Prinsu Cab rack

What’s up guys,

I’ve had my 2017 TRD off road for a couple months and I’m already kind of addicted to tinkering with it. Anyone here have a Prinsu cab rack or something similar? If so do you recommend it, and is it the way to go for a rooftop tent??

 

EVERYONE has a Prinsu, lol! That being said its because they are the bee knees. They will support a RTT and work quite well for doing so.

 

Welcome to TW! I don't have a Prinsu ... yet.

 

I have the front runner, I love everything about it except the price. I hear the prinsu is louder though, but its also half the price

 

I have one on my TRD off-road, and love it.

I have been looking for a RTT to put on my cabrack, and just ordered a Smittybilt Overlander- they have good reviews and the price is right. If you don’t have a RTT yet, Smittybilt just dropped their Overlander prices by 20% ($180) you can get one of theirs and a Prinsu cabrack for the same price of other RTTs now.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-sale-at-719-free-shipping-and-no-tax.517841/

Here’s how the cabrack looks - I get lots of compliments on it and it is not that noisy once you set it up correctly- see the Prinsu thread for details on that.

 

Be sure to check out the new dissent offroad rack!
All aluminum and will support a rtt.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/over-canopy-modular-bed-rack-intrest.483934/page-18

 

Had a Prinsu on my 2005 for two years.. sold the truck, kept the rack for my 2017..

I highly recommend it!

 

The Prinsu cabrac is a beautiful rack and is good for mounting an RTT on. IMO, however, I think an RTT looks better when mounted on a cap or on a bed rack/bed bars.

 

I agree- the lower profile has advantages - more aerodynamic, lower height clearance and center of gravity, easier egress, etc. above the cab is the opposite for these, but also offers other advantages- more secure storage (in a locking shell), and the biggest advantage: double the sleeping person capacity (in shell plus RTT). They both have pros and cons, I agree though, aesthetically speaking, the rear mounted RTTs look nicer.

 

That’s a good point. Believe me, I thought of throwing another RTT on the cab to have two tents. Lol. I’m leaning towards getting a trailer instead.

 

I love my Prinsu cabrac! Literally a few times a week I get stopped in parking lots / gas stations by folks who want to know about the rack and where they can get one (and occasionally an F150 guy walks away in disappointment he can't get one...lol). I wouldn't actually say they are noisier but they do require more tinkering to reduce the wind resistance noise than you have to with Frontrunner. After doing a bit of trial and error with bar placement, filling some t-slots, etc., my wind noise is minimal and can barely tell it's there unless its really high winds but no rack is immune to high winds

Solid as all get out though. I've had 400 lbs of boats tied up there with ease along with lots of other gear though I don't have an RTT at this time. Can't say enough good things about it - do it!

 

I have had the rack for a few months on mine and it's great and I will add my voice to the "will recommend" list. I have no complaints about it's function. They have a forum here under the vendor section, and there's a BS thread that likely has many a folk with a RTT on it. Somewhere around here there's a RTT BS thread that likely has another gaggle of folk using the Prinsu. Check them out.

For negatives, I found that it reduced my MPGs about 1-2 mpg. It also increased the wind noise quite a bit, but I have a sunroof so it is more noticeable for me. Not deal breakers for me to not recommend it at all.

I've been asked about it a few times, so aesthetically it gets noticed.

And one final thing that probably should be mention, the lead time from purchasing to getting is on the order of a few weeks (8 weeks maybe?). take a look at the most recent postings in that Prinsu BS thread for an idea of how long people are waiting to get. The company went through a change of who's making them, but I think things are now getting streamlined a little bit.

I have tentative plans to get a RTT, but I'm planning on using my bed rack (KB Voodoo's high rise bars) rather than putting on the prinsu. The reduction of fuel economy is pushing me in that direction.

 

Because you have a sunroof with the rack on top, what does your view look like from it? I have been on the fence of getting one mainly for that reason. I didn't want it to obstruct anything.

 

I have a prinsu with sunroof and can see one crossbar. It depends on which holes you use to mount it. It doesn’t really bother me as the light still comes in as designed.

 

I was initially bugged about having a crossbar above my sunroof, and when installing, I adjusted them such that I didn't have one there. But then after some rearranging to do something, I put one across, and it doesn't bug me anymore. I even tricked myself into saying it's a security feature to block anyone from shimmying down into the sunroof to steal my valuables (i.e. my hondo garage knobs. The #1 stolen item from Tacomas in my made up list).

It is pretty easy though to arrange the bars or use less of them so that none are above the sunroof.

One thing I paid a lot of attention though when installing was to make sure that when I popped the sunroof up, that it didn't contact a bar because my original set up had one crossbar towards the rear of the sunroof where I wouldn't see it. I was pretty paranoid that even when testing that if i popped the sunroof and it came into contact that it could shatter the glass. just be mindful when installign.

 

+Maybe a bit more protection from falling rocks if you like driving in narrow canyons or have an accidental rollover. Also a grab bar if you are in a parade or something and want to stand up!

 

Prinsu here too. Much less wind noise than my friend's Frontrunner, like exponentially less wind noise.

 

Really? My front runner is silent.

 

Dunno. My friend's is pretty loud, and mine you don't know it's up there.

 

I do have mud tires, maybe that makes it quieter but I didn't notice a change in sound