Rhino Rack Pioneer Tray - which size did you buy and why?

[Jkspinner Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jkspinner]

Hi TD
You do not need the cross bars, you only require the feet. The rack has its own integrated cross bars. Rhino also recommend the 6 mounting points for the 1900mm rack, and if you intend to keep the factory roof rails one, then the 1500mm platform

I ended up taking the smaller platform back yesterday and ordered the larger platform. Hopefully will be in stock later today or Monday.

Talking with the manager of Roof Racks Galore who has the larger platform on his 150 Prado, identical to craigm's, he agreed that the larger rack will make some wind noise when unloaded, but once the space between the slats is covered with whatever you are carrying, the majority of the noise goes away.

To go to a six leg mounting system down the road though would be a costly exercise, because not only would I have to buy the six mounting legs, I would also have to buy the 3 cross bars and associated bits for mounting.

Thanks to those who replied

[Sydneydude Member Find all posts View Profile Close Sydneydude]

So is it still an SXB platform you use with the legs or some other variant? I can't seem to find the SXB legs on the Rhino Rack site, only the RLCP ones.

I used the legs that come with the platform. If you go to an outlet it should be easy to identify what's right for you.

[fido666 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close fido666]

I used the legs that come with the platform. If you go to an outlet it should be easy to identify what's right for you.

I'm pretty sure it's the RLCP legs you need if you remove the rails. They aren't cheap at around $300 for the set. Does anyone know if the RLCP legs mounted directly to the roof sit higher than if you mount the platform to the factory rails using SXB feet?

[tdprado Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close tdprado]

Definitely remove the roof rails and fit the six legs as per other posts. You won't want to remove the rack all the time as it is such low profile and does not detract from the looks of the vehicle in my opinion. Only when you want to polish the roof once a year.

If you ever want to carry a second spare tyre up the front of the rack, you will need the stronger mounting points.

You only want to buy the rack once, don't you?

[thrasherdave Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close thrasherdave]

Does anyone know if the RLCP legs mounted directly to the roof sit higher than if you mount the platform to the factory rails using SXB feet?

+1

I have a restricted height issue, *but* I already have three Sportz bars mounted on the factory rails, so I presume it would be considerably cheaper to utilise these if possible.

DaveO

[alexchatz Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close alexchatz]

Bigger is better - check out my build thread

[fido666 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close fido666]

You won't want to remove the rack all the time as it is such low profile and does not detract from the looks of the vehicle in my opinion.

Might have to if we can't stay under the 2.0m height limit at out local shopping mall. We fit with the factory rails and sportz bars, not sure how much extra we have to play with though.

You only want to buy the rack once, don't you?

Yes but it is an extra $320 odd to ditch the factory rails and use the RLCP legs for an extra 25KG of capacity. I still haven't been able to confirm if we save any height doing that too.

[jonoxplor Member Find all posts View Profile Close jonoxplor]

I've heard that they can leak into the roof?

[thrasherdave Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close thrasherdave]

Definitely remove the roof rails and fit the six legs as per other posts. You won't want to remove the rack all the time as it is such low profile and does not detract from the looks of the vehicle in my opinion. Only when you want to polish the roof once a year.

Hey, tdprado and Sydneydude,
could you pls advise the overall height to the top of the platform? I note Sydneydude has a 40mm lift but don't know about tdprado's rig.

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

I've heard that they can leak into the roof?

If the seals aren't done correctly yes that is possible. Easy to do properly though.

[tdprado Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close tdprado]

Hi Thrasherdave,

I have taken some actual measurements for you.

I have a lift of about ~60mm above standard in the rear of my Prado.

The highest part of my Prado is at the utmost rear of the rack. The front of the rack is slightly lower:

Overall height is exactly 2 metres at rear of rack.
Lower part of rim to bottom of rear guard is 845mm
At rear of rack, measuring in the centre of the roof, is exactly 9cm from roof top, to top of rack.

If you measure the rim to guard on your vehicle, and plus or minus from my 845mm, that should give your overall height the rack will be.

Hope this helps.

Regards, Stephen.

[fido666 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close fido666]

For those using the Pioneer Platform with the factory rails can you confirm if it's possible to remove the platform while still attached to the cross rails and SXB feet? Or do you have to undo all the fixings on the platform that secure it to the crossbars first, remove the crossbars second, and remove the feet last? I've tried sussing it out from the PDF instructions but can't work it out.

Just trying to suss out the practicalities of swapping between the platform and the original Toyota supplied Sportz cross bars if height is an issue. I do know they both use the exact same feet and those feet are a lot cheaper to buy as a spare part from Toyota rather than Rhino.

[craigm Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close craigm]

yes fido you do need to remove the platform first which is secured by 4 bolts together with the plastic key locks in between the slats. It's only a 10 minute job to do and then you loosen the SXB feet the same way as you do with the sports bars to remove them off the factory rails. The platform sits only 15mm higher than your sportz bars

[fido666 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close fido666]

Thanks Craig. Would it be practical to swap the feet between the platform and the factory crossbar setup or better to get a 2nd set of feet? I'm guessing it's not much more work to swap them around. Would just leave the Rhino supplied bars on but they aren't as wide and don't have the full width rubber strip across the bar going off the PDF.

[craigm Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close craigm]

I used the original feet to save the dollars. "However" you need to confirm that the extrusion profile of the roof rack (sportz) bars are the same as the bars that come with the platform as there are a couple of different profiles and your mounting feet may no fit. Your roof rack supplier should be able to confirm this for you if you take your car to them when purchasing...