coolerthanice

Well after everyone telling me how easy installing roof racks are I decided to reject the stealership's $300 installation fee and go to an auto body shop. The guy said he would have to pull down the headliner? or install more support for the screws and he didnt want to go through the ceiling with the drill. So he figured 150 for pulling down the roof inside and maybe adding more support, and he also figured 150 for the actual drilling. Soooo, back to $300 dollars like the stealership figured. Should I just return these roof racks? They only cost 170 and 300 dollars for install is just very our of proportion. Thanks. PS I would not want to drill into my roof so installing them myself without instrctions is not something i want to do.

Bud

just out of curiosity, does your roofrack look like this?
ebay roof rack

I'm debating of getting it too but the installation process is holding me back. ok its my wallet thats holding me back.

mcsherbs

Roof racks are great!! I just retired my Yakima bike rack and put on the Yakima Rocketbox for ski season coming. Probably a little bit early, but they had 'em on sale at REI for over 30 percent off - I just couldn't pass one up! Anyway, the racks come in quite handy, and it's just great not to have all that crap in your rig constantly. You know, all the stuff that you try to cram inside, and the stuff that you keep inside, "just in case." Put it on top and out of the way - and still have room for your skis! You might want to check on the aftermarket jobs, though - the factory ones are pretty weak, at least for my 2nd gen. (100 lb.) More incentive to get lightweight gear.

szf2

Check around w/ other body shops. When I was selling my factory roof rack, I wanted to see how much it would be to get the mounting holes installed for someone who didni't have them. A local autobody shop quoted me $30 for 1 hour labor (total cost). So yeah, $300 sounds like way too much. Also, I think there are mounting holes that just drop in from the top (no headliner removal required). And $150 for drilling holes !? That is a lot of money for just measuring and drilling 14 holes. Heck you probably wouldn't even need to measure. Just put the roof rack on the roof w/ all crossmembers installed and mark the holes while two other people hold the rack in place.

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Perspective plays a key role here in your decision. You are looking at adding a roof rack for I assume the following reasons: convenience, storage and style. If you feel the installation is beyond your capabilities, then definitely pay the dealership to do the installation, as it is a Toyota and I'm sure they have detailed plans as to exactly what to do, as opposed to the drill or miss method of the auto shop. Consider the money you are spending as an investment in your vehicle, not an expense, and one that you can pass along to the next owner, when and if, you trade/sell. You might also consider next time when purchasing a vehicle making the dealer "throw" in all the options you want as part of the incentive for you to buy from them. I always get something thrown in for free. Never settle when purchasing a vehicle because you will always regret it later. If you can't afford what you want, save your money until you can. That's my motto. Yeah, patience sucks, I know!

I was standing at the parts counter two days ago at my local Toyota dealership and the head of the service department was paying for a cargo net and installation on a new 4Runner, just to make the customer happy for some misunderstanding that the service department had caused. Most dealerships want to make their customers happy because that is how they stay in business.

A roof rack is well worth the investment for the possibilities it will bring to your rig. The amount of aftermarket gear you can attach to the factory rails is almost infinite and will save you a ton of room in your cargo area, not to mention keep muddy stuff out of your rig.

Open your wallet, make the investment, get the roof rack professionally installed, you won't regret it!

My 0.02.



Brian

coolerthanice

Yep, those are them! And thanks guys for your input...guess I will have to do some decision making.