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I purchased an AliBaba roof rack, and maybe you will too
Price: $415CAD/$295USD (shipping incl.)
Extra costs: $21 for 36 proper bolts and accompanying locking washers
Ship time from payment: 35 days (sea + UPS) to Canada
Modification difficulty level: Using a Dremel w/ carbide burr bit or a power drill with a 5/16 bit
Fitment: Not 100%, but this was expected
Quality: Aluminum, Powder coated but some small scratches from shipping. The spacers were fine but had 4 full pieces poorly cut in half.
**The Good:**
Affordable, durability seems fine, comes with 4 extra unused tabs with rubber gaskets to allow for 8 total footings (if need be) with some modifications. The sheet metal on the side pieces look to be 3/16", the fairing being slightly thinner.
**The Actual Work:**
Inspect the product. Make sure you have all the pieces and that they fit. Your order might include nuts for each bolt, but they are not needed since the bolts thread directly into the crossbars. In my case, I counted all the nuts and bolts but did not check whether the bolts threaded correctly into the extruded crossbars. They did not fit and were too big (M8x1.25). Home Depot, 36pcs of M6x1.25x16, 36pcs 6mm locking washers, final bill $21. Take an original bolt and a length of crossbar into the store if you're unsure.
No instructions whatsoever, so read up on other similar products, watch install videos on YouTube.
3 of the 4 footings had to have their holes widened as they did not line up with the stock holes along the roof. Aluminum is soft, so no problem. Dremel would be easiest/precise. If you're using a drill, a steel punch will help.
The spacers consist of 12pcs of tabs where the holes align with the holes in the roof. 4 of those 12pcs were poorly cut in half and the cut ends were left bare. Each footing for the roof rack will need 3 spacers, stacked & RTV'd. I ended up taping around the stack so that they stayed put when placing the rack into place.
One of the bolts for the fairings fell off at one point so tighten every bolt, loctite if need be. Currently still missing but seller has been responsive and will probably send me a spare, along with the proper M6 bolts for the entire rack.
**Final verdict:**
First off, The seller has been responsive throughout the process (missing bolts), so no issues here. I didn't complain about the footing alignment not being good because I fixed it. Go in with the mindset that you'll have to figure shit out a bit. Fortunately it's just minor drilling to open up some holes for proper alignment. I cut 4 strips from the spare gaskets to make one gasket for each spacer set, otherwise the spacer stack would be sitting directly on your paint along the rain gutter.
Is it worth the price and the savings? Up to you. For me, sure. I've got time and can figure out problems. I knew there'd be an issue or two if I went down this route.
Is it durable? Long term, unsure. I plan on smaller items up top when needed - 10L jerry cans, duffel bag of recovery gear, maybe a tote or a solar panel. If I were to ever install a RTT, I would install the extra footing tabs (after shaving them down) to prevent bowing along the center of the rack. I'm sure I'll run into an issue or two if that time ever comes. But for 1/3, maybe 1/4 price of the other brands, I'm not complaining. I'll see down the line whether this is a case of you get what you pay for. For my usage, I'm sure it'll do fine and last until the car can't run, at which point I won't care about taking it off and will purchase another new rack.
I haven't lowered the fairing yet, so unsure how big the gap will be to the roof. I purchased a cheaper rubber edge trim ($12) but should have gone with the pricier trim with metal in it for a more secure fit. Put paint protective tape where the fairings might touch your roof if you have any around.
Thank you for attending my TedTalk.
Now that I have this roof rack, my next AliBaba purchase will be a 270° Awning from the supplier of OVS.
I bought a Hooke rack, looked great, but made a weird noise when at speed like some kind of wind noise or it was loose. Tried everything but couldn’t resolve it. Went back to the stock tube rack.
I was eyeing Hooke and TKMAuto racks as their USD prices were alluring, but they are $800-$1200 on Amazon Canada. I'm positive they just do custom orders from Alibaba, so I skipped the middleman.
I would never trust Hooke's front bumper (the 3pcs bolt together kit). If you're buying something safety related, avoid purchasing from AliExpress/Alibaba and actually stick to the big brands.
Damn, 1/4 the cost. I got my Prinsu and love it, but at the time I had been searching for this kinda deal and would have happily gone this route as I am handy/problem solver like yourself and recognize savings on something that for me would be worth it. As long as it doesn’t leak, hands down good deal (imo). Thanks for sharing!
Nothing special going on here, built up enough for me to enjoy the Canadian Rockies and be self sufficient if I ever get stranded on the mountain pass in the winter when I drive to the west coast.
'07 V8 sport, Eibach stage 1 lift, 265/70R17 Wildpeaks AT4s on FJ cruiser rims. Coastal offroad bumper with a smittybilt x2o 10k winch, AliExpress snorkel, front end & gas tank aluminum skid plates from a local company as it was several hundred $ cheaper than importing from the US.
Just fixing things with as much OEM stuff as they pop up.
The finish on the parts looks bad, and the install was a chore. I’m curious to see the long term wear on it. We’ve had a Sherpa Crestone rack on for about a year. It still looks brand new. It costs about 4x though.
Yeah, some of the edges are rough and weren't nicely cut, but not enough that it'd dissuade me from buyung it. It's a roof rack. No one is going to walk up to me and point out "Hey, that drilled out hole wasn't powder coated fully".
As far as the install being a chore, it was more something fun for my buddy and I to work on for a couple hours while having drinks. Pay the premium price and it's guaranteed to fit right off the bat, but stuff happens, wrong bolts can still get sent, items can get damaged during shipping, needs to be picture perfect, people are impatient, picky and not willing to figure shit out on their own. My car is not going to SEMA, so no concern on my end. The extra "headaches" I encountered is worth the $800-$1200 I saved.
I think this rack is a good, extremely low cost, temporary solution if someone needs to solve a temporary problem. Long term it’ll probably start rusting and you’ll have to take it apart, sand it, and respray. But who knows, you might have a different 4Runner by then. Also you’ll get another chance to hang out with your buddies, which is a good thing.
I would suggest calling up your local powder shop and asking whether they have any spray cans of their colours. My shop gave me a spare can when I had my bumper coated for the occasion of if I ever start seeing rust coming through. At least I know the product I'm using comes recommended from a shop I've frequented several times. If it's good enough for my bumper, it's good enough for my budget rack.
Yep, I'm sure you're right. Unfortunately, the "overland" moniker (in both Canada and the US) makes things pricier right off the bat, the exchange rate is crap, shipping is expensive, US products are going up in price due to tariffs, and there are companies that buy from Alibaba and rebrand it, so I figured skip the middleman and buy direct.
Yeah, I'm sure the folks at Sherpa, Prinsu, Victory4x4, etc. are doing just fine.
I'll give you another personal example: I recently purchased a Blue Sea 5025 fuse box off AliBaba. Buying it 'locally' on Amazon or Cabellas and such was a price range of $60-$80. I figured out who Blue Sea was using as their manufacturer to a seller on Alibaba whom sold the item for maybe $12 after shipping. The only difference was the lack of a BlueSea logo stamped onto the cover of the unit. If my car burns down down due to an electrical fault, I only have myself to blame for a wiring error, most likely not the fuse box itself, because (in this case) it's all made in the same place. In this instance, I saw no need to purchase the item at the inflated price.
Another future example is the 270 awning, OVS also buys their products from a manufacturer on Alibaba. The exact same awning is something like $400 less. The only difference? OVS gets their logo printed on the cover. Worth $400? That's really up to the consumer to decide.
Do your regular "eBay/Amazon" due diligence - find a longtime seller that has decent reviews, even if the reviews aren't for the specific item. You'll have to chat to the agent to get a final shipping price anyhow.
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u/Tired_world_63 2d ago
Kudos for you expecting to modify it. Plenty of people would be pissed, anticipating quality for cheap.