TRD Pro roof rack - mounting recovery boards?

I've seen a few similar threads, but haven't gotten a definitive answer yet...

I'm looking to mount a set of X-Bull recovery boards before doing some beach driving next month. They came with a set of mounting hardware (pictured below), but I don't think this will work with the semi-useless TRD Pro roof rack:

• The roof rack has cross bars, but the boards are too long to fit horizontally
• The threaded rod is too short when mounting to the rack's side/rear tubing
• As far as I can gather, the included mounts won't stay fixed to a rack if the recovery boards are removed, making them really fiddly. I imagine it'd be easy to lose a washer or spacer while trying to attach/detach the boards, and when trying to remove boards, the steel hardware will probably scratch up the roof.

Ideally, I want some sort of solution that fulfills the following:

• Positions the boards down the length of the truck and either mounts to the cross bars or to the tubing
• Allows me to leave the mount securely attached while putting up/taking down the boards
• Secure, weather-resistant, won't rust or corrode (at least not for a while)

There are some premade mounts, but most are specific to Maxtrax and also cost like $150+ (double what I paid for the boards themselves!). I think I can slap something together from parts available on Amazon + the hardware store, but I figure someone here might've solved this already

 

What I'm currently thinking...

I have a set of

$14 LAMPHUS Off-Road Light Mounting Bracket Bar Clamp Kits [1"/1.5"/1.75"/2" Inch] [Horizontal Bar] [Aluminium] [2 Units] Bull Roll Cage Clamps Mount for ATV UTV

these bar clamps on one side of my rack for a Waterport mount plate. Perhaps I could find a couple of rectangular pieces of ~1/4"-1/2" thick aluminum (similar dimensions as the plastic pieces that came with the original mounting kit) and drill three holes - a center hole to mount to the bar clamp and two outer holes to fit the threaded rods that came with the boards. This way, I think the threaded rods could stay attached to the bar mounts, making it easy to attach/detach the boards. Not 100% sure where I'd get aluminum in similar dimensions though.

Also open to simpler ideas, as long as it's secure. I don't want to risk anything coming loose on the highway.

 

I have maxxtraxx mounted on my roof rack but your right the mounts were expensive. Interested to see the options here. I don't think I have seen these mounted on a Pro roof rack.

 

These will do it. Great review and product. Its more of a side mount. If you want to lay it flat, might look into in Yakima might mount 23H and use long screws

https://www.gzila.com/products/recovery-board-mounting-clamps

https://yakima.com/products/mightym...01200&pr_ref_pid=4178840223792&pr_seq=uniform

 

The GZila option seems like what I had in mind, but a bit more integrated. And it seems like there are multiple people in the reviews confirming it'll work with the TRD Pro/FJ roof rack.

Although now that I think about it, it'd probably be way simpler and cheaper to get a set of tie-down straps (NRS or nite-ize) or stretchy straps (voile or titan) to strap to the tubing.

I guess considering the GZila 1.75" size is out of stock until after my trip, I may give straps a try and order the GZila mount if I find that they're lacking (or I want something more permanent/secure).

 

I moved the cross bars to the top rail. Then sandwich the traction boards on top and bottom of the cross bar. It took a few minutes, but worked well without any additional parts.

 

This is what I do: https://youtu.be/g46fNeHle7s?feature=shared

Two rollercam tie-down straps, 30 seconds, done.

I use some GZilla clamps to mount a shovel. Their stuff is very high quality, so that would be a good option too if you wanted something up there more permanently.