HOOKE ROAD Roof Rack...............Ubox-offroad.com

Not a fan that they’re basically forcing you to mount up the LED in the new design. I would rather have the full length cross bar up front. With the old design the pods could simply be left off. Seems like with this design it would look funny.

 

I just completed the installation. My invoice calls this new version the Hooke Road Discovery rack. I haven't mounted the light bar yet, still thinking about the best way to connect it.

Looks like a strong and aerodynamic rack. I am pleased to have solid steel construction, rather than the plastic feet on Yakima and Thule.

Installation was almost a breeze. The most time-consuming part was trimming the rubber weather stripping tightly around the feet. Probably could have skipped this, since the rack mostly covers this weather stripping anyway.

Mounting my J-racks for the kayak would be extremely simple, but I want to allow enough space for a paddle board and a kayak to ride side by side. So I will probably do exactly as y'all said and bolt down a flat piece of metal to the crossbars, and then bolt my J-racks to that flat metal.

My wife finally got a good look at it through the kitchen window after the installation was complete. "Thanks for doing it..." But she reluctantly admitted she thinks it is a little ugly, and what she envisioned was simple round bars. I tried to explain the round bar systems cost twice as much and have plastic feet. And I said, "This thing is made of all steel!" So now I really hope the Hooke Road rack will work flawlessly and prove its worth and change her mind.

We are going to give it a shot.

 

You're right, it was simple to make little feet.

I used part of a broken platform that used to have satellite dishes screwed to it.
Bolted it on with grade 5 bolts, feels solid as can be.

The front spoiler of the rack was vibrating loudly like a helicopter sound on my test drive. So I will adjust it to be lower, closer to the cab.

 

holy smokes that new rack is quite a bit slimmer than the older ones

 

The new one is slimmer? Does that mean it is not as tall or that it is closer to the truck? I am happy with it.

I did as this thread suggested, and I lowered the wind fairing to the lowest possible height. That completely stopped the helicopter noise. I am thinking about taping over the vacant parts of the slits or stuffing some rubber door molding in the cracks as others have done.

On the appearance, my wife compares the slim curved styling of the Tacoma to a slender anime warrior-woman. And the Hooke Road rack to her looks like a blocky tough guy haircut, like a pompadour. Or like a bulky hat.

But to me it looks strong, and that is what I care about. I haven't mounted the light yet, and I might make a wind-tight cover plate for that spot, or just leave it open.

 

I’m having troubles trying to get the front end of my rack to fit between the front 2 brackets…can you or anyone help me on this? Are all 4 brackets for this model supposed to face the inside or outside edge of the roof?

 

I think you just have to move them around to fit. I had to make mounting holes in my roof as access cabs dont come with mounting holes from the factory so my situation is a bit different.

 

Thanks! I’ll try to re-arrange them and see if any of the cross beams are shorter than each other or not.

 

if you have the ones with holes the number of holes indicates the length of the cross bars. 1 hole is the shortest

 

The rack I have is the one you linked. They don’t have holes, but rather groves done on the side of the cross bars.

In all honesty, I think it’s because I pre-assembled the roof rack, so that’s why it doesn’t fit flush. I believe I’m supposed to add the side rails and then slowly add the rack as I go. Just confused if the brackets are to face the outside edge of the truck or the inside is all.

 

I have the previous version and on mine the brackets on the truck came up from the inside edge.

 

All four feet on mine are the same orientation. I guess you might say, the feet face the outside edge of the roof. So if you are standing next to the truck, you'd have to reach over the top of the foot to screw it down.

I didn't notice the numbered indentations, I just sorted the crossbars by length.

I put mine together a few days ago. Here it is, fully loaded.

 

Put the brackets facing the outside edge and I managed to get the rack on. Looks pretty good, and thanks for the help all!

 

Anyone try and use this rack for surfboards? Would like to primarily use for shortboards but i use Dakine pads that velcro around oval shaped crossbars

DaKine Aero Rack Pads - Black

$35 DAKINE AERO Rack Pads 18IN

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001UB0UMG?_encoding=UTF8

DORSAL Aero Crossbar Roof Rack Pads for Car Surfboard Kayak SUP Snowboard Racks 28 Inch Long [Pair] Black 20 Inch

$32 DORSAL Aero Roof Rack Pads for Factory and Wide Crossbars - Pack of 2 for Surfboards Kayaks Sups Snowboards Polyester 20" Inch Factory Aero Bars (Narrow) Black

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V6807R6?_encoding=UTF8

 

The new version is sold out, and to get an in stock notification they want an insane amount of information I'm not willing to provide. Amazon also seems to only have the old version. On the hunt.

 

I would be curious to know if this works for a canoe... I use the foam blocks that attach to the gunnels, but in order to get the canoe into position, I need to put a blanket down to slide the canoe into place. How do the dakine oval pads fit??

 

Im planning on doing the same thing, how was the mounting of the awning to the roof rack?

 

Sure! We have a 10 foot long stand up paddle board on there, and we just drove 2 days on the highway with it. No problems at all. I like your Dakine pads, but we just cut slits into foam pool noodles. Then I zip-tied the pool noodles onto the crossbars on my Hooke Road rack. This rack seems perfect for the SUP, and I am confident your short surf boards would go up there just fine.

 

Those Dakine pads have long Velcro strips, and you wrap it around the rack crossbars. Same as BMX bike pads. Perfect for a relatively flat surf board. Not sure if it would work as well with a canoe. But it might!