Nice Rack!
The roof rack which comes as an option on any new Toyota truck is manufactured by a third-party company, and dealer-installed. That means that, technically, there's no such thing as a 'factory roof rack' for your 4Runner. In fact, the same company who supplies the roofrack for Toyota, also supplies the dealer networks of Nissan, GM, Ford, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, Mazda, and, I'm sure, everybody else. God bless 'em,but your local Toyota dealer will charge you an arm and a leg for a 'genuine Toyota' rack system, and in Canada, that means a nice round figure of $327.45 before the taxes, and without installation. However, being a cheapskate, I decided to see what other options I had. I tried an aftermarket rack specialist, who deals in Thule and other name brand roofracks and accessories. They would be happy, they told me, to install a factory-style roof rack on my 4Runner for a mere $499.00 plus the taxes. Needless to say, I passed, but not before inspecting the rack the were offering. Lo and behold, it was the exact same rack as offered by my Toyota Dealer!! Okay, conspiracy theorists, we're through the looking glass now.

I contacted David Arnold at Annex Auto Parts, and outstanding recycler here in Nanaimo, to see if he had any Ford Aerostars around with a roof rack. Sure enough, good ol' David had one, and, being the avid 4-Wheeler that he is, he gave me a wicked deal on a complete Aerostar roof rack. It took me about fifteen minutes to remove the rack from the Aerostar, as it was only held in place by a couple of tiny screws. The hardest part of the removal was not sliding off the mossy roof while I worked in the rain! I want to thank Lee for this idea. Lee has an awesome 4Runner, too, and you can look at it HERE.

Once the rack was removed, I laid it out on the roof of my truck to make sure it wasn't too long. As luck would have it, the main rails are the perfect length for my 4Runner, beginning right behind the aftermarket sunroof, and ending just before the rear curve of the roof begins. If you have a factory sunroof on your 4Runner, some light trimming of the rack rails may be necessary. In my case, the length was perfect. But, the Aerostar is a much wider vehicle than the 4Runner, so a little narrowing of the rack is in order. Since it's aluminium, it's easy to trim with snips, a grinder, or even a boxcutter. A quick measurement indicated that the correct width of the aluminum support sections is 34 3/4", plus the length of the plastic ends. I cut each of the three sections to exactly 34 3/4", and replaced the plastic hardware. I decided to discard the third section of the rack as it was damaged, and because I do not intend to put heavy loads on the roof. Once reassembled, the whole rack was assembled 'loose' on the roof, and alligned perfectly before drilling any holes. The main supports (the ones that sit at the front and the back of the rack) can be cut to size by installing each plastic end of the supports on the rails, and measuring the distance between them. When you lay your rack out, make sure the main rails are exactly parallel. There's actually about 1/4" 'play' on each segment of the rack, so you don't have to be mathematically precise, but it will look better the closer to 'true' you are.

Of course, you do have the option of just screwing the roof rack down to the sheetmetal and leaving it at that. I decided to go one better and bolt the rack to the roof using stainless steel nuts and countersunk bolts, and large-diameter washers between the roof and the interior headliner. As I live on Vancouver Island, I contact lots of hanging branches and stuff when I'm wheeling, and I don't want to hear the sound of my roof rack being peeled from the roof by an overly-friendly limb. Dropping the headliner is a bit of a bear, but it can be done. It takes a lot of patience, and the best way is to work from the back forward, lowering the headliner AFTER removing the rear shoulderbelt mounts and the rear window trim sections. Once I had everything bolted down, I climbed my ladder and really tugged on my roof rack, simulating the kind of abuse it will get on the trails. It's official: That rack ain't goin' nowhere!

***Be careful, as the metal roof of the 4Runner is assembled exclusively by robots, and is has not been 'blunted' for human labour. Some of the edges are razor sharp, so be very cautious when working in this area.Because of the lack of open space, it's difficult to wear gloves while doing this job, but if you can, you should! Once the bolts were snug, I used an angle grinder to shear off the ends, just so the bolts won't rub agains the headliner, or worse, poke through in the event of a rollover. Sheesh, whar ever did I do before I owned an angle grinder? Luckily I've blocked those dark days out--probably too traumatic to relive!

I decided to use silicone gasket sealant when bolting the roof rack to the truck, to prevent water from getting in. Once the rack is assembled, you can regularly spray the sliders with silicone, to prevent water getting inside the roof, and for ease of adjustment of the rack.

"$327.45" indeed! The whole project cost me 6 hours and less than $75!