Anyone have experience with roof racks on the Tacoma?

I am thinking about getting roof/bed rack to haul wood and maybe a Kayak. Any issues associated with them? Appreciate your input as always. Aloooooooooha, HT.

 

I use a combo of a Yakima on the cab, and a Thule X-Sporter for the bed on my DCSB. I been carrying canoes and Kayaks on it pain-free for many years. If you have an access cab, the X-Sporter or a Trac-Rac will set you up nicely.

 

Get some THULE's from Go Bananas.....

 

Any problem with rust?

 

none. They are made from aluminum. Just read your OP again. If you are planning to haul lumber of any volume, you should look at a Trac Rac. It has a significantly higher volume capacity than the Thule X-sporter. The Thule is really designed for Kayaks and Bikes.

 

I bought and tried both the TracRac TracOne and the Thule XSporter before settling on the Thules. Depending on what you plan to use it for, the TracRacs felt more solid. They were rated for 800 lbs IIRC. The Thules feel a little more light weight, but still pretty solid once installed.

I decided to keep the Thules because they were a little easier to install/uninstall as I don't keep the racks on full time. My only little gripe about the Thules is that they cannot be adjusted all the way down to the lowest position without modding, due to the Tacoma's bed sloping inward, or the wheel wells interfere if you have a short bed. The only other possible issue is that unless you install all the rubber mouldings into the top and bottom of the crossbars, these racks will whistle while driving anywhere above 30 mph...and it's pretty loud. Put in the mouldings and it stops the whistling.

The TracRac TracOne on the other hand...I felt that they stick up kind of high above the cab, and if you have a short bed, the mounting brackets that attach to the track system have a hard time sliding past the cubby holes on the sides to mount the rack that would be closest to the cab.

Keep in mind that both of these racks require a separate mounting kit to install using the bed tracks. If you're not in a hurry, Amazon is probably the cheapest place to buy these racks with free shipping. Then you can buy the mounting kit from some place like Go Bananas. If you decide on the TracRac TracOne...I have the mounting kit that I could sell you, they were only used a couple of times while I was making my mind up on which racks to keep. I sold the TracRacs and the guy who bought it didn't need the mounting kit.

Hope this helps!

 

Thanks everyone for your very informative answer to my post. I am looking to get some racks in the future to haul a Kayak. I have a '12 Off Road short bed. I already installed a Rollnloc. I would probably install a roof rack with a single bed rack. It would be nice, if I could get a Thule bed rack that would have no trouble to be put up and taken off easily. I am probably gonna get it later at the end of the year tho.
Aloooooooooooooha, HT.

 

I plan on getting an OME roof rack but i solved the kayak problem with a bed extender. It was like 50 bucks at Harbor Freight if i remember right.

 

OEM rack in combination with a Thule xsporter. I found someone selling just the one upright of the xsporter on craigslist. (I needed to haul the kayak without losing use of my hitch) This setup is working great. I also like the ability to fold the arms back out of the way on the OEM rack.

 

I had a thule rack on my 2006 DC for over 4 yrs & only took it off to sell the truck.
It was 400XT towers, 2160 fit kit, 58" LB, & a fairing.
My only suggestion is to get the fairing, no noise but it probably effected my mpg.
Used the J hulls for I could carry another kayak shoved between the attachments. This setup in the pic carried my 12' kayaks many miles around New England on the interstate, etc. Did not marred the finish, rub or hurt the door seals whatsoever. It was used for ladders, wood, lots of projects besides the boats.
pic

 

Does having racks on my roof count as having a roof rack?

 

I'm not sure how the Roll-n-lock installs, but I don't think you'll be able to mount the Thule Xsporter bed rack with the Roll-n-lock in place. I think the tracks for the Roll-n-lock would interfere with mounting of the bed racks to the bed rails.

 

nice rack(s), lol.........

 

I am not sure what counts, but I would have that rack on my roof

 

i like the look and the style of the OEM racks. =) pairing it with the Thule is a nice looking set up! Thats my plan when i get a paddle board.

 

works for me

 

I have a lot of investigating to do. My Roll n loc installed on top of my bed rails. I think I will probably be checking someones bed racks in the next available parking lot. LOL. Hell, even a couple of guy,s chimed in from the mainland. You guys Rock!!! Big Mahalo's to everyone, for your experiences.

 

i like the 2nd gen Frontier rack thinking of putting one on mine. What do you guys think.

 

Hahaha