What have you done to your 5th Gen 4Runner today?

Took the wife for a much needed date night. Started with me napping past our reservation to still making it. Absolutely best damn steak I’ve had a restaurant ever. If you’re ever in Knoxville I highly recommend Conners. Then we went and got gas and just got home from some very mild night wheeling to a scenic overlook at Windrock.

The kicker is I haven’t been pulled over in several years I drive like an old fart as my wife puts it and I just enjoy the ride. That all changed when one of the wind rock rangers pulled us over for being suspiciously....... clean.

that’s right ladies and gents. I got pulled over because I didn’t have any mud on my truck. In our years together we’ve never laughed as hard as we did when that ranger came up siren and lights on in the middle of no where because my truck was way to clean to be out night wheeling. All in all it was an excellent night and wouldn’t have changed a thing.

 

where did you get the extra crossbars?

 

So you have more than those small 8 bolts securing the roof rack to the roof? It is understood that full length racks spread the weight over the top as they rest on the weather channel. But, to keep it from sliding forward or when rocking side to side - is there more than 8 small bolts as in stock? It is those forces that I am concerned with that are being transferred into your roof.
Applying force from top down - aftermarket roof rack wins because it spreads the weight over a greater area. Now rock the vehicle side to side (or abrupt breaking) and everything (all the load you’ve placed on the rack plus the weight of your rack itself) is still applying pressure to the same small bolts and the mounting areas of your roof. Being full length rack provides zero advantage.
Also, stiffness is good in certain areas - in others - elasticity is better to provide dampening. Good looking rack though

 

Craigslist, but their available through dealerships. A little more expensive there tho.

 

Picked up this RTT Mt Rainier Hybrid

 

Finished the frame to my low profile storage and sleeping platform with 60% seat delete.

 

First snow she seen haha

 

Today's 4Runner project- install the Canvasback cargo covers. They are excellent quality and stitched to match the rest of my interior, Black with red stitching. Look forward to having the added protection and an interior that matches.

 

Frankie got a good cleaning!

 

All you need now is to get some blacked or smoked out tail and head lights!
Looks good!!

 

I heard you Texans got some snow today. Some family that lives down that way sent some pictures out of the blue (not pun intended) and I was shocked!

 

No, it is only held by the 8 factory bolts. But, only a small percentage of the shear force you're describing is transferred directly to the hardware. Consider that a two-piece system joined with tensioned bolts is no longer solely reliant on the bolt's resistance to shear. Instead, a large amount of frictive force between the two plates is providing most of that. This is true for almost every system joined by bolts, if mounting surfaces are properly in plane with one another. We'd never be able to bolt together building frames and bridge trusses if they were only held in place by the bolts themselves.



Similarly, the rack is no longer solely dependent on the bolts to resist shear. The rails are firmly snugged to the roof and have become an interdependent system. This is as much true of this rack as it is the factory rack, with its wide mounting feet.The rubber weatherstripping on the roof seams provides a small amount of damping, as well as the firm silicone washers that the mounting plates are sandwiched between.

I will agree that there is no way this rack has been as thoroughly engineered and tested as a factory rack system. But it's considerably less dependent on isolated bolt shear than other racks with a similar aesthetic.

 

Agree with all points made - still stand by the belief that people with aftermarket racks will be more prone to overloading. Another point to the diagram you provided is that decrease on the pressure to the bolt provided by the two pieces sandwiched together is also dependent on how the pressure is distributed between the two plates - in our case roof rack’s mounting peg and the roof of the car. I doubt that the peg and the roof are contour-conforming and then add in the fact that there is a gasket between the two which will inevitably provide slip.
But we are biking the heck out of it now. Lol my point was that for sensible loading stock rails are more than sufficient and do provide advantage over going aftermarket which can provide with false sense of durability causing people to be more likely to overload. For an RTT stock rails and those Yakima bars are far beyond sufficient

 

Back on track with the pics - talk about tight fit

 

All good points. And yes we are nuking it haha. For the most part, I never planned on strapping heavy accessories up there- no plans for a rooftop tent as I find the cons outweigh the pros. And as an irony, I ended up purchasing a Yakima cargo box for loading up gear, which I could have done with a factory rack. Ah well!

 

6 gang switch panel is now installed. Time to pick lights

 

Cargo platform extension is now made. Can be used for sleeping

 

Did you build that yourself? It looks really good

 

Yes. This extension can be folded for compact storing. It took about 2 hours...

 

Installed my Ironman awning tonight... ready to be put to good use. Ironman has some great deals going on right now and honestly it is some good quality stuff IMHO.

 

Yes! I have them, and fogs too (thanks to Black Friday sales). I just haven’t had time to install them yet. Been working on the Tundra instead.

 

Does anyone out there have a discount code for Canvasback?

 

Carpet, paint, black plastic trim is next to make it look as OEM and clean as possible

 

Where did you mount the radio?

 

I’ve been seeing a lot of CB use lately. Usually it’s the car behind me after they follow me for a bit.....

 

Any more pics and Links still haven’t decided between spod , trigger six shooter or any other options.

 

BMW sill protectors would look weird on a 4Runner, anyway.

 

Greetings from Flagstaff. Thanks for picking up their trash. And nice color on the T4R. I assume that's Lunar Rock?

 

Well, i made the mistake of taking our '19 4Runner through a mechanical car wash Friday. Yesterday, I noticed the "shark fin" antenna wasn't sitting flush with the roofline. I attempted to push the cover back down and in place, but there is a still a gap. i suppose I will need to make a service appointment. I have read that water will get through and to the headliner if it isn't repaired.