I've been debating whether or not to get a roof rack for my 4Runner. I have heard that they lower gas mileage by about 5%, which isn't a huge difference, but can still hurt it and that they make a lot of noise. I am thinking of getting one to carry one of my small boats out to the reservoir some time during the summer. The boats fit up on top no problem, and aren't all that heavy (fiberglass sloops pretty much) but I don't know what kind of rack would be good for my 87. Any suggestions? Any answers to the gas mileage and noise theories?

 

my surco is pretty quite.... untill i put my lights up there... i have my lights on a bracket with quick disconnet wiring harness and i only run the lights up there when i need them... which is rarley.... but the surco is super quite... and i cant notice a difference in fuel milage... and im anal about watching the odometer and number of gallons at each fill up.

 

On my trucks canopy I have yakima racks. They have brackets where the racks attach to, and you can remove the racks when you don't need 'em and so in effect you have the best of both worlds. They also have rail packages available that might be more catering for an SUV owner such as yourself.

 

I use the Yak rack system as well. It's very flexible. I can interchange components between my Coleman camper, Subaru Outback & 4Runner. I have the old SST tower system that preceded the Q Tower system. I use the Y10 clips. Then I have a stretch kit so that the clips only touch the gutter on the metal portion of the roof, not the fiberglass part, but the weight is NOT on the gutter, it's on the towers resting on the corners of the roof. That way I can put 150+ pounds on the bars w/o worrying about damaging anything.

 

Looks like you'd want to get the Q32 clips with the Q-Towers and Q-stretch kit (to spread the weight out over the top) if you're buying new.