Baja Roof Rack Write up (pics and info)

Here it is no dent




I took the headliner down to get to it


Baja rack finished product

 

My next question is this; nothing is under the weather stripping, will the new brackets hold the advertised weight? I've hauled 2 kayaks on my rack multiple times and do not have the dent(s). I wonder which is the best option for payload.

 

AzogSS, I assume that Baja Racks has verified that the new mounts will work the same as the original mounts. Given the detail that Baja Racks has devoted to their products, I feel confident with the new mounts.

hatch017, looks good. I am glad you got everything worked out.

 

Yes, I agree that the new brackets will still hold the same weight. There is another member who built a rack and used a similar mounting system and It seems to work well for him loaded down.

 

Ok, well I have now installed the rack with the new mounts. Here is a pic of the mounts


So what follows is the promised tutorial:

Keep in mind that Baja Racks offers three different racks for the Tacoma. The Pre-Runner rack bolts to the OEM roof rack. The other two racks are direct applications (bolts directly to the roof) Every 2nd generation Tacoma has pre drilled and threaded holes under the rain drip rails (two rubber strips) on the roof. The rubber strips are snap in place strips that are partially held in place by small plastic replaceable clips. According to Toyota these clips are not reusable. The strips are also partially held in place by the rear window rubber seal and double sided tape.

Before you begin the installation you will need several things ( I have added some links to similar products). You can view the Baja Racks installation instructions here
http://www.bajarack.com/wp-content/themes/bajarack/pdf/BR-TYTCM-1-0-Installation-Manual.pdf
Silicone sealant
http://compare.ebay.com/like/400319743624?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar
2 part epoxy

$34 Loctite Megabond Poxy-Pak Fast Cure Clear Two-Part Epoxy, 1 oz syringe

http://www.amazon.com/Loctite-Megabond-Poxy-Pak-Two-Part-syringe/dp/B000HZJEVO
Toyota part number 75561-02020 (You will need 4 of these)
Scotch indoor/ outdoor mounting double sided tape
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...=double+sided+tape&storeId=10051#.UF-2LqTybqs

You will need the following tools:
Rubber Mallet
Cordless Drill
5/16” drill bit
Ratchet and extensions (3”, 6”)
Sockets and wrenches (12mm & 1/2”)
#2 flat head screwdriver (Wrap blade with electrical tape to prevent marring)
Pocket knife
Scissors
Black Sharpie (or contrasting color to you truck)


Step 1 mounting the mounts
Open all packages from Baja Racks and inspect all hardware.


With the flat head screwdriver pry up the front of one of the rain drip rails. Once started gently pull the drip rail past the first mounting holes. If you have never mounted anything to the roof before, the pre drilled holes will have a thin film covering the holes. Remove the film with a knife. In this picture you can see the unpainted rectangle around the pre drilled holes, this is where the thin film was prior to removal.


Once you have removed the film, use the sharpie to mark where the white plastic clip is located. In the picture above you can see one of the plastic clips. Next, remove the plastic clip with the flat head screwdriver. [So, here is where I divert from Toyota about these clips. Toyota says they are a one time use item. The instruction sheet to replace them says to use a heat light? to mount them. I have no idea what a heat lamp is in auto motive terms. On the underside of the clips is a square of a white substance that feels like dried glue. I tried to see if there was a film of tape over the glue but all attempts to remove a film with a razor blade failed. I then tried a heat gun and that ended up melting the clip. So I came up with the epoxy mounting and if you are careful, reusing the clips is not an issue. Also keep in mind that the roof rack will be holding the drip rails on so the clips are not that important.] Mix up a small amount of the 2 part epoxy and mount the replacement clip.

Ok so inside the supplied hardware, there should be two threaded rods with pointed tips, these are about 1 1/2” long. You can see them in this picture on the left side under the mount.

Thread these into the two mounting holes with your fingers and the points facing up till there is about 1/2” protruding from the roof. Press the drip rail back into place and use the mallet to hit the drip rail to start the two pointed rods into the drip rail. (the purpose of this is to mark the drip rail where you will drill out so that the mounting bolts can pass through them.) After a few hard hits, lift up the drip rail using care to not damage the plastic clip. (It is not necessary to fully engage the plastic clips when putting the drip rail back on. You only need to engage them during the final application of the drip rail (when everything is mounted.)) If you can see where the two rods have perforated the underside of the drip rail them you can remove the rods, you are now ready to drill. If you can not see the perforations then unscrew the rods until another 1/4” protrudes the roof and repeat the mallet hitting process.

Once you have to marks that you can use to determine where to drill on the underside of the rubber drip rails, hold the section of the drip rail in the air with one hand and drill the marked areas with the 5/6” drill bit. This should go without saying but.... Be careful to not damage your roof with the drill. Ok, so you have the holes drilled, clean them up with the knife so that the bolts will pass through them unimpeded.

press the drip rail back in place. locate the correct mount for the location you are working with (all four of the mounts are marked with a sticker stating where they go.).

Also locate two of the 10mm bolts and two washers. Place the washers on the bolts and apply the silicone sealant on the threads of the bolt. Thread the two bolts through the mount, drip rail and into the mounting holes. Tighten the bolts with the ratchet till they are fully tightened. Do not over tighten, the mount should compress the rubber drip rail a bit. This is a picture of one fully tightened.


Once you have the mount completely on and the drip rail back in place with the white clip engaged, repeat this step for all four mounts. The only difference is the two rear mounts. When you have finished drilling on the rear locations, you will need to use the Scotch indoor/ outdoor mounting double sided tape. Using the scissors cut a pice to fit like in this picture.


Keep in mind that you will want to clean the area on the roof and on the underside of the drip rail where the tape will mount. Once the mount is bolted down, lift up the drip rail and remove the top film of the tape. Starting at the mount and working your way to the rear window, press the drip rail back in place. Lastly tuck the drip rail inside the rubber rear window seal.

Step 2 mounting the rack
This is best accomplished with two people.
Lift the rack and place it on the mounts. using the remaining hardware bolt the rack to the mounts. I found it best to hand tighten all the bolts then use the ratchet on each bolt. Crossing to the opposite corner with each bolt till the rack is fully tighten down.
That should be it for mounting the rack.







Things of Note:
If you plan on mounting lights, think out the method you will use to route cables and switches. You can pull the rack off the mounts to attach the lights later, however it is less work to mount the lights first. I have done this and will be running all the wireing in the next few weeks.

Consider getting the roof 3M clear film coated prior to mounting the rack. This will protect your roof from scratches that can be caused from bungie strap hooks. I did not do this but I considered it.

If you have read my first posting in this thread, you know that I have owned all three of the racks that Baja Racks makes for the Tacoma. With mounting and removing the mounting hardware three times now, I managed to strip out two of the roof mounting holes. This is not the end of the world..., On one of the holes i was able to re-tap it and it works fine. The other hole was too fare gone. The bolt would thread into it but would not tighten down. I went to the local Ace hardware and got a nut and large flat washer for the 10mm bolt. I simply pulled back the headliner under the bolt in question and mounted the washer and nut on the bottom of the bolt and tightened it down. This is not a big issue to do.

I will do a write-up on how I did my lighting in the future and I will link it in this thread.

Thanks for the interest.

 

^Great post! Thanks for writing it up. I know it will come in handy when I do mine in a few weeks. Quick question for you... Which instructions did you follow for pulling down the headliner? Just curious. Thanks.

 

Great post.

 

Crom, you only need to do this if you strip a threaded hole out.
I only removed the liner where I need to get to the bottom of the bolts. I did not follow any instructions. I removed the plastic covers of the "oh shit" handels, then removed the screws, then removed the handel. This allows the A frame cover to be removed. I then opened the side air bag sensor (the square thing on the roof over the driver and passenger doors. There is ascrew in there to remove it. Then I removed the sun visor. There are two screws on the outside mounts and the inside mount twists out.
Once all this is done, just pull back the liner above the door frame and under the mount. Should be very simple to do. The rear is similar but even simpler.
Hope this helps, I can take pics if you need them.

 

Molon Labe, excellent install instructions, as for feedback from everyone who has installed one, do you think our instructions need to be overhauled?

 

Tacovender, I would say no to an overhaul on the instructions. I found the included instructions to be very straight forward and complete. The only suggestion I would have is a concrete torque lbs for the bolts on the roof. The instructions I had did not include this information and I assume someone will eventually attempt to mount the rack with an impact wrench so a definitive torque lbs figure should alleviate this issue completely.

As for the product, there are a few things I would like to change. Keep in mind that these changes are based on my very specific install and may not apply to everyone.

1. I would cut 4 holes on the bottom air dam to allow for the routing or wires from the 4 light mounts on the add on light bar. I ended up removing my bottom air dam and cutting the holes myself.

2. Addition of a 3/4" tube running the length of the drivers side of the rack to route wiring. I ended up zip tying my wiring down.

3. The two rear light mounts are slightly inset, I would prefer the mounts to be welded to the outside of the upper and bottom rails to allow for flush mounting of lights. I ended up fabricating longer mounting brackets for my rear lights. the original brackets (due to the inset mounting surface) would have forced the lights to be angled down.

Thats all I have for improvements on the product. Like I said, they are spacific to my install.

Bottom line, Love the Product, Love the Customer Service, love the Company.

 

info I got from BR on the torque spec is same as the stock roof rack 120 in/lb. its about 12 in/lb to 1 ft/lb so the math puts it at 10 ft/lbs but I am more comfortable using an in/lb wrench vs a ft/lb at such a low torque setting

 

Received my shovel/ax mounts today. Thanks for the great customer service!

 

Wicked 2007, thanks for the information.
AzoggSS, me 2.

 

Ok guys, the lighting write-up is posted in the lighting forum. Here is a link
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/li...d-tool-box-lighting-write-up.html#post5841027

Enjoy,

 

I recently did a write up on removing the head liners and took that opportunity to take a pic of the underside of the roof rack mounting rackets. In this picture you can see the two bolts coming through the roof via the OEM pre-drilled roof rack mounting points. Notice that one has a washer and nut. This is how I fixed the stripped out pre-drilled points. Most likely these stripped points will hold better than the points that were not stripped.


Here is the link to the head liner removal
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...-dc-interior-head-liner-removal-write-up.html

 

Love the post and all the information~

I have been looking into the BAJA rack and think it’sjust what I need; also it looks great on the truck as seen in your guy’spictures. I am interested in the bolt on rack; however I do not want it on thetruck 24/7 just when we hit the trails for the spare tire and maybe othercamping supplies. So my question to you, for those who have it, would be.....IfI wanted to take it off and on the truck would (1) it be possible and (2) howhard would it be???

Thanks for your time and consideration on this topic……
From your friendly CO Member

 

The new brackets now look like some thought went into them. Look good.

 

It's easy provided you have a helper and the mounting brackets stay on the cab. 8 bolts are what hold the rack to the brackets.

 

"Check" Helper

thanks for the advise do you see any issues with putting a spare tire on therack, also with a spare up there is there a lot of extra room???

 

I have the flat version of the rack ( basket design but with sides deleted). The rack sqare footage is the same size as the double cab roof so in my opinion you could put a tire up there and more.