Prinsu rack with Thule Hullavator Pro

Hey all,

I am looking for a solution for carrying kayak's on a the roof of my 3rd gen tacoma and I am hoping for some opinions since it seems like this place has a lot of them.

I have 3rd gen shortbed offroad with a diamondback hd cover on the bed. When I am staying local, I usually just throw my 2 12foot kayaks in the bed, strap'em down, and call it a day. When traveling long distances, I am looking for a solution that does not involve the kayaks occupying the bed, does not require a trailer, and does not use the hitch. So the roof it is.

I would like to use a rack that I can leave up top 24/7 which rules out anything that requires those clips that go into the door underneath the weather sealing (I have read horror stories about things going south with leaving those clips in). I would like to get away with the OEM rack, however, the rack is only rated for ~100lbs and I would want to put 2 50lb yaks up there with hullavators if possible (not gonna chance that). Which leads me to the after market...I have only seen a few post about hullavators on here and even fewer about hullavators on a prinsu. I know that the two are not straight up plug and play since the hullavtors require bars that protrude slightly beyond the rack. Are there any known solutions to this configuration? I have seen a few people make their own special brackets or jury rig some bars ontop of the prinsu, but I can't find too much about what the exact mods were, or whether or not I could buy my way out of the problem (I'd rather buy something than spend a whole lotta time trying to makeup my own solution).

Anyone out here have a solution? FWIW, I am not married to the prinsu. Could be UpTop, frontrunner, or whatever. This place just seems to love their prinsus...

Thanks

 

no personal experience but after looking at the hullavators (im interested in a set for myself now), it doesnt seem like they need a bar protruding from the side? They have their own slide system that you mount to the bars. they also seem to go straight through whatever bar they mount to and dont clamp around them

 

I use cheap J brackets (Amazon) to haul (2) 12’ kayaks on my Prinsu rack.

I did make new mounting brackets for the 1 x 2 prinsu bars.

 

I'm looking for a similar solution. Originally I was eyeing the Yakima Showdown but when parts became hard to find, I had to look at alternatives. The Hullavator looks like it can do everything the Showdown does, just better. The top of my truck is naked at the moment and I need a system to attach the Hullavator to. Maybe I'm getting into this at the wrong time, but even basic parts for Thule and Yakima are out of stock for sometimes up to 90 days. OP, let me know if you figured out the Prinsu option. Seems like those are still widely available.

 

I had Yakima mounts with the Q clips on my previous Tundra for probably 5 years, never removed till I traded the truck in. Only issue was some discoloration of the paint that was hidden when the doors were closed. I am sure with all the newer cleaning/detailing products out there, I could have removed most if not all of it. Didn't hurt the paint at all. Put the same rack (different clips) on my Tacoma for 3 1/2 years - till I gave it to my son this year - again with only discoloration to the white paint that is covered by the door weather stripping.

Just ordered a new Yakima set up with the same Baseline towers/Base clips. Not sure what the worries are all about.

 

A pair of Hullavators will require crossbars a minimum length of 60+", as each Hullavator is 28.5" long. Yakima now has a landing pad that is specifically designed for the Tacoma. It attaches directly to the factory mounting points.
Landing Pad 24: https://yakima.com/products/landing-pad-base?variant=31843565240368

Combined with StreamLine Towers and JetStream (aluminum) or CoreBar (steel) cross bars, you will have a very secure, strong system for mounting Hullavators.

I have 65" crossbars, which are a good width for carrying boats side by side without extending out beyond the mirrors. If you want custom width crossbars, simply buy bars longer than you need and cut them to length. (I don't have Hullavators, but several friends do. They really like them.)

Good luck and happy paddling!

 

Unfortunately, that specific Landing Pad is out of stock and Yakima doesn't anticipate having any for 3 months.

I imagine that a lot of people purchased kayaks in 2020 (many rental places were not operational) and invested in roof racks. The guy I talked to at REI told me that a lot of companies (including Thule and Yakima) are focusing on making batches of specific parts but aren't currently making the full spectrum of what they offer. While I hope that's not true, I wouldn't be surprised if it is. I think that, plus the higher than usual demand, is what got me into this situation.

 

Two things: 1.) I'm paranoid about the security of the Baseline clips to the vehicle. I would prefer to have a system that stays mounted to the cab permanently. 2.) I imagine the connection points would wear on the paint/body.

The rational part of me says that Yakima would get poor ratings on the Baseline system if it's really as bad as I think, but the pessimist in me is sure that it would be problematic. By all means, please let me know what you think of the system after installing it and using. I would truly appreciate it.

 

I already had it on for 3+ years and bought a new set after giving mine to my son. Wouldn't have bought it again if I thought there were issues. Plan on keeping this truck at least 6 more years (10 total ownership for me).

In fact, never would have kept it from the Tundra (6-7 years on) and put it on my 'new' Tacoma if there were issues other than a little discoloration.

You do whatever is best for you. Didn't want to go the route of the direct mounting pads to avoid possible water leaking thru the mounts/roof - already dealt with the 3rd break light leakage.

 

I’m also using the BaseLine w Q clips as I didn’t want to risk water intrusion with the factory holes. This system provides very solid attachment and I’ve had absolutely no issues w paint damage. I ran a similar set up on my 08 Tundra for years with no problems or paint damage.

 

I made some brackets to mount the Thule Hullavator bars to the prinsu bars:https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/tiffany-the-taco.374490/page-13#post-23538387
I also had to get longer M6 carriage bolts as well. I then designed some small plastic spacers that I 3d printed that fit under the bars to space them up and over the 1/4" lip that the side of the prinsu has. That way it's not digging into the aluminum.


Despite what Thule says, you don't need 60" width to fit 2 hullavators. That highly depends on your kayaks.
I have a Wilderness Systems Tarpon 100 and a Perception Pescador Pro 10, both are over 30" wide.
My prinsu rack is 44" wide. This is on a topper, so the sides dont taper like most cars do. This is pretty much the limit of getting it as narrow as possible. I have to play with the hullavator cradle spacing a lot to get them both to fit.

 

2 definitely would be harder, I have 1 tandem that fits perfect utilizing about 2/3 of my prinsu and just strapping it down. Have taken it on long highway speed trips through the mountain pass with no issues at all

 

I assume this would work with equal height (to cab) bed rack as well?

Looks like it could be done with one person, which would be nice.

 

Yeah totally could be done with a cab height bed rack. My tandem kayak is about 80 pounds and i'm able to put it up and take it down on my own. Its a bit tougher since its so long for balancing purposes, but i imagine a single kayak would way eay easier.

 

In my opinion stay away from the OEM rack...

I have the oem redesigned roof rack for 2020 and I think they rock and roll too much for my kayak j-bars. I really like the convenience of them, but not happy with the quality.

I also do not want a full time roof rack/basket because of the MPG cost and wind sounds at highway speed.

Is anyone in the game to replace the OEM with a similar fold away design?

 

Edit, I found “Replicas” and now wonder if mine are even OEM or if the dealer bought and installed some cheap Chinese knock offs.

https://www.extremeterrain.com/tacoma-oe-style-roof-rack-cross-bars-rr-tcm05.html

That being said my father in law is a retired machinist with a full shop that he builds out of. Maybe I do it myself with better tolerances.

 

I ended up going with a full Thule system. I found a local (but not as known) dealer that happened to have most of what I needed in stock. All we had to do was order the locks and the fit kit that works with the Tacoma doors. I went with the Thule Wingbar Evo bars and put the Thule Hullavator Pro on top.