After Market roof rack replacing OEM rack

Hi, new to the forum, and I couldn't find a thread on this. I'm interested in putting a Tepui tent on my truck, but the OEM sport racks are only rated to 100lbs--the tent alone weighs close to that, much less with 2 people. Has anybody removed the folding OEM rack and put on an upgraded setup from eg Thule or Yakima? Is it relatively easy?

 

Hey there....there are tons of stuff on here about racks for Rtts. There are several vendors on here that makes awesome racks for what you're wanting...much better than thule and Yakima in my opinion. Check out frontrunnner racks, prinsu designs, kb voodoo, warrior racks....there are more I know I'm missing. Welcome....and good luck! I'm sure another member will chime in...they may flame you for not being able to find the threads but they are here!

 

Welcome! The benefits of the OEM rack are low noise and good fuel economy due to the folding design. You might consider a suplimental bed rack instead for the RTT, allowing you to keep the OEM roof rack. The bed rack will likely be cheaper, especially considering you will probably need to replace the OEM channel seals if you take the OEM rack off.

 

So im wanting the same but like the look of the oem design. So my welding teacher and I are you going to take the bars off that fold across and build some steel one that can hold a lot of weight. The rails arent the weak spot its the cross bars that bend when you over do the weight. Mabye if you know someone that can weld they can mabye build some stronger cross bars

 

I bet you could market aftermarket bars for oem rack

 

I might depending on how it works out. Got a whole school year to use his shop for free. Im wanting to also make something that pops in between the cross bars like a basket but thats low profile

 

post some pics when you are building these, curious to see what you come up with. have been pondering building my own style rack that uses the fact mounting points

 

Subbing for possible steel goodness

I have never needed to carry weight on my OEM rack, but I thought the design was always a bit flimsy. Once you out the crossbars in place there is a bit of slight give where lock into place. I would eventually like to carry some traction boards and a case of some kind for recovery gear on top along side my fishing rods.

 

I'll post some picks when I do it. First is the bed rack then the roof rack

 

Thanks for the replies. I'm trying to trick out our Taco for family camping. We've got a bed kit and camper shell on the bed; I think that 2 people tossing and turning in a rooftop tent on the camper shell will make it too noisy for the people below.
On the other hand, the camper shell does have some kind of rails for a rack, so maybe I should look into that as an option at least.
I do agree that the OEM rack does feel a bit flimsy, although props for the low noise when folded.

 

I couldn't imagine having my Tepui overhead. The MPG hit it took when I have it over my bed (~4" lower than a roof rack) is enough for me to shy away from that. Some people do mount them up there but I just could never do it.

At the same time, mounting to a camper shell may not be strong enough either. Hopefully someone has some advice.

Prinsu racks are very nice, and they start at $475 (I think). They can hold quite a bit, essentially whatever the roof of the cab is able to hold structurally. I do know this much!

 

JFick, looks like you have a plush Tepui setup! What kind of mpg hit are we talking with it over the bed?

I'm still interested to hear if anybody has removed and replaced the OEM rack, and what's involved in that.

 

Not sure how it didn't get mentioned or I scrolled too fast. Prinsu FTMFW

 

Oem will hold a tent, but 2 trips to work(10 miles each way) and I questioned the integrity so I got a Prinsu totally worth the money

 

Look up two posts, third paragraph

 

I average about 17/18 without the tent and 13/14mpg with it on. Never driving over 70 with the tent on.

 

Idk how to read

 

I just wanted to give the OP something to look at