Trailrax Real World Reviews?

[DangerMTBBronco]

I'm not especially experienced installing these kinds of things. For a novice, is the install more than I should bite off? I have a rack and my paxrax arrive today, neither installed yet. I've been debating whether to take it to a installer.

You can do it. Just follow the install video instructions and you will need a second person to lift on to the Bronco which you have to do twice. The most tedious part is tightening the front of the rack down to the roof mounts after the wind deflector is installed. Make sure you use a ratcheting wrench for this step. I found coming in from the windshield side made it way easier.

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[FellowM3]

What

I installed my TRMR/Pakrax a few months ago and absolutely love it. Also gave me and excuse to take the top off and ride top/doorless for a few days during summer, ended being almost the entire summer.

I got the wind deflector with the light bar cutout, and am using a dual row LED light bar, and it fit just fine. The best thing about it is that there is no wind noise coming from the light bar now, and no noise coming from the gear on top. The fit up there is pretty tight, and it is probably the hardest part of the install, but aside from this part, everything else was a walk in the park. The roof light bar covers are in there pretty tight, but I can unsnap them and slide them under the bar to get them off, which is an easy trade off for the noise it used to make.

On the Pakrax, I have two 2-gal water tanks from Rotopax. Keep in mind, when mounting, you do not need the mounting plates. It has been months now and they have yet to budge or rattle. I have a quick release fire extinguisher mounted to the side of the passenger side railing, and that's stuck there, too.

I also added limb risers from the trail sights to the edge of the side rails. I think this turned out pretty nice.

The only thing that I didn't like was the semi circle gap above the windshield, but the Bronco is currently at the shop getting clear matte Stealth PPF-ed, except for the hood and A-pillars. Those will be covered in black matte PPF, including the frame above the windshield. I'll update once I get the rig back.

The last few pieces of the puzzle I'm waiting for are the side grab handles with built in lights, and also the table insert that goes underneath the cross bars through the back(saw it on a SEMA video). After using the TRMR, I just know the accessories will be exceptional.

What light bar do you have? The heretic?

gorgeous bronco btw. I ordered and am waiting now. Love the limb risers you installed

 

[mikeeshim]

What light bar do you have? The heretic?

Thx Mark.

It's this dual row LED light bar. It was the brightest and most water resistant light bar I could find, rated at IP69K. It was a risk but I'm quite pleased with it, as it lights up the dark like the sun.

This is with the 30" light bar only:

And with the 40" on:

 

[FellowM3]

Thx Mark.

It's this dual row LED light bar. It was the brightest and most water resistant light bar I could find, rated at IP69K. It was a risk but I'm quite pleased with it, as it lights up the dark like the sun.

This is with the 30" light bar only:

And with the 40" on:

Oh wow. Figment looks great.
How was install and how is fit in the trailrax windshield bar?

also, did this take up 2 aux switches.

this might be a great option and cheaper than the heretic

 

[mikeeshim]

How was install and how is fit in the trailrax windshield bar?

Here's a side view and front angle view.

The install was super simple since your mounting the light bar mounts to the 2x1 bar behide the wind deflector. I had the light bar before the rack and it was pretty loud, but I get zero wind interference from the roof now.

The only thing I'd suggest is that the parts surrounding the windshield, get wrapp/PPF in a matte black before you install this, because the cuticle above the windshield bothered me a it.

 

[inkd6973]

i love mine. i did NOT enjoy the install at all. the roof panels come out fairly easy, just need a little patience.
im looking to replace the stainless bolts on side racks.
i ordered some recovery boards that are too long, as another poster mentioned, so im going to look at ordering some shorter ones.

 

[Tilzbow]

I’ll echo the positive comments about wind noise, ease of removing the roof panels, etc. I’ll also echo the negative comments about attaching the front mounting nuts, those things are a PIA!

A couple of criticisms not mentioned:

If you want to mount attachments inside the slots on the roof rails, the roof rails have to be removed to get the T-nuts inside the slots. Other manufacturers, such as JCR Off-road, widen the slots on each end to enable a T-nut to be inserted without removing the rail.


A bigger issue for me is when mounting a Rotopax to the PakRax and then driving off road on a washboard road at moderate speed, the rack creates so much noise I had to remove the Rotopax. Everything is tight and solid, Rotopax are mounted according to TrailRax recommendations yet I still get a low frequency vibration that is heavily amplified by the MIC top on my two door. I contacted TrailRax, communicated back and forth via a email for a few days and they offered no suggestions other than what I’d already done, then they went silent after they seemed to admit an understanding of the issue. I came up with the idea of adding a rubber gasket between the PackRax and the supports and that seems to have helped and I’m also going to place some 1/8” neoprene between the Rotopax and the PackRax which should further reduce the noise.

TrailRax service seems good when everything is okay but when pushed they seem to get a little defensive and seemed more interested in placing blame elsewhere than admitting there could be a problem and helping solve to it. I had a similar experience when questioning their install video and instructions, both of which had some errors that have since been corrected.

All that said, I’d buy it again since it’s well made, is the only one on the market that‘s reasonably priced with the ability to mount fuel packs on the side with attachment points to the lower half of the Bronco.

 

[JimEaton]

I just installed my full length rack on my 4-door this weekend. I will go into the install details a little later.

The first annoyance was the rack crossmembers do not come with milled T-slot access points. I have a Front Runner slimline on my F-350 cap which has them. JCR's roof rack has them. Shame on me, but I thought they were pretty standard in the industry.

 

[FellowM3]

I just installed my full length rack on my 4-door this weekend. I will go into the install details a little later.

The first annoyance was the rack crossmembers do not come with milled T-slot access points. I have a Front Runner slimline on my F-350 cap which has them. JCR's roof rack has them. Shame on me, but I thought they were pretty standard in the industry.

So how do you slide stuff in? Remove a side then slide in??

 

[F-Spot]

So how do you slide stuff in? Remove a side then slide in??

You will need to remove the crossbars from the rack that need tslot nuts.

 

[Cos]

Has anyone removed the rack yet?

I am getting ready to install and expecting a tedious process. If I wanted to remove it in the summer along with roof panels and doors, I am curious how difficult that would be.

 

[DangerMTBBronco]

I’ll echo the positive comments about wind noise, ease of removing the roof panels, etc. I’ll also echo the negative comments about attaching the front mounting nuts, those things are a PIA!

A couple of criticisms not mentioned:

If you want to mount attachments inside the slots on the roof rails, the roof rails have to be removed to get the T-nuts inside the slots. Other manufacturers, such as JCR Off-road, widen the slots on each end to enable a T-nut to be inserted without removing the rail.


A bigger issue for me is when mounting a Rotopax to the PakRax and then driving off road on a washboard road at moderate speed, the rack creates so much noise I had to remove the Rotopax. Everything is tight and solid, Rotopax are mounted according to TrailRax recommendations yet I still get a low frequency vibration that is heavily amplified by the MIC top on my two door. I contacted TrailRax, communicated back and forth via a email for a few days and they offered no suggestions other than what I’d already done, then they went silent after they seemed to admit an understanding of the issue. I came up with the idea of adding a rubber gasket between the PackRax and the supports and that seems to have helped and I’m also going to place some 1/8” neoprene between the Rotopax and the PackRax which should further reduce the noise.

TrailRax service seems good when everything is okay but when pushed they seem to get a little defensive and seemed more interested in placing blame elsewhere than admitting there could be a problem and helping solve to it. I had a similar experience when questioning their install video and instructions, both of which had some errors that have since been corrected.

All that said, I’d buy it again since it’s well made, is the only one on the market that‘s reasonably priced with the ability to mount fuel packs on the side with attachment points to the lower half of the Bronco.

I agree the t-slot not having a bigger end milled is annoying, but these will save your frustration. Track nuts that you can put in place without removing the bars. They are not cheap, and I have seen and ordered some on Amazon as well, but they were the wrong size. These ones from UpTop are perfect but expensive.

https://www.uptopoverland.com/collections/dz-mounts-brackets/products/uptop-tracnut

 

[DangerMTBBronco]

I just installed my full length rack on my 4-door this weekend. I will go into the install details a little later.

The first annoyance was the rack crossmembers do not come with milled T-slot access points. I have a Front Runner slimline on my F-350 cap which has them. JCR's roof rack has them. Shame on me, but I thought they were pretty standard in the industry.

So how do you slide stuff in? Remove a side then slide in??

You will need to remove the crossbars from the rack that need tslot nuts.

I agree the t-slot not having a bigger end milled is annoying, but these will save your frustration. Track nuts that you can put in place without removing the bars. They are not cheap, and I have seen and ordered some on Amazon as well, but they were the wrong size. These ones from UpTop are perfect but expensive.

https://www.uptopoverland.com/collections/dz-mounts-brackets/products/uptop-tracnut

 

[redone17]

I agree the t-slot not having a bigger end milled is annoying, but these will save your frustration. Track nuts that you can put in place without removing the bars. They are not cheap, and I have seen and ordered some on Amazon as well, but they were the wrong size. These ones from UpTop are perfect but expensive.

https://www.uptopoverland.com/collections/dz-mounts-brackets/products/uptop-tracnut

How do those slip in? It’s not clear.

I was teetering between TrailRax and JCR….

 

[DangerMTBBronco]

How do those slip in? It’s not clear.

I was teetering between TrailRax and JCR….

They are half circle shaped with a ball bearing in them allowing you to roll the tracNUT into the load bar slot and position it where desired. Super easy and I have been using them for few years. They are similar to these on Amazon just not sure if these on Amazon fit. I ordered some form another seller trying to get them cheaper than what UpTop sold them for and they were too small.

https://www.amazon.com/PZRT-12-Piec...tnuts+with+ball+bearing,industrial,120&sr=1-5

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