My truck came with the plastic strips on the roof and has no rack rails. I did a bunch of searching, but came up empty.

Some questions:

1. Will 2nd gen 4runner racks fit a 3rd?

2. How do Yakima control tower/landing pad racks fit the 3rd gen runner? Do they require that you have the stock rails or do they fit to the screw points that the plastic strips or factory rails do?

3. I DO NOT want a Q clip style rack or any rack that grabs the door or gutter system. Are there any other aftermarket racks that mount to the stock locations without the OEM rails in place (i.e. the spots where the rails/strips mount)??

I couldn't find any good closeup pics online. This is just for carrying ski carriers. I don't want to build a safari rack.

Thanks guys!

 

There are tons of pic and plenty of info in this thread... https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/s...rverts-158095/

may not answer all your questions but could help..

 

i have a 3rd gen with the yakima control towers. they are made to slide up and down the gutter strips on top of your 4runner. super easy to put in, like 10 minutes.

 

That thread doesn't really show mounting systems beyond those with the factory rails.

The gutter style is what i'm trying to avoid.

 

ok ok i think i see what you are saying... You at least need some sort of factory cross bars to fit into your factory gutters if you aren't going to want for example the yakima control towers. I do not know if the 2nd gen crossbars fit on the 3rd gen gutters.

 

No, I'm talking about the mounting system to the roof. The actual rails that bolt to the roof. Does anyone make mounts that bolt to the roof in the stock screw locations if i don't have the factory rails?

 

Thule and Yakima makes roof rails, just measure your plastic covers and order them. You can go longer if you want. If you go longer then you need to drill new holes and use expansion nuts.

 

Cool, that is the info that i'm after. The Yakima/Thule websites are pretty useless for this sort of info. When I used their selection system, nowhere did it factor in the rails.

So my understanding is that i need the rails from a factory rack or use the yakima (let's stick with Yak) rails, then landing pads, then control towers, then cross bars, then whatever gear carriers, yes?

 

#1.

I bought both of them from the Toyota dealer. 91 bucks for two brand new ones.

They're discontinued so I was lucky to find the last two in California, I had to order them from Roseville Toyota (400 miles away from me)

They're called "Outer Skid Strips"

They come with the little covers at the ends but you have to be careful with them. I broke two of them, I had to bust out the super glue.

The knobs I also bought from the dealer. All 6 tie downs and all four star thumbwheels with the sliders for 30 bucks.

The crossbeams I got from a private seller.

Contact your Toyota dealer and see if they can locate a dealer with "Outer Skid Strips" in stock. Call that dealer and give them your credit card. Mine arrived next day.

 

So to clarify: The second gen "outer skid strips"(i.e. the rails that bolt to the roof) are dimensionally the same for the 2nd and 3rd gen?

 

The landing pads replace the rails. They get bolted onto the roof. The towers go into the rail and the cross bars onto the towers.
Landing pads are great if you have factory rails and want to extend the rack to the front, ie. put on a longer basket that exceeds the lengths of your rails.

Hope this helps.

 

An alternaitive to buying the factory "skid strip" or whatever it's called from the Toyota dealer is to find a wrecked runner. Most people seldom use their roof racks. It's easy to find them in good condition, but they might need some black paint. I broke the pastic end caps on mine and was able to get some off yotatech from a guy parting out his runner.

Also, FWIW, I have the Yakima control towers with 66 inch cross bars. You'll need the factory skid strip, but not the rest of the factory rack. The system works way better than Q clips. However, I was thinking about installing a third cross bar on the front part of the roof. For that I'll need to use Q clips, which I'm not sure I want to do.

 

But I can buy Yak or Thule "skid strips" or tracks or rails (whatever you want to call the thing that bolts to the roof) and bolt that to the roof in the stock threaded locations, yes?

Hehe, there is a lot of confusion out there on this, I see.