95.5-2004 Tacomas & 96-2002 4Runners 4th gen pickups and 3rd gen 4Runners

Load capacity of roof racks

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Old Aug 7, 2017 | 06:57 AM
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Betty4Runner's Avatar
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Load capacity of roof racks

Hi!! I'm curious about the dynamic and static weight capacity of the stock roof racks on my 1999 4Runner. I want to put a rooftop tent on there (weighing 100lbs). Then 2 people sleeping in it = 275lbs.
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Old Aug 9, 2017 | 09:20 PM
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Check the owners manual... it's in there somewhere IIRC. I would look but mine got lost 5-yrs ago. I think it was a 150lb limit but I won't swear to it.
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Old Aug 10, 2017 | 09:00 AM
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I was looking at a stock cross bar the other day - it said 165 lbs 'evenly distributed'.

I think that's more the limitation of those crossbars themselves (with their plastic ends/feet) than the rails and roof itself.

Last edited by Jomoka; Aug 10, 2017 at 09:02 AM.
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Old Aug 10, 2017 | 12:58 PM
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Originally Posted by Jomoka
I think that's more the limitation of those crossbars themselves (with their plastic ends/feet) than the rails and roof itself.
Exactly right on the cross-bars with load-bearing plastic parts. I do not trust those.
Safest is to use custom roof rack with metal mounts.
OR after-market cross-bars and fabricate your own mount using a solid material such that the load will be on metal crossbar and on solid mount.
Example:
Take solid block of delrin or aluminum, drill clearance holes, use t-nuts / t-bolts to mount block on factory rail like this:






Mount after-market cross bar on solid block with something like this...



Next safest solution is aftermarket cross bars with metal towers on the stock rails of the 3rd-gen.

Last edited by RAD4Runner; Aug 10, 2017 at 01:06 PM.
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