Installing Front Runner Roof Rack - With Pictures!

After having my Front Runner roof rack sit in the garage for about 3 years, I finally came around to installing it

This is what a box looks like after being in storage for 3 years:



Opened up the goods and inspected them, great quality!



Well, a little more than three years



Some assembly required:



After putting together the rack, i cleaned up the roof since it would be the last time it will be washed. Ever.



Remove weatherstripping, careful! Do not bend or break the weatherstripping:



After removing weatherstripping, the channel will look like this.



Locate these three spots in the roof channels, there will be three per side. This is where the roof rail bolts are threaded into.



Using a utility knife, criss cross cut the holes and peel out:





Check bolt clearance by starting the bolts



One of the bolt holes was not lining up with the roof skin. So I dremeled out the hole a little bit to allow the bolt to thread properly:





Thread the bolts all the way down flush with the roof profile:



When the wife is gone, grab her nail polish and dab the bolt heads, this will allow proper markings on the roof strips for cutting out the holes:





Using the dremel, I cut 1/2" past each hole. Careful not to cut past the flat face side of the weather strip!





Using a punch, I knocked out holes for the Front Runner Spacers:



After all the holes were punched out, I cleaned out the roof channels and weather strip with alcohol, this will allow the silicone sealant to adhere and waterproof correctly:





I added masking tape to prevent getting some silicone onto the truck. Once I set the spacers and weatherstripping, I filled each hole with silicone:



After setting both roof rails onto the spacers and bolting down, I set the rack onto the roof rails and bolted them down:



The fin was touching the roof rack, so I had to add some washers between the roof rack and the rails to provide some clearance. I am not bothered at all:





Threw the water hose on top of the truck and let it spray water for a good 30 minutes per side to check for any leaks:





No leaks!



Check for rattles or loose bolts:



Installed all my bolt caps:






Things to note, lessons learned:

1. When building the roof rack, make sure to place the bolts that attach the crossbars to the rails before installing the wind deflector. These bolts are shown in the last photo above, at the top. I had already installed the wind deflector and had to remove it to slide the bolts in.

2. You will need one tube of silicone, get the clear type. Do not get caulk. Get Silicone.

3. Have a dremel handy in the event that the bolt holes in the roof do not line up properly to allow bolt to screw in. You NEED a dremel. There is no cutting the hole bigger with a knife or forcing the bolt thru.

4. Have washers handy in the event your rack hits the shark fin.

5. The short washers go in the middle! Sometimes, even by placing the short washers in the middle, the rack will still hit the shark fin. Like my case. So keep washers handy.

 

Did you change the bolts for stainless? If not you will see rust like the rest of us in a year or less.

Also I’m more than a little pissed as one of the corner pieces paint is bubbling - oxidation?!?? Need to contact front runner about this. Oh and they can replace the corner or send me gift certs because of labor to change it. I’ll take a pic later

 

"Did you change the bolts for stainless? If not you will see rust like the rest of us in a year or less." - Nope! I'll take care of it when it happens.

"Also I’m more than a little pissed as one of the corner pieces paint is bubbling - oxidation?!?? Need to contact front runner about this. Oh and they can replace the corner or send me gift certs because of labor to change it. I’ll take a pic later" - Good Luck!

 

Wait a minute.

You JUST got this installed? This was the first group buy I participated in when I joined TW.

 

Wtf you have a Tacoma?!

 

duh

 

you can see the 4runner in the background in one of the pics

 

She's still a virgin

 

Very nice write up dude - I did the exact same thing except I forgot about the wind deflector until a week later. I have only had mine on for about 6 months now but no rusting yet. I did also get the front runner quick release RTT mounts and they're awesome.

 

Just got my rack assembled, on to install - what size punch did you use?

 

oh snap! I dont remember.. id have to look for it

 

No worries, found it:

 

Do you know the bolt details. I’m needing to replace mine with stainless

 

Got it sorted. I have an older generation of the Front Runner Slimm Line II Tacoma cab rack. It uses longer bolts on the front and shorter bolts in the middle and rear.

Longer Bolts: Hex Head Cap Screw SS A4 M6-1x50
Short Bolts: Hex Head Cap Screw SS A4 M6-1x35

 

I filled the hole and i filled the washer. I did not run silicone along the channel.

No issues since then

 

My son just bought one of these racks and I’m going to help him install it over Christmas. Does the weather strip any double sided tape in the front or does it tuck into the channel? I assume the rack will hold the rest down. Also, does anyone know does the newer racks come with stainless steel hardware or is this something that I need to purchase separately? I would think that for quality purposes they would come with better H/W.

 

Resurrecting a dead thread, but this was sooooo helpful. Just installed my Slimline 2 today!

Idk if you ever installed it, but no double sided tape necessary, it just tucks back down. As fkr hardware, I got mine used so it had non stainless hardware, but I got new stainless before installing.