Thanks for this video, super helpful! I didn't realize that there's an adapter kit required for those tacoma bed rails. You saved me a headache when picking up a used rack from someone with a different truck style.
I'm buying a 2020 Tacoma with the mid-rise Yakima bed rack with a RTT very similar to what you have. I'm buying the mid-rise because I live in a condo building and height will be an issue in and out of the underground parkade. Thanks for the close up views and the issues you had to overcome installing this. Bravo!
Sounds like a good call! Danny and John convinced me (Zach) to get a full size 16" bed rack on the Chevy. With both the rack and RTT installed, finding parking with adequate clearance has been the only downside so far. Danny and John have both had an easier time with the mid-rise.
So you have to buy the towers and crossbars separate? Then the side rails are separate too I assume. I have a new 22 Frontier with Utilitrack and I know there is a mounting kit for it too. So I guess I'm up to a small fortune!
jojo4rmdabronx They installed both at the same time .Yakima has a foot pad which sits on top ofthe side rails of the tonneau cover. The original tower typically comes with a truck connection that mounts to the inner rails, you will need to purchase the footpads to work with theRemax Tonneau top rail.
After searching for "educational" videos on racks yours was the best so far. So you pretty much have the overhaul hd with crossbars and that's enough to support the rooftop tent? Thanks.
Thanks! Yes, the crossbars alone were enough to support the tent without issue. The side accessory bar may have provided a little extra stability to help prevent any racking, but the base of the crossbars are quite large and I doubt they had much effect.
Question 🙋♂️ sir. Do you think it’s necessary to buy the side bars if want to by the adapter for the rotopax??. Will the adapter fit on the rails alone? Or is the side rail opening different from the rails??. Please let me know.
The side rail has the same t-slot for accessories as the top rail. If you want to mount the rotopax along the side like mine you’ll need to get it. The rotopax adapter would definitely fit on the top rails though if you wanted to mount them flat on top.
Thanks for the informative video. I'm super excited to get my racks finally (they were backordered) and ran into the same issue you mentioned with the bed rails on the Tacoma... instead of installing the rack, I'm googling how to remove a stripped Torx bolt! I tried to use a cheep-o multi-tool to remove the bolt and paid for it. I should have listened!
I wanted an overland rack, like a cbi or something. They are a little cheaper, but I think this rack might have won me over. I kinda like a lot the features. If I need I can raise it up as well.
Good review, thanks! Question: I have a '17 Tacoma TRD and am ordering a Tepui Kukenham 3. With your rack and tent installed, could you still load a pair of kayaks on the roof racks over the cab? Thanks.
I think you could with a standard thule or yakima cab rack with the j-style mounts. That would probably get you enough clearance to get over the tent. Not sure if you have play boats or big meaty fishing yaks though.
Love the Lifegaurd Tower sticker, where did you get it? I know a lot of people that have those in Southern California, LA county (southbay) specifically that have those.
They are actually the logo of a real estate agency in the South Bay and everyone grabs their stickers. I can't remember the name of the company any more though.
I've been considering this with the Retrax Pro XR tonneau kit. I've currently got the tent on lower Rhino Rack crossbars. I don't like the fact that I can't see out of my rear window at all when mounted though. How easy is it to see through the rear view mirror still? The only thing that's stopping me is right now my Chevy Colorado still fits in my garage but I think with this and my tent the increased height might not clear the garage door anymore.
On the Tacoma, visibility out of the rearview mirror was never an issue. Could still see out the rearview just fine (although eventually Danny installed a shovel mount underneath the rack that ended up blocking some of the view). With a Colorado though, the overall height might be an issue for you. Zach has a ZR2, and we've noticed there's a big difference in the height of the bed sides between the two trucks. The Colorado has super tall bed rails compared to the Tacoma, and combined with the height of the rack and the tent the whole setup will be pretty tall. The Yakima is quoted at 13" tall. Zach's setup with a full size (16") rack and RTT gives him an overall clearance of about 7' 6". Hope that helps!
So looking at your $100 add-on to attach them to the Taco rails I noticed there's only a bolt holding them in place, is this bolt secured from theft or can I simply unscrew the bolt and remove the complete rack?
There are two additional locking cores that will secure two of the bolts. I suppose theoretically someone could unscrew the bolts below that hold the feet to the track, but I think because of the way the parts and rails interlock the rack probably still wouldn't come off (hard to say, Danny doesn't have this rack anymore to check). That said, I have a rack that has no security system and is all bolted on and have never worried about it being stolen - the racks and tents together are very heavy, very big, and a pretty niche item for someone to want to steal (at least, that's what I tell myself). - Zach
Great review. I bought mine after watching a few of these. Yours included. I have a quick question, Can you please tell me what size your Rotopax cans are?
This was a great and informative video. Thanks! I'm curious, have you done any mild off road stuff with the rack and tent on? I'm curious how sturdy or solid it felt (or if you could feel or see it swaying around)?
Thanks! This setup was extremely solid. Wouldn't hesitate to take it on any trail of any difficulty. Honestly you could probably jump a dune with this thing and it would be fine.
Are those crossbars large or medium size? I am considering those. But, not sure which size I should buy. Also are the locks (You said two) included with the rack?
I can’t remember which size the bars are but I got the length that was closest in width to the truck bed. The locks were included but I wouldn’t have gotten any if it didn’t come with them. I wouldn’t put a lot of stock in them and I don’t worry much about people stealing racks.
Just measured and the RTT sticks up an additional 9" to 10" over the top of the cab. That includes the small hump from the ladder in the middle of the tent as well.
One of the rods that prop open the window awning will not clear. I keep a bungee in the tent and run it from the awning eyelet to the roof rack and it works great.
I am considering this for my Colorado for a roof top tent as well. I saw the 300 off road rating and 500 on road. Do you know what the static load is for it?
We hadn’t thought to talk about that. The visibility is great, barely any effect. If you watch our video “Can You go Off-Road in a 2WD Truck?” you can get a good idea. The camera is mounted on the rear view mirror in that video and the Yakima rack is on.
Creep The Planet's experience has been similar to ours. With all three trucks, at most we'd notice ~1-2mpg drop, depending on the type of driving we're doing. Putting a cab rack with fairing on my Colorado smoothed out the vehicle profile and seemed to negate the drop I noticed from the tent. - Zach
Without the tent it’s really easy to pop off alone. You have to wiggle it a little and then you can kind of flip it off backwards toward the tailgate. With the tent and all the other gear I definitely need help.
I don't think there is but if you don't already own the rack you can get the Overhaul HD instead of the OutPost HD and it does exactly that. yakima.com/products/overhaul-hd-system
I just finished installing this rack on my Nissan Frontier Pro4x. I attached it to the bed rails like you did (much easier on the Nissan rails btw) however I'm blown away that there is ZERO security locking the rack to the bed rails (8 bolts and the whole thing is gone in 60 seconds) and the cross bars also have ZERO security in that they are just screwed on with 8 bolts. Having the base locks on is utterly useless unless you are using the standard clamps (i.e. not attaching to truck bed rails) because anybody with the Yakima hex tool can either unscrew the cross bars and take whatever is attached (tent, box, etc.) or unscrew the 8 bolts that attach the whole rack to the bed rails (about 60 seconds) and walk away with the entire rack system. Considering the rack with the HD bars and rail attachments is about $600, I'm scared shitless to leave the rack on all by itself even and just pop into the grocery store. It is utterly incomprehensible that Yakima would sell this rack and charge an extra $90 for the Nissan/Toyota rail attachment pack that basically renders the security locks useless with NO option to secure the rack to the truck and no way at all to lock the cross bars to the rack. I figure I can use a steel security cable to lock the rack base to my truck but I can't come up with any idea at all to secure the cross bars in a way that would prevent a thief from simply unscrewing the bolts in under a minute and taking the bars and what's attached. Any ideas?
I believe in security by obscurity. My rack and everything attached are basically junk to anyone except someone else that’s into overlanding, has the same truck and doesn’t have a rack. I also think that locks imply to people that something is valuable. The only things I won’t leave in a truck bed are tools and coolers. Everything i just leave back there and have never had an issue.
That being said we did have a luggable-loo (poop bucket) stolen though. But I put that in the tool category since it’s really just a 5 gallon paint bucket.
Those are the Tred 800s. They were the only boards on the market that fit the area and worked with the mounts at the time. I've been really happy with them, they've never let me down the couple times I've actually had to use them.
Thanks for this video, super helpful! I didn't realize that there's an adapter kit required for those tacoma bed rails. You saved me a headache when picking up a used rack from someone with a different truck style.
Thank you for this NOT in your face video. Well edited, great composition, and very informative.
Thanks!
I'm buying a 2020 Tacoma with the mid-rise Yakima bed rack with a RTT very similar to what you have. I'm buying the mid-rise because I live in a condo building and height will be an issue in and out of the underground parkade. Thanks for the close up views and the issues you had to overcome installing this. Bravo!
Sounds like a good call! Danny and John convinced me (Zach) to get a full size 16" bed rack on the Chevy. With both the rack and RTT installed, finding parking with adequate clearance has been the only downside so far. Danny and John have both had an easier time with the mid-rise.
dude your a star in the making.. keep em coming!
lol, thanks!
That quick release feature is sweet!
So you have to buy the towers and crossbars separate? Then the side rails are separate too I assume. I have a new 22 Frontier with Utilitrack and I know there is a mounting kit for it too. So I guess I'm up to a small fortune!
Haha, yep.
Good video. Need that setup!
I have the same setup with a tonneau cover- love it!
How does that work?
Rolling cover? How were you able to mount it with a rolling cover already installed?
jojo4rmdabronx They installed both at the same time .Yakima has a foot pad which sits on top ofthe side rails of the tonneau cover. The original tower typically comes with a truck connection that mounts to the inner rails, you will need to purchase the footpads to work with theRemax Tonneau top rail.
Lori Collins $$$$ I guess it only works with certain covers. It doesn’t look like this would work with my roll n lock brand cover. Thanks
jojo4rmdabronx it works with retrax or pace Edwards ultra groove tonneau cover, they have a track to mount the rack
I like that you only use the one side bar. I can see myself doing that on my rig someday.
It's so handy to be able to get into the bed with the rack on.
After searching for "educational" videos on racks yours was the best so far. So you pretty much have the overhaul hd with crossbars and that's enough to support the rooftop tent?
Thanks.
Thanks! Yes, the crossbars alone were enough to support the tent without issue. The side accessory bar may have provided a little extra stability to help prevent any racking, but the base of the crossbars are quite large and I doubt they had much effect.
Thanks for video! Can I ask what the total cost was fir for that yakima set with rack, side rail and adapter for bed rail?
Like 1.5K
Its very helpful. I like there products that I currently have. This looks like a great addition.
Best video I’ve seen on this product 👌
Glad you liked it!
Question 🙋♂️ sir. Do you think it’s necessary to buy the side bars if want to by the adapter for the rotopax??. Will the adapter fit on the rails alone? Or is the side rail opening different from the rails??. Please let me know.
The side rail has the same t-slot for accessories as the top rail. If you want to mount the rotopax along the side like mine you’ll need to get it. The rotopax adapter would definitely fit on the top rails though if you wanted to mount them flat on top.
Thanks for the informative video. I'm super excited to get my racks finally (they were backordered) and ran into the same issue you mentioned with the bed rails on the Tacoma... instead of installing the rack, I'm googling how to remove a stripped Torx bolt! I tried to use a cheep-o multi-tool to remove the bolt and paid for it. I should have listened!
If you find a good way to get that bolt out let us know. We just left it in there and pulled harder on the rail.
I wanted an overland rack, like a cbi or something. They are a little cheaper, but I think this rack might have won me over. I kinda like a lot the features. If I need I can raise it up as well.
Good review, thanks! Question: I have a '17 Tacoma TRD and am ordering a Tepui Kukenham 3. With your rack and tent installed, could you still load a pair of kayaks on the roof racks over the cab? Thanks.
I think you could with a standard thule or yakima cab rack with the j-style mounts. That would probably get you enough clearance to get over the tent. Not sure if you have play boats or big meaty fishing yaks though.
Love the Lifegaurd Tower sticker, where did you get it? I know a lot of people that have those in Southern California, LA county (southbay) specifically that have those.
They are actually the logo of a real estate agency in the South Bay and everyone grabs their stickers. I can't remember the name of the company any more though.
Good Guide line
Amazing video. Very descriptive. Is your truck a short bed tacoma or a long bed tacoma? Thnx.
Thanks! It's the 5ft short bed.
I've been considering this with the Retrax Pro XR tonneau kit. I've currently got the tent on lower Rhino Rack crossbars. I don't like the fact that I can't see out of my rear window at all when mounted though. How easy is it to see through the rear view mirror still? The only thing that's stopping me is right now my Chevy Colorado still fits in my garage but I think with this and my tent the increased height might not clear the garage door anymore.
On the Tacoma, visibility out of the rearview mirror was never an issue. Could still see out the rearview just fine (although eventually Danny installed a shovel mount underneath the rack that ended up blocking some of the view). With a Colorado though, the overall height might be an issue for you. Zach has a ZR2, and we've noticed there's a big difference in the height of the bed sides between the two trucks. The Colorado has super tall bed rails compared to the Tacoma, and combined with the height of the rack and the tent the whole setup will be pretty tall. The Yakima is quoted at 13" tall. Zach's setup with a full size (16") rack and RTT gives him an overall clearance of about 7' 6". Hope that helps!
Do the molle panels fit on this?
Thanks for making a video!! Very informative!!
You're welcome!
So looking at your $100 add-on to attach them to the Taco rails I noticed there's only a bolt holding them in place, is this bolt secured from theft or can I simply unscrew the bolt and remove the complete rack?
There are two additional locking cores that will secure two of the bolts. I suppose theoretically someone could unscrew the bolts below that hold the feet to the track, but I think because of the way the parts and rails interlock the rack probably still wouldn't come off (hard to say, Danny doesn't have this rack anymore to check). That said, I have a rack that has no security system and is all bolted on and have never worried about it being stolen - the racks and tents together are very heavy, very big, and a pretty niche item for someone to want to steal (at least, that's what I tell myself). - Zach
Nice review!
What size Rotopax are those?
The 1.7 gal I believe. Danny is busy so I can't ask him at the moment.
Great review. I bought mine after watching a few of these. Yours included. I have a quick question, Can you please tell me what size your Rotopax cans are?
They are the 1.75G cans but I don't think they make them anymore.
Good review, thanks. Is your Tacoma a 2wd?
Yes it is!
What size gas tanks are those?
Is there an awning that will attach to the side bar ?
I’m sure you could but it would be really short. I’d personally want a full height rack for that or would mount it to a cab rack.
This was a great and informative video. Thanks!
I'm curious, have you done any mild off road stuff with the rack and tent on? I'm curious how sturdy or solid it felt (or if you could feel or see it swaying around)?
Thanks! This setup was extremely solid. Wouldn't hesitate to take it on any trail of any difficulty. Honestly you could probably jump a dune with this thing and it would be fine.
@@BackcountryBeefcakes Outstanding! I appreciate your feedback, my man! All the best.
Could you put an awning on it? And stand under it?
Not unless you had a very tall truck. I’d suggest mounting an awning to a rack on the cab.
After having it for a while do you still like it as much? Would you buy it again?
Right
Are those crossbars large or medium size? I am considering those. But, not sure which size I should buy. Also are the locks (You said two) included with the rack?
I can’t remember which size the bars are but I got the length that was closest in width to the truck bed. The locks were included but I wouldn’t have gotten any if it didn’t come with them. I wouldn’t put a lot of stock in them and I don’t worry much about people stealing racks.
What size cross bar did you use? I have a Tacoma and I'm about to buy this rack.
These are the 60" cross bars. Enjoy the rack!
@@BackcountryBeefcakes thanks! How high does the rooftop tent stick up above the top of your cab? I am worried about my garage clearance.
Just measured and the RTT sticks up an additional 9" to 10" over the top of the cab. That includes the small hump from the ladder in the middle of the tent as well.
@@BackcountryBeefcakesdo you still have this setup? Any notice in reduced power / fuel mileage?
When you open the tent to the spring rods clear the cab?
One of the rods that prop open the window awning will not clear. I keep a bungee in the tent and run it from the awning eyelet to the roof rack and it works great.
Do carriage bolts fit in the t-slots?
Great question. Unfortunately I don't know and don't own the truck or rack anymore to find out.
I am considering this for my Colorado for a roof top tent as well. I saw the 300 off road rating and 500 on road. Do you know what the static load is for it?
I don’t but it has been plenty sturdy enough to hold the RTT and the full Rotopax.
800 lbs static as listed. Super solid rack.
No one has talked about visibility out back... what’s it like in your rear view mirror?
We hadn’t thought to talk about that. The visibility is great, barely any effect. If you watch our video “Can You go Off-Road in a 2WD Truck?” you can get a good idea. The camera is mounted on the rear view mirror in that video and the Yakima rack is on.
Question for you! Did you notice any drop in fuel economy with your RTT mounted on this rack? I have a similar truck.
I have this setup on a Dodge Ram 1500 and surprisingly there’s no noticeable difference for me.
Creep The Planet's experience has been similar to ours. With all three trucks, at most we'd notice ~1-2mpg drop, depending on the type of driving we're doing. Putting a cab rack with fairing on my Colorado smoothed out the vehicle profile and seemed to negate the drop I noticed from the tent. - Zach
I’m sorry if you’ve already been asked this. But how did you get it off yourself
Without the tent it’s really easy to pop off alone. You have to wiggle it a little and then you can kind of flip it off backwards toward the tailgate. With the tent and all the other gear I definitely need help.
Is the height adjusted, to clear an atv on the bed?
I doubt it. It's pretty short. You could either take it off or get the OverHaul HD rack that is height adjustable.
Solid review bro thank you💪
Thanks for watching! We hope it was helpful!
Fuck ya, subscribed because of intro!
lol, thanks.
Question? What length are those recovery boards? I can't get mine to fit on my HD out post. They are to long ? Please any help will do
Check out the Tred 800 boards. They are the only ones I could find that fit well and I’ve been really happy with them.
Highly Rackamended . !
oouuuuuu. lol.
How tall with tent on from the top of the truck bed
The tent adds about another 9-10" in height from the top of the cab.
How many gallons are the canisters you are running?
Thanks
1.75, I believe.
Anyone know if you can get an adapter of sorts to raise the load rails up to cab height or higher??
I don't think there is but if you don't already own the rack you can get the Overhaul HD instead of the OutPost HD and it does exactly that. yakima.com/products/overhaul-hd-system
I just finished installing this rack on my Nissan Frontier Pro4x. I attached it to the bed rails like you did (much easier on the Nissan rails btw) however I'm blown away that there is ZERO security locking the rack to the bed rails (8 bolts and the whole thing is gone in 60 seconds) and the cross bars also have ZERO security in that they are just screwed on with 8 bolts. Having the base locks on is utterly useless unless you are using the standard clamps (i.e. not attaching to truck bed rails) because anybody with the Yakima hex tool can either unscrew the cross bars and take whatever is attached (tent, box, etc.) or unscrew the 8 bolts that attach the whole rack to the bed rails (about 60 seconds) and walk away with the entire rack system. Considering the rack with the HD bars and rail attachments is about $600, I'm scared shitless to leave the rack on all by itself even and just pop into the grocery store. It is utterly incomprehensible that Yakima would sell this rack and charge an extra $90 for the Nissan/Toyota rail attachment pack that basically renders the security locks useless with NO option to secure the rack to the truck and no way at all to lock the cross bars to the rack. I figure I can use a steel security cable to lock the rack base to my truck but I can't come up with any idea at all to secure the cross bars in a way that would prevent a thief from simply unscrewing the bolts in under a minute and taking the bars and what's attached. Any ideas?
I believe in security by obscurity. My rack and everything attached are basically junk to anyone except someone else that’s into overlanding, has the same truck and doesn’t have a rack. I also think that locks imply to people that something is valuable. The only things I won’t leave in a truck bed are tools and coolers. Everything i just leave back there and have never had an issue.
That being said we did have a luggable-loo (poop bucket) stolen though. But I put that in the tool category since it’s really just a 5 gallon paint bucket.
"My wife buys really big pots..." LOL
Debating between this and a camper shell with cross bars hmmmm
That's a tough call. I had a camper shell years ago and actually slept in it. I loved it. If you pack light I think it's a great option.
Ours always comes loose. You have to take apart the hole system to retighten the bolts the truck. Bad design.
Loctite
What kind of traction boards were those?
Those are the Tred 800s. They were the only boards on the market that fit the area and worked with the mounts at the time. I've been really happy with them, they've never let me down the couple times I've actually had to use them.