Prinsu Cabrac: Any Regret?

I was pretty OCD about the wind noise when I bought my Prinsu - in fact I was sort of pissed when I first installed it the thing was so loud! But I spent a bit of time and dialed it in to the point where I honestly can't tell it's there unless there are really high crosswinds or something - and at that point it ain't just the rack making noise.

For me, the tricks to radically minimizing wind noise:
Moving deflector to the lowest position
Using the weatherstripping along the deflector - to the point it is resting ON the cab with no wind going underneath except along the sides.
T-slot covers - bought 30 or so of these covers and covered all T-slots on the bar holding the deflector + all of the front/top/bottom slots to prevent any vibration or air from accessing unless I had hardware mounted there.
Black electrical tape applied to any remaining / unused holes or openings along the side rails. Can't tell it's there unless you get up there and look hard.
Removed the front bar altogether so my first bar is in the "second" location and all the way back to the 1x1 that fits behind the shark fin. There is still TONs of room up there for my needs (boats, bikes, camping gear, home improvement stuff).

So yes, I spend a few hours just trying to get it all dialed in but after all was said and done, I literally rarely notice it's there. I was getting more noise from my control arms than the rack (before I plugged those holes whistling).

As for MPG, I think I had a 1-2 mpg hit but I put the rack on so soon after buying the truck it's hard to tell what cancelled each other out in terms of break-in / learning, etc., With the rack + another 250 lbs of bolt-ons I get about 19 hwy and 16 city for a combined generally around 17/18.

 

It's more likely that you'll get used to the noise than be able to eliminate it. You're putting a big rectanglish angled piece of metal on the top of a truck with the wind deflector.

I got about 1 to 2 mpg loss when I put my rack on. I miss those extra mpgs, but not enough to rise to the level of regret.

 

If you're planning on having this as an option if you don't like it, realize that part of the installation has you drilling through the weather strip to access the mounting holes on a double cab. Some people leave those strips off completely rather than drilling through them.

 

OTOH... for that kind of money you can buy a single axle utility trailer and not drill any holes, listen to whistling all the time or drop the mpgs even when not carrying anything. Unless you are already towing a camper or something I'd do that before a rack any day. Having shit on top of the truck while you are driving sucks. It is to be avoided unless absolutely necessary and only for as long as it takes to stop doing that. Also, that Prinsu thing looks like ass - like someone hacked up a bunch of cheap shelving units to make it work on top of a truck. If it couldn't come on and off easily when you need it I'd shop for one that does. YMMV.

Not a fan. If I needed it I'd buy the kind contractors use - pops on and off in minutes. Very strong, huge capacity. It won't, however, get you any cred from truck fashonistas at the mall.

 

So you regret buying the prisu?

 

I don't regret not buying one, which was the point of my post. There are drawbacks worth considering. Viable options as well.

If OP wants one anyway... great.

 

Oh.
Ok.

 

OP is looking for opinions and he's getting them. Certainly some prefer the aesthetics of some racks over others. For me I didn't like the platform style of the FrontRunners and really liked the styling of the Prinsu and I get a lot of comments on it while out and about on my adventures. To each their own though I like the rugged and tough look of the Prinsu for my money!

 

I moved the deflector all the way down and don't have the 1st bar mounted (yet) until I have a light bar to mount to it. It is pretty darn quiet. I think it may even be quieter than the oem one.

That said, as soon as you mount a gun case full of recovery gear to the top...it gets a little "woosh"-ier on the freeway

 

I love my racks. both cabrac and toprac. I was pretty fortunate and had both rack delivered in a couple weeks. no wind noise, I think my mirror noise is louder than the racks. I have a light bar up top and dont hear anything from my rack. dont know if I was just lucky but installs went super smooth for both, and have had 0 problems.

 

i like Front Runner but i've never seen anyone complain about a Prinsu.

 

No regrats times 2

 

Finally! My thoughts exactly. Driving a truck with a noisy roof rack for work, I could not fathom putting one on my Tacoma on purpose. I have two Thule Cross bars on my Canopy that are easily removable. Been camping with the whole family, for weeks, with food, recovery gear, extra gas, and ground tents in the short bed, and never needed a roof rack.

If you want it because you need it......go for it. If you want it because it looks cool, or because everyone else has one......I’d say skip.

 

Can you share where you bought the t-slot covers?

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00EZVOZYC/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If you get more than 1, shipping should stay the same for the whole bundle.

Also consider getting this for the lower and maybe the upper edges of the deflector. I put it on the bottom, which I adjusted to come down very close to the roof but not quite touching to be able to spray leaves and dirt out from under it:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01BWKCUAO/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

My Thule crossbars and fairing were louder than my Prinsu.

 

It’s all relative- dont really care what it looks like, just what it does. Our rack lets us sleep 4 with our RTT and rear cargo shelf/bed. It has saved us when camping where there’s mostly basalt boulders at the geode beds we visit and the kids want to go to bed. I also keep extra water up there for a gravity fed solar shower after a day of driving around and digging holes in the ground in the desert. Although nice, a utility trailer would put us in the 55mph speed limit zone instead of 70mph as we’re in California, and it would have issues going off-road (we’re not talking about an expedition trailer or one off of a surplus army sale, right?) I don’t mind driving slower with my RV travel trailer, but for our off-road trips, the Prinsu makes a quick weekend trip possible.

 

Love mine. No regrets!

 

I'm going to be mounting my pelican on the rack too. Ever thought about a mini wind deflector infront of the case?