra crossbars. But rather than do...

forum.ih8mud.com

Full disclosure, I have a prinsu now.

Thanks. That sent me down a rabbit hole. What led you to the Prinsu after that?

 

[tbisaacs]

Thanks. That sent me down a rabbit hole. What led you to the Prinsu after that?

Way more square footage on the roof

 

[UPR LC]

I am happy with my prinsu. The large area and the flat cross bars are great for adapting anything to the top of the roof. I really like the 8020 bars to customize mounting options. Bike racks, roof top tent, ski rack, lumber, etc. All easy to load and secure.

I have no experience with wescott designs.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

I had a Prinsu on my Tacoma and was very much disappointed in it. Flimsy, poorly thought-through product. No comparison to the Front Runner rack I had before it, nor the other industry leading racks I've seen since.

I have three Rhino Rack crossbars on my LX and am very happy with this setup. Much more practical for the occasional use.

I would suggest rethinking the idea of putting bicycles on the roof; it'll be a pain in the butt each and every time. Get a good hitch carrier and (optionally) a swing-out for it.

Simply getting an extra few OEM crossbars for your original rack will likely be the most cost-effective solution. Outside of that, I suggest actually living with your 200 and figuring out what exactly you want to carry on the roof, and how frequently, before spending money on anything.

 

[Cruisin911]

I run the prinsu and love it. Throwing a 4x8 sheet of plywood up there has been a game changer for the utility of the LC. However, I would not use it for bikes as I am 5' 9" tall and getting them up and down is a challenge. I run a hitch mounted rack for that. Also, its likely I'll crash them into something being that tall with bikes on top of a lifted LC.

 

[TeCKis300]

The draw of a roof rack is as much style as anything else. That's hard to dismiss and I've thought long and hard about getting one.

The trades can be substantial. MPG impacts and potential noise. Fairings included, because as much as they are there to manage airflow and noise, they substantially increase frontal area while also creating flow separation of air off the roof, creating turbulance. Both big variables to drag and efficiency.

The stock rack by design manages aero and noise impacts to a degree that the aftermarket can't touch, by allowing air to flow though it with minimal disturbance. Expanding on it's utility, I've swapped the LX to the longer LC rack and added an additional cross bar. It won't do 4x8 as easily, but it will still do the deed. While still gives me solid functionality otherwise to mount RTTs or anything else.

 

[CharlieS]

Gamiviti

 

[nugget]

You all have some good responses. I really appreciate all of the thoughts.

I do have be honest that the “style” as mentioned above is part of the motivation. I have always strayed away from hitch carriers as they impede the functionality of the rear tailgate.

The ideas of simply adding crossbars to the OEM rack had not crossed my mind.

 

[UPR LC]

I run the prinsu and love it. Throwing a 4x8 sheet of plywood up there has been a game changer for the utility of the LC. However, I would not use it for bikes as I am 5' 9" tall and getting them up and down is a challenge. I run a hitch mounted rack for that. Also, its likely I'll crash them into something being that tall with bikes on top of a lifted LC.

Just some additional input. (to add to what Cruisin 911 is saying).

I am 6'3" and I use a 2-step ladder (small) that I have for my camper and I can hoist large 40 lb bikes on the roof rack (wheels on). I also have a hitch mounted rack. I like having the bike racks on the roof so if I go for a quick ride, I don't have to deal with installing the hitch rack. It is very difficult loading the bikes without a step ladder, but I have done it in a pinch.

If we go with the whole fam, we have 6 bikes, so 4 on the hitch and 2 on the roof is also a necessity.

If I was shorter, it would definitely not be fun trying to get bikes on the roof without a ladder.

I have mounted bikes with freeway driving, and separately a heavy RTT with offroading. I have not had any problems with the prinsu rack moving or coming loose. Just some other real world LC200-specific experience (maybe tacomas are different), the rack seems stout to me.

By no means am I a prinsu rack (or CBI offroad) fan boy, just sharing my experiences.

 

[McDuff123]

The ideas of simply adding crossbars to the OEM rack had not crossed my mind.

if you’re local to the Portland Oregon area, I have a few sitting in the shed.

 

[nugget]

if you’re local to the Portland Oregon area, I have a few sitting in the shed.

Far from Portland. All the way down south near New Orleans…

 

[go4wd]

If you're going to stick with the stock rack, you might also look at using LFD ruggedized crossbars. I don't own any myself so I have no feedback, but they've been mentioned in some other threads like this around here and I have them on my list as a possible replacement given my preference would be to keep the stock look if possible, but I think I'd want to get the longer LC rack for my LX first.

 

[kwelhand]

Don't forget the Victory 4x4.
They're slightly beefier than Prinsu IMHO.... YMMV.
My friend who owned an independent offroad shop installed it for me yesterday.
Lightbar and iKamper will be added early next week.

 

[nugget]

Don't forget the Victory 4x4.
They're slightly beefier than Prinsu IMHO.... YMMV.
My friend who owned an independent offroad shop installed it for me yesterday.
Lightbar and iKamper will be added early next week.



View attachment 3089557

Thanks, someone mentioned to me that the Victory racks were louder than others. Have you had enough time to determine if it creates any additional wind noise?

 

[kwelhand]

Thanks, someone mentioned to me that the Victory racks were louder than others. Have you had enough time to determine if it creates any additional wind noise?

Haven’t had a chance to drive it yet.
Still in the shop for dual battery and refrigerator setup.
Will let you know.

 

[100kiwi]

I have the Prinsu, it uses 8 mounting locations, 4 per side.
I believe the Victory uses 6, 3 per side. They skip the second from the front.

 

[Killacaviar]

I had a Victory on my 4runner and it was the most frustrating thing I ever spent money on. Maybe they figured something out at this point, but it wasn’t something I would associate with quality. It was loud, it rattled, felt flimsy and the powder coat was very poor. Again, I would like to reiterate this wasn’t a 200 series.

Rhino, front runner, Sherpa, Arb all seem to be a step above the rest in engineering and strength in my opinion. The prinsu pricing is incredibly attractive and most speak highly of it. The Sherpa is a better engineered prinsu if you like that aesthetic.

Front runner is spendy but has an incredible assortment of accessories that are functional and stout.

However, I’ll stick with the oem setup (lc200 on a lx with 2 extra crossbars). It’s clean, quiet and incredibly functional if your creative. I’m super sensitive to any noise and roof racks drive me nuts. I don’t want to eat my words, but at this point I wouldn’t risk 1-2k on something that drives me nuts.

Just my experience and opinion, at the end of the day lots and lots of trucks have aftermarket racks on them.

 

[Sverige]

x2 on Victory4x4

Mine is not noticeably louder unless the sunroof is open at highway speeds, but I never liked the noise from an open sunroof at highway speeds before the rack either.

Good quality, good paint, super sturdy, no complaints.