For the Rackheads...

DON’T DRILL THRU THE ROOF!!!
The roof of the Highlander is loaded with all sorts of wires and controls for all the airbags.



I wouldn’t trust anyone to drill that roof.



How about checking out a junkyard for a wrecked Highlander with a roof rack??



Good luck!



4r

a wrecked …
ahhhh…no



Wires,sensors, are bundled.



A 5/16th’s hole is what ?



Once the liner is off there’s more room

than a …factory installer needs for $1100 side rails



Look up ‘trim headliner removal tools’




Hey, lighten up

– Last Updated: Dec-19-15 11:03 PM EST –

I'm not prone to defending DK (most of the time I can't even begin to comprehend his jibberish), but let's not abandon all common sense. He *did* say to remove the headliner first, which of course would eliminate the risk that you describe.

Oh, and as to what Marshall mentioned, it's perfectly possible to drill holes without the risk of damaging what's beneath. It just takes a little extra attention to detail, but knowing what's under there is still best (best to hit some reinforcing in the process).

Thanks for being so
sympathetic. Fact is I was replacing a Toyota Highlander that was totaled and I still owed a good bit on, so I have to economize where I can. Some of us can’t afford your attitude about money.

Marshall, you are correct
Thule seems to believe all Highlanders have flush rails. I have not been able to find a body shop or even a sun roof installer that will drill into my roof (I live in a really rural area so choices are limited). I have been shocked to find such a lack of racks for this popular vehicle even tho it has a bare roof. I didn’t figure on this being such a headache.

Thanks fourunner
I’m going to avoid that route if at all possible. It can bode poorly for resale as well.

Funny thing is
this model has pre-drilled holes that are accessed via a knock-out insert. No rack makers that I can find made a fit kit for this particular configuration. Go figure.

Are you sure ?
Both my ford Escape and now my Subaru Forester has those knockouts and Yakama sells a “Landing Pad” that bolts to the pre threaded hole in the frame.

They are rock solid



What ever you do, don’t drill through the roof. I was all set to do that with my 2014 Ram truck and found out that there are now air bags in the roof



Jack L

Maybe wait a bit
I remember another thread a while back where someone said they had checked for landing pads when they first bought a new vehicle and Yakima did not make them but that had been awhile back and someone else looked it up and Yakima did indeed make them now.



It’s a 2015, it takes time for the aftermarket companies to catch up.

resale resale resale

– Last Updated: Dec-20-15 9:18 AM EST –

aaaawwww BS BS BS

time you unload that wreck....

8 5/16th's holes in the roof taped from underneath, smeared with body epoxy, then tapped with paint..rusto or acrylic from ? ...

no one will notice.

then on the other paw,

buyer wil arrive exclaiming..

NICE CUSTOM ALUMINUM RACK DUDE I'LL BUY IT HOW MUCHO ?

whatta buncha old women.

you wudnah believe what the C people say about this forum......

JackL
owns a Dodge

I refuse
to associate with these paddlers.



If there are holes, then a heavy aluminum angle (iron)



will fit on the roof. Deal is the vertical half needs be tall enough to accommodate a designed/acceptable/functional rack plane relationship to the roof curve.



Not catching air either with rack or upturned yak bows over the hood.



A plus on the custom scene beyond rock solid performance at lower costs is this attack angle custom for your roof…you have the opportunity to move bow way back for the interstate or up front standard for protection necessary driving areas. PYA !

Tracks.
Install Thule or Yakima tracks on the sides of your roof. That provides a solid base for several types of rack. Tracks cost one or two hundred dollars, and if you do not feel confident to install them yourself, a body shop could do it in an hour.

Might consider shop-built rack mounts
I already mentioned this on someone’s recent rack-mounting discussion. Your local welding shop can build you a set of rack mounts, custom-built to fit those mounting holes. To save some money, you’d supply the padding that goes between each mount and the roof, and you’d take care of the surface prep and painting of the mounts themselves.



I don’t know what the cost would be, but it could potentially be not all that much more than Thule/Yakima mounts because their stuff costs more than it ought to from the start (not that this bothers most of us when planning to use the car for years and years). You can offset much of the extra cost of fabrication by having them build the mounts to accept aftermarket crossbars of your choosing, such as 2x4s or steel pipe from the hardware store. If it were my car, I’d make the mounts permanent and the cross bars easily removable, just to save wear and tear on the threaded inserts in the roof, and so that the contact area could be well sealed to prevent any chance of leaks (not that that’s necessary - the auto makers don’t seal the mounting points on factory racks and who’s heard of one of those things leaking).



You said you also want gunwale brackets, and those could be built too. If you chose a generic material for cross bars like 2x4s, there’s a guy on pnet who likes metal working who might even offer to build a set of clamp-on, adjustable gunwale brackets during winter for the cost of material and shipping. :wink:



Anyway, that’s something to keep in mind if Thule/Yakima don’t come up with what you need sometime soon.

That only works if you
spray paint the whole truck camo



Who doesn’t want to Redneck up a 2015 Toyota?

To clarify a bit…
Thanks to those with constructive suggestions. The Highlander is a really great basic vehicle. I didn’t pay anywhere near $39K as someone suggested. That was achieved by cutting all the frills such $1100 for soccer-mom racks that aren’t worth squat anyhow. I was blindsided by the fact, as pointed out by Pirateoverforty that the aftermarket rack companies have not yet caught up the new models. JackL, I have not found a manufacturer yet who makes a fit kit for the predrilled holes under the knockouts. I would have jumped on that like a duck on a June Bug. Most buyers in the re-sale market do not want racks on the vehicle and drilling holes for that purpose absolutely reduces resale value. I cannot locate a body mechanic who is willing to drill on a vehicle anyhow and I’m not experienced enough to attempt that.



This post is a cautionary tale to anyone with 2015 vehicles with bare roofs and a request to hear from anyone who had experience with the Rhinorack 2500 HD system, as that seems to be my only alternative.



Datakoll you might be taken seriously if you could reign-in that overactive machismo attitude. BTW, I don’t give a Possum’s butt what people in California have to say about this, dude.

Question on the knockouts
Aren’t those holes under the knock outs pre threaded ?



jack L

JackL

– Last Updated: Dec-20-15 8:03 PM EST –

I assume they are pre-threaded, but did not test them. Problem is there's 2 holes about 2 inches apart, at each location. There's no fit kit for that. Thule's fit kit 3134 for 2015 Highlanders has a single bolt that fits flush rails. They tell me their fit kit for naked roofs which uses clamps will not fit the 2015 Highlander. Rhino Rack is the only mfg. claiming a fit with clamps, for the '15 Highlander. I've never used a rack system with clamps and feel a bit uneasy. I can't find anyone who has used the Rhinos or even a forum in which they are discussed.

hold your tongue knave


ooooh how elegant and aero, Dude



https://goo.gl/NIdFsJ



now look. Place 4 smallish Al angle (irons) on that beeeeutiful roof. Draw a rectangle to fit, add a few cross bar pieces, be sure the rack angle the hulls down into the wind* then find a fabricator(s) n get estimates. In aluminum for the yaks plus whatever you can think off.



As I understand it, you are an expert on roof holes racks and resales values. I also understand that is not true and a complete delusional fabrication much like giving money to Padnet’s relation with Yakima and Thule.



A detachable rack is sooo cool. Ask the people looking at off road stuff over at expeditionportal ect.



I drive one. I built it. and we’re famous.



This is a Crusade.



Toyo’s rack looks every bit of 850 no more.



as an extra to a custom and detach Al grid rack. A small spoiler over the windshield on again removable mounts…you put studs in studs you know studs ? say 2-3" back and full width with a height of maybe 4" …in chartreuse…with small driving lights or maybe an integral LED bar…would throw most of the air up over the hulls and not thru… izza big deal.



Yawl have a yak and rack now with vehicle ?



The foil idea is drafting a semi with the roof load but without the 18 wheeler.










Time
Is money, by the time you figure all this out, and here’s hoping you don’t totally trash your truck in the process, those factory rails are going to look like a real bargain. tkamd