Rusted Bolts on Prinsu Roof Rack

I originally bought my Prinsu rack new and had it for a little over 8 months now. I was overall pleased with the build quality and functionality but some of the bolts have developed severe rust or is starting to show signs of rust. I live in the desert of New Mexico where moisture is minimal so it’s odd to see rust so early on. I understand that Prinsu sells stainless steels bolts but it’s over $60. I’m in the process of trying to submit a warranty claim with Truckbridage.com where I bought it from but they’ve been rather unhelpful. Trying to reach out to Prinsu now. Has anyone had this problem or found a solution?


Thinking about just buying some stainless steel bolts from Home Depot but I don’t know the right bolt sizes. Worried the T slots might be rusted too.

 

Checkout www.boltdepot.com for stainless bolts. cheaper and better selection than the orange big box

 

The original Prinsu came with good stainless bolts, what happened to you was the supplier’s fault. Why should you buy new bolts? Write them and complain loudly about it.

…and what the heck is that? A file version name on the cut file?

 

Hopefully Prinsu gets back to me soon. The rack came in a box with their logo printed all over so I figured all the parts were legitimate. Thought the T2/T3 cutouts was weird but didn’t think much of it.

 

Who did you buy it from? The original Prinsu was made by a member here
For Tacomas only, but he sold it to a 4WD supplier and I don’t know where it went from there but it’s sold for all types of vehicle makes now.

 

You could fill in the T2/T3 with black epoxy putty if it bugs you. It’s not too big and only you probably notice it.

 

Yes I replaced the bolts with SS. Use anti-seize because the cross bars are aluminum.

 

Bought it from Truckbrigade.com but their stupid site is preventing me from submitting a warranty claim. Still waiting for a response through email.

 

One other post… if you have to buy the bolts, take it over to your local True Value hardware store- they have good stainless metric and standard button head bolts and stainless washers like those and a size fitting plaque you can bring originals in to test out for size. Don’t go to Wallytooldepotmart.

 

Probably galvanic corrosion. I antiseized my 316 stainless hardware on a diy aluminum extrusion rack and didn’t have any issues a year later. Helps keep rain out a little which will only exacerbate the issue.

 

Any idea what bolt sizes you used? Wanna make sure the pitch and thread is right.

 

I hardly notice it’s there so it’s all good on that part.

 

Take them to a store and verify to be sure but Prinsu was using 1/4-20 hardware. You can go to the prinsu website and pull up the install instructions for a Tacoma, the pdf has quantity and hardware specs.

 

I was thinking the same thing too, but the quality of those stainless bolts is obvious - mine do not look like that at all. Also, you can tell that it’s the air and weather exposed part of the bolt that rusted, the threaded part that goes into the crossbar holes look like they might be cleaner.

 

The only thing I can find on their “stainless” hardware kits is essentially “do not use in marine environments” so it’s probably a lesser grade stainless.

 

Well, given that you’re in a dryer environment, like I am, and you probably won’t take those out very often, you’re probably fine using those. I do have to keep three of my bars removable because they’re connected to my RTT, so I just swap those out with three plain bars when I take the RTT off.

 

I’m 3 hours from any body of water and 14 hours from the nearest ocean so that’s hardly a concern thankfully

 

‘Also get SS lock washers and flat washers.

 

Our sincere apologies for any technical difficulties that you are experiencing on our site. I will have our team look into this immediately. In regards to the the rusted bolts, we will certainly be replacing the hardware for you with stainless steel hardware. This has been communicated with the team over at Prinsu and I show that this warranty is in process with them. The replacement hardware should be shipping out asap. We will be sure to provide a tracking number as soon as it ships. Our team here at Truck Brigade is hopeful to see Prinsu automatically including Stainless Steel hardware with every rack purchase in the future.

Thank you!

-James

 

This happened to me over the weekend when installing my solar panel, only I sheared the bolt. I had to make a slight shift in the crossbars and when I went to tighten back down, snap.