Hey im a new member and i was curious how i would mount a safari rack on top of my roof, my problem is that im not sure if i can drill through the roof without it cracking or leaking. If anyone has done it, or know how that would be awesome......oh yeah its on a 87 runner and there is nothing to mount it to

Thanks

 

You are in luck.
Many of us run the Yakima Load Warrior for a cargo roof rack.
I run one on my '91, and there are quite a few here that run them on 1st gens.

Here are some pics of Todd's '88 from a run last spring we went on.
http://www.pnw4runners.com/runs/41203/4_12_2003.htm

89-4run did have a slew of pics in this post, and I'm sure he has a Load Warrior.
You might contact him for some pictures, as his are no longer showing up.

On the 1st gen all you need to do is mount the cross bars on like Todd did, and you can add just about any roof basket rack to the bars.

 

Yep, Corey's right.

I've got an 87' and I just picked up the whole load bar set up for my kayak, all I need now is to save enough to get the basket, then I'm mounting it up with them.

Just as an example, I went with Thule and got the 300 gutter mount feet, which are what you need too, and 58" load bars. Thats the basics.

 

Here's a pic of 89's rig from a recent post.
http://www.frii.com/~rponti/025_22A.JPG

You can see how it mounts with the cross bars also.
Same basket as mine too, the Load Warrior.

 

Like Corey said, i mounted a Yakima Load Warrior on a pair of Thule cross bars.
The cross bars mount to the rail gutter. The fiberglass gutters are fairly strong. I was up on my rack over the summer loading some gear. It held me. Probably wouldn't want to do that too often
Let us know what you do

 

You can drill right through the fiberglass - no problem. Just be sure to use big washers or backing plates to spread out the forces and use lots of silicone around them. It's possible to mount to the rain-gutters above the sliding windows, but I don't trust their strength. I've seen too many of those break. Both Tule & Yakima make artificial rain gutters that you can bolt into a stronger area.

 

Thanks fellas for the info, i will probably start that in the beggining of december and i want to put a spare tire in the top but im not sure if i use those rain gutters if within time it will be too heavy for it. The tire is going to be a 33" with those Les Schwab black rims. But i will give it a try with those thule and yakima gear. My only problem with that is i have KC lights up there and it might be too for back for me too mount anythings else on. Like i said ill give it a try and if it doesnt work than bring on the drilling.

Thanks Brandon