Baja Roof Rack Write up (pics and info)

My recent rack installation went okay. I did have some trouble drilling the holes through the plastic/rubber strips after I had pulled them off. There is a metal strip running inside of these and the drill bit kept slipping off to one side or the other even though I preferred the hole to be close to the center, so I used the cone shaped grinding bit on my rotary tool and ground out a hole in each one with relative precision. I had to adjust these a little by enlargening them, but once I threw silicone in there and the mounting brackets went over the strips, it came out very nicely. My first trip to work the next day with the rack was a big surprise. Man was it loud! There was a hum resonating through the whole truck from 40-60 M.P.H. even though everything was tight. It was almost like the sound of blowing across the open top of a beer bottle. Now, imagine someone doing that continuously while you are driving in that speed range. Four days later, I had the troubleshooting narrowed down to the bottom air deflector, I had to pull the rack off to do it, but I flipped the air deflector over, and, voila, the problem was fixed! Even though it doesn't tuck up underneath anymore and extends down an inch or so, it seems to make for a much smoother airflow over the rack. The two deflectors together now form a wedge across the front of the rack, and it is quiet at all speeds. Only a slight whistle can be detected over 60 M.P.H. I don’t know if other Tacoma owners (or Baja Rack owners with other vehicles) have experienced this noise, but I swear by the fix I came up with. It is very clean, and eliminates the lip that appeared when the deflector was positioned the other way. It was almost like an upside down bug deflector, and I'm almost positive that forcing the air down towards the roof of the truck over that lip caused it to hum. My only other complaints with the rack are that it came with one of the steel crossbars bent from shipping (which I was able to bend back), and after I had it finally installed with the modification, I found a little dent under one of the main steel tubes on the driver's side. This is not a huge deal, but for $705 shipped, I had hoped it would be close to perfect out of the box. It’s funny how you can inspect something so thoroughly and then find a flaw with it later on that would have seemed so obvious to discover earlier. I have noticed a loss of 1-2 M.P.G. with my rack and other accessories installed. I am hoping the mileage improves as the truck breaks in, but I can tell you it has felt a little more sluggish at interstate speeds and even wants to shift down on small hills while on cruise control where I don't recall it doing that before.

See my full build here:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/new-members/308438-new-colorado-tacoma-owner.html

 

I'm in the same situation; I have an extremely irritating hum that vibrates the cab at speeds over 60 MPH. (I drove several hours across the state over the weekend and was very close to unbolting the rack and tossing it into the ditch) I've spoken to Baja Rack sales a few times and they claimed to be in the process of sourcing a Tacoma Baja Rack and doing some testing in order to troubleshoot the issue. Apparently, I'm not the only person having this issue right now.

I have withheld removing or modifying any part of the rack at this point, as I don't want any issues if I have to return the rack. As mentioned, a $700+ rack should NOT arrive with such a problem.

I look forward to their resolution based upon everyone's positive opinion of Baja Rack's customer support.

 

sub for later!

 

So.............what's everyone's opinions since that groupbuy last year? Have any feedback, positive or negative?

 

Mine has been on the truck for almost 2 years now and it looks and functions as good as the day I got it.

 

Agreed with DrFunker, mine has been in place for about 2.5 yrs, functions well, powdercoat has held up very well. It holds my Hi-Lift and a pair of TRED traction boards.

 

That's very interesting. It appears the issues a few of us had are from more recent production runs. I'm curious if they resolved the issue with their fabrication rack (or so they claimed to me) prior to the bulk orders placed by many members from TW.

 

What has been happening?

 

About a year and a half ago, some racks were being reported back to Baja with vibrations at highway speeds (per my conversations with them). I can really only speak to my situation, but I had multiple racks sent to me before we ultimately decided that a refund was the resolution. Of the several racks that were sent to me, all of them vibrated and hummed to some annoying degree at speeds over 50 mph. Upon issuing the refund, Baja Racks conceded that the fab rack was out of spec and allowing for design variations outside the usual tolerances.

I'm not looking to dogpile on the the company or their racks as much as following up to see if the problem was resolved.

 

Wow. Have never had an issue with vibes at high speed.
Interesting.
I do have a Plano box attached to it that is pretty heavy. That probably make a difference.

Oh....it is also a utility rack, for the record.

 

My rack is still rock solid and aside from the original mounting points messing up my roof, I love the rack.

 

Hello Molon, please send us a couple of pics to techsupport@bajarack.com and sales@bajarack.com, and we will respond.

 

Sergio, you guys addressed the damage with me back in 2012 and paid for a fix a dent guys to try to repair it. We are all good and I only mentioned it in my post because there is actually no way to fix the roof any further. I am very pleased with the rack and aside form the roof damage, my experience with the rack and Baja racks has been great. For the record, My rack was one of the first racks that had to be altered for the etune antenna and the mounting channels were not as deep as previous years of Tacomas. Once i mounted it the roof was damaged by the mounts. Baja Racks redesigned the mounts and sent me a replacement set. They paid for a dent removal company to fix the roof as best as could be done. Its not perfect but Baja Racks is a stand up company and they stand by their product. I would recommend them to anyone looking for a rack.