OEM Roof Rack knockoffs

I wrote up a post a while back of what I thought would be the most error proof installation of the OEM roof rack to prevent water leaks. Well I never ended up buying the roof rack and it’s been three years my 2016 Double cab Tacoma has sat rackless ha! Well I am thinking about buying again this time and am set on the OEM style for asthetics and the slight functionality it offers with its low weight restrictions. Since then it’s been interesting seeing the new comments rack up (pun intended) on Amazon compared to when I first began this journey. So the alignment of the screw holes still seem to be an issue as well as the slight gap in the front for the factory OEM roof racks. So that leads me to my general question is if you are going to buy the OEM style roof rack if these issues still exist then why not try the OEM knockoffs on amazon and eBay. The mounting plates look identical as well as the body yet they are around 150 bucks compared to the 300 for OEM. I would note the alignment issues plague even those as they are described in the reviews but is it worse than factory OEM?

So if anyone has experience with these aftermarket OEM style roof racks please give you feedback for durability, functionality, and ease of installation. I am sure it could help save a lot of user who want this style rack.

 

Buy the real thing. Your somewhat aged mouldings will sell for ~$50 to someone wanting to hack them up for a Prinsu-type rack, which helps with the total cost. OEM should work without issue, and if it’s messed up the dealer can be asked to fix it for free since both are OEM and meant to work with each other. But seriously, OEM and call it a day. This is not the place to save a few dollars.