To preface, I'm new to the off-road community, and this GX is our family's daily driver with some plans to enjoy the scenic routes on the weekends. I'm not new to modifying cars in general, but I am new to modifying trucks.
The roof rack was our first notable mod to the car and it was a initially a choice between the Westcott Designs, Prinsu, and Sherpa roof racks. After some back and forth I decided on the Prinsu Pro roof rack. I wasn't quite a fan of the two piece design of the side rails compared to the other models, but in the end I felt like I couldn't really go wrong with any of them, and so I went with the design that I liked the best.
The estimated production lead times on Prinsu's website are generally pretty accurate, and I received my order a week early after waiting just 4 weeks. The box it arrived in was a bit flimsy, but the parts were packaged very well and in general they're not really fragile so nothing was damaged or scratched. The individual pieces are of high quality, felt sturdy, and everything I needed from the silicon to the thread locker were included.
I would say, there's not that many videos showing the install for the Prinsu roof rack in particular, but there are plenty of other brands in general so I had a good idea of the simplicity of the install -- nothing seemed like it would be overwhelming for a novice such as myself. I do want to point out one step that the Prinsu install video and guide fail to mention, and it's that I had a really hard time getting the two outer side rails assembled together. Here's the parts I'm referring to:
Now, I was doing this install alone, so I couldn't pre-assemble the roof rack on the ground first. I was assembling it on the roof when I found out that the two pieces don't just mate up like puzzle pieces. Here's a closer look:
They look like they should easily secure together, but no amount of hand force or clamping could get the pieces together. I then tried to mount a cross bar at that intersection to see if the mounting bolts would press the pieces in place, but that didn't work either. There wasn't any mention of this in any of Prinsu's guides. I was considering either hammering it into place or filing down the prongs a bit. Is this common knowledge when installing these parts? I don't know, car mods I've done in the past aren't steel/thick aluminum so I don't know what the QA expectations are. My concerns were that the powder coating would be scratched and that could possibly expose the metal to the elements.
I would think that something produced by Prinsu/CBI would at least note stuff like this in their install guides though. The fact that they don't mention needing a rubber mallet in their required tools leads me to believe maybe this was just a "me" problem. Either way, I wanted to note this hurdle specifically because when I check another install video for the Land Cruiser Prinsu Pro roof rack, there's no notches at all (shout out to Off Road USA for the helpful video):
I contacted Prinsu support and they have asked for pictures, which I provided, but haven't heard back yet. I've got a trip I need to take, so I had to solve this myself if possible. Anyways, moving on, I was able to finally fit the pieces together with a rubber mallet and a healthy number of whacks. Not a big deal in hindsight, but I really would have liked to know this going in before my short ass was balancing these two pieces on a ladder trying not to scratch my wife's new car.
Agreed with the general sentiment that the rest of the install was straight-forward and pretty easy. In general, I'm really pleased with the fit and finish of the roof rack itself. I love the profile of the rack, especially the rear design that angles up just slightly. Now that I have the rack installed, I can't wait for my wife to use the truck solely for Costco runs.
The roof rack was our first notable mod to the car and it was a initially a choice between the Westcott Designs, Prinsu, and Sherpa roof racks. After some back and forth I decided on the Prinsu Pro roof rack. I wasn't quite a fan of the two piece design of the side rails compared to the other models, but in the end I felt like I couldn't really go wrong with any of them, and so I went with the design that I liked the best.
The estimated production lead times on Prinsu's website are generally pretty accurate, and I received my order a week early after waiting just 4 weeks. The box it arrived in was a bit flimsy, but the parts were packaged very well and in general they're not really fragile so nothing was damaged or scratched. The individual pieces are of high quality, felt sturdy, and everything I needed from the silicon to the thread locker were included.
I would say, there's not that many videos showing the install for the Prinsu roof rack in particular, but there are plenty of other brands in general so I had a good idea of the simplicity of the install -- nothing seemed like it would be overwhelming for a novice such as myself. I do want to point out one step that the Prinsu install video and guide fail to mention, and it's that I had a really hard time getting the two outer side rails assembled together. Here's the parts I'm referring to:
Now, I was doing this install alone, so I couldn't pre-assemble the roof rack on the ground first. I was assembling it on the roof when I found out that the two pieces don't just mate up like puzzle pieces. Here's a closer look:
They look like they should easily secure together, but no amount of hand force or clamping could get the pieces together. I then tried to mount a cross bar at that intersection to see if the mounting bolts would press the pieces in place, but that didn't work either. There wasn't any mention of this in any of Prinsu's guides. I was considering either hammering it into place or filing down the prongs a bit. Is this common knowledge when installing these parts? I don't know, car mods I've done in the past aren't steel/thick aluminum so I don't know what the QA expectations are. My concerns were that the powder coating would be scratched and that could possibly expose the metal to the elements.
I would think that something produced by Prinsu/CBI would at least note stuff like this in their install guides though. The fact that they don't mention needing a rubber mallet in their required tools leads me to believe maybe this was just a "me" problem. Either way, I wanted to note this hurdle specifically because when I check another install video for the Land Cruiser Prinsu Pro roof rack, there's no notches at all (shout out to Off Road USA for the helpful video):
I contacted Prinsu support and they have asked for pictures, which I provided, but haven't heard back yet. I've got a trip I need to take, so I had to solve this myself if possible. Anyways, moving on, I was able to finally fit the pieces together with a rubber mallet and a healthy number of whacks. Not a big deal in hindsight, but I really would have liked to know this going in before my short ass was balancing these two pieces on a ladder trying not to scratch my wife's new car.
Agreed with the general sentiment that the rest of the install was straight-forward and pretty easy. In general, I'm really pleased with the fit and finish of the roof rack itself. I love the profile of the rack, especially the rear design that angles up just slightly. Now that I have the rack installed, I can't wait for my wife to use the truck solely for Costco runs.
