Ladder racks

Anyone using a Yakima ladder rack? Just picked up my 24 TRD OR long bed last week and I want to be able to carry a ski box in the winter and a canoe, cargo rack, or rooftop tent in the summer.

 

Welcome.. yes, I think @CrispyTacoLover has some sort of Yakima setup on his 4g or at least should know what’s up, Sorry if I’m wrong

 

I wish I did. I want it for my kayaks but it’s expensive even on sale…

 

I should have never sold these bars. Local welder made them for me.

 

ahhh I was wrong then, you do at least seem to have some knowledge about it and a 4G owner sorry if the tag was unwanted!! lol and I don’t blame you, agree that’s a sizable investment your custom set looked nice indeed!

 

It’s ok. There are a lot of racks on the market and they are all expensive.

 

I put the Yakima system (American made) on my truck with the low rise..!
Rated for 600 pounds, for extreme off-road they recommend 300 pounds max weight.

 

I installed a Elevate system from Real Truck. Mine is mounted to a Retrax on XR tonneau with the mounting channels. Weight is 500 Lbs, just like the Yakima, but a couple hundred cheaper. Buy before 12/31 the will send you the side cross rails free. I'll try to get pics later.

 

Really like these---- my plan is to pair one like that w/ retractable tonneau cover, but the slightly taller rack they make. Looks great (nice to see another PreRunner as well).

 

check the Yakima website they have a base plate that accommodates a sliding bed cover…

 

FWIW, I have and like Yakima stuff but have had eyes on Fas-Top's rack for it being compatible with their all in one tonneau with soft topper I have. That might not be for everyone but 6 months in I really like the flexibility.

 

Yes, I run the Yakima Overhaul HD on my 2018 Taco SR5. I have it paired with the RetraxOne XR. I had mainly used Thule stuff in the past (not ladder racks tho) on other vehicles, but at the time I was looking for the Taco, this seemed like the best option that would allow me to still use a rolling bed cover. Yes it's expensive, but I got a used setup of the RetraxOne XR and the Yakima Overhaul HD for like $1200.

I stumbled upon this thread because I was looking for info on how to clean/disassemble the Retrax cover/canister because it's starting to jam on me, so if anyone has info on that please let me know.

I'm not sure what info you are looking for on the Yakima Overhaul, but after over a year of use I'll give you some of my opinions. I have NOT used it with a tent, but I've used it for ladders/kayaks/paddleboards/lumber/etc. Does fine in all those situations. Seems to be built very solid. The negatives so far for me is that the adjustability up/down is NOT as easy as I anticipated (or maybe I'm just an idiot). Since the towers are not perfectly vertical and because of how the slant/slope inward towards the bed and how it attaches to the crossbars, you have to loosen several screws/points on the towers AND on the crossbars. I would've like it to be easier so I could put it in the lowest position when NOT carrying anything on them, then raise it when necessary, but since it's not that easy, i just leave it on a higher setting just high enough so that when I carry something long like kayak/paddleboard it clears the top of the cab.

The other issue, which I just came across as I was looking into the Retrax cover jamming is that when using the t-slot channels for the rack it has raised/deformed the channel a bit. I haven't carried any heavy payloads, so I'm not sure why this would happen. This also wouldn't be an issue if you're not planning on using the rack with the Retrax XR rails, but wanted to put that out there for anyone else in case they were wondering. This is the first time I've totally removed the rack since installing it, so it's the first I've noticed it, so I haven't had a chance to research it and/or follow up with Yakima/Retrax. I'll get some pics and add them to this post when I get a chance.

 

Thanks for posting---- would the retractable cover housing fit if side molle panels were attached to bed?

 

I'm not sure what side molle panels are??

 

Something like this ^

 

ah ok...are you talking about with the Yakima setup?? The entire Overhaul HD system attaches to the t-rails of the Retrax XR rails. So it sits "outside" of the cover if that makes sense. In some of the photos earlier in this thread the racks are affixed directly to the truck bed itself. With the Retrax setup I have, the rails are attached to the factory bed rails inside of the Tacoma truck bed. Then the Yakama rack attaches to the Retrax XR rails via the t-rail slots. So the molle panels would just attach to that. I don't have the Yakima side bars, but I believe you can attach to that. Not sure if Yakima sells their own or if 3rd party ones could just attach to the Yakima side rails since I don't have them.

I can get some photos of the rack to Retrax to bed setup if you would like to see them.

 

Thanks----yes, I'd really appreciate any pics you could add. Are you still able to utilize the bed rail system or does adding the retrax take away the functionality of the rail system/tie-downs/etc.?

 

Here are a few pics. One shows where you place a cleat (4 total, 2 into each of the bed rails). The other shows how you attach the XR rails into the cleat that’s set inside the bed rails. The next shows what one of the rails looks like. So the actual XR rail does NOT sit flush with the bed, but on top of it. You then have the t-slot which is how the Yakima rack attaches to the whole setup.

 

Here are some photos of the Retrax XR rails AFTER I removed the Yakima rack to investigate why it is binding/jamming when rolling it into the canister. As you can see it is somehow “raising” the sides of the t-slot rails, which doesn’t seem right to me. I’ll keep looking into it.

 

@nuprin69---- thanks very much for posting the pics. I'd be very curious too as to what you find out re the deforming of those T-slots.