OEM Rack: pros and cons?

Wondering people's thoughts on the OEM rack? Thinking about quality/rattles, ease of use, wind noise, MPG, and appearance.

Attached is a photo of my truck!

 

OEM rack is going to be best for noise, mpg, and no rattles. But it comes at a cost, its load rating is pretty light and it flexes a fair amount with weight on it. When you have the bars stored there is no wind noise, but if you put the bars across you get a fair amount of noise.

I got one, but I only use it to mount fishing rods. I think the only things I would ever mount to the OEM rack would be skis, snowboards, fishing rods, or maybe a bike.

 

It's pretty lightweight, I think the rating is somewhere under 100lbs.
The best part about it is that it means all Tacomas come with the bolt holes to mount it.. so you can put on any other rack offerings..
No way I'd put my boat on the OEM setup - but I'll carry it all day no worries with the Prinsu.

 

5nahalf pretty much nailed it. I ran an OEM rack for about a year and a half. Most I ever put up there was maxtrax and rifle cases. Here's the thing - wind is not bad when the bars are stowed, but I hated the way it looked that way, so ran them horizontal all the time. The wind noise just seemed to blend in with the diff howl and tire noise from KO2s and I lived with it.

I decided to upgrade when I went on a 3 day camping trip and had a total of 5 people in my truck. Ran out of storage space and wished I had a load bearing roof rack, so ordered a Sherpa Grand Teton soon thereafter. Wind noise is actually less than the OEM when bars are engaged, and able to put much more weight up there. Huge improvement and so glad I did it.

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Thanks! Wouldn't be too comfortable with a lighter tandem kayak up there? That's the heaviest I would go. No urgent need for it, so I can see how things go.

Any increased wind noise with them away?

Mostly would be putting lighter things up there, like surfboards, paddleboards, and skis. Right now when things are too long I either leave the rear hatch of my shell open and throw a flag on the end.

 

It really comes down to what your needs are. If you routinely carry a lot of bags / gear on the roof, then the OEM rack is not going to cut it. But if all you will ever do is occasionally carry something long like a ladder or a light canoe / kayak, then the OEM rack is a very cost effective way to extend the capabilites of your truck. And it looks pretty good up there IMO, especially on a white truck.

I paid a lot of money for the full roof rack on my FJ Cruiser and hardly ever use it. Also, the full rack makes it a real pain to keep the roof clean. So again for my purposes, the OEM rack was the right choice for my Taco and I love the fact that you can retract the cross bars when they are not needed.

 

Also, don’t go Amazon knockoff rails . When I was shopping for mine I read dozens of people having issues with incorrect hardware and bad build quality.
Even the OEM seemed a bit difficult to install. When I got mine it wasn’t terrible, but required some extra force to get the bolts to line up in the holes. Otherwise its been fine .

 

Advantage: "it doesn't void your warranty," and... um... It hasn't broken yet using my ancient yakima round bar clamped to the factory bars.

Disadvantage: Doesn't hold much weight, and the cool bar swivel design results in a somewhat loose bar fit. There are better aftermarket solutions if you're going to use it a lot.

I went with quick and easy / dealer installed convenience; with the Outhauls in back, the oem rack has held up to 2.5 years of carrying its 1/3 share of 300-400lbs of gliders on some pretty robust "roads." Some day, when I get around to it, or if and when I break it, I'll go with a heavier duty aftermarket option.

As the OP said, if you're not going to use it a lot, or if you're expecting mostly light duty use, it's fine, easy to install, and I think it looks good on a white truck.

 

I posted this in the other thread. The only thing that matter and it's a con is its FUGLY. Good lord the OEM racks are ugly.

I always like the look of Thule or yakima racks. Yakima makes a model that will bolt into factory holes. I have to save more money to buy it.

Yakima Skyline towers with landing pad 24.

 

I prefer the look of the Sherpa Grand Teton!

Thanks for the comparison regarding wind noise @Mike402 !

That add-on will probably be a year away...right now it's OEM LED headlights.

Ed

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No offense to anybody with a roof rack and if you like it, more power to you....but with that said, I think they are fugly as hell and make the trucks look like those old ugly Ford Explorer Sport Tracs.

Just personal preference.

 

Ah man, it don't that bad! But your right, I ain't going to win any Taco beauty pageants with that OEM rack on there. But it really does meat my needs well and it was pretty damn cheap.

PS: I am kind of a sucker for OEM stuff anyway. It was actually a big deal when I drove Corvettes. Not so much for Tacos I guess but I still like to stick with OEM stuff when I can.

 

Mine's a 2nd Gen but basically same rack. I have a pair of 40lb 10ft kayaks I've carried a bunch of times with no issues. I like that the bars will stow away so I can brush snow off the roof in winter and I don't notice wind noise at all with bars stowed or across. I have Duratracs though so road noise comes with me everywhere which may hide the wind noise. For my needs I would do it again when I buy a new truck, but if a person needed more capacity these are limited.

 

Just wanna say, OEM roof rack on super White Tacoma TRD pro look incredibly incredibly incredibly awesome. Somehow, I believe that super White pro is the best looking color for Tacoma, the roof rack definitely stands out.

 

I agree! Looks great on the OR as well.

 

This thread has me wondering - anybody here know which racks are higher than the OEM rooftop antenna? I'd like to get a rack, and would use it for things like light lumber, and want a rack that will get the load above the top of the antenna.

 

I know it's just personal, but nah, nah, it does not look good to me.

 

Came here looking for feedback on functional aspects of oem roof rack as well. I have a similar style of rack on my Subaru Outback and love the flexibility of stowaway cross bars. Assuming the Toyota version isn’t prone to leaks for some unknown reason, I would get in a heartbeat. Obviously some people like the look and others don’t, who cares about some random person’s opinion on its appearance? Is the OP going to walk back their interest in one because someone else doesn’t like the way it looks? That would be a ridiculous way to live your life.

The weight limit is stated as 75lb some places, which is pretty low. My 15 foot canoe is ~60lb I believe, it’s not a super lightweight one, just average royalex-type of material. Just for reference. My outback rack is rated at 150lb and handles the canoe with no issues, but I use straps and bow and stern tie downs.

 

The biggest issue with the OEM rack is less the low weight rating, and more the flex in the bars. When I put my kayak J rack on there, the bolts were about 1 inch from the roof. When I put any weight on the rack the bolt started getting closer to the roof. I can only imagine what a decent bump would do with the flex.

 

Good point, in fact just the wind pushing down on the cargo, depending on the angle and all that could produce some contact. Too bad they’re so flimsy.