Trailrax? The good, the bad, and the ugly.

[DrillRX]

First, the good….

TRMR with Pakrax showed up about 5 days earlier than expected. Assembly was “easy” (see bad news below). The fit was better than expected, and the rack was much more rigid than what I thought it would be for a bolt together kit of all aluminum parts. Driving on the highway 75 mph and didn’t have any noticeable noise difference than without the rack.

So far so good right? Not quite!

For a rack that cost $1,800 with the Paxrax, I’d expect a pristine piece of hardware. Nicks, dents, and scratches in various places, which looked as though it was dropped before packing. I say before packing due to the fact the boxes were in great condition, as well as the spots where the damage was, would be impossible to happen during shipping based on location, and how the rack was packed. The wife spent a fair amount of time touching up what she could with a sharpie.

Second issue was, the rack was packed with 2 sets of hardware for the Pakrax, and absolutely nothing to put the rack together.
I spent 3 hours this morning, driving around sourcing hardware to put this together from various hardware stores and Amazon one day delivery. Unfortunately, the hardware I could find was in “bright” stainless only, and the T-nuts I could find available, were $5 a piece, resulting in an additional $200 in assembly hardware in addition to what I paid for the rack.

Final thoughts are, this is a very well built, robust product, with a less than stellar QC by Trailrax packing/handling crew. I’ve watched several videos describing similar issues, but figured it was a minority of owners.

!! UPDATE !!

Trailrax has contacted me to send out the new hardware. Due to the fact I wouldn’t be taking my rack back apart to install this new hardware, they’ve agreed to send me a set of their grab handles instead.

A+ for customer service.

Cheers

Sponsored

 

[Dugout]

So did @TrailRax respond when you told them about the missing hardware and cosmetically damaged gear?

 

[DrillRX]

So did @TrailRax respond when you told them about the missing hardware and cosmetically damaged gear?

I just received the rack yesterday (Saturday) and did the install today (Sunday). They’re only open Monday through Thursday, but I did send a message, and voicemail, and called hoping maybe someone was around. Really I don’t have time to wait on them though, I have 2 month trip I need to be ready to leave in 2 days.

Hopefully I’ll get a response this week.

 

[Dugout]

Ahh, that does suck, hope the trip is epic regardless.

Also hoping you get the needed hardware that matches. My experience with several of their pieces has been great.

 

[DrillRX]

Ahh, that does suck, hope the trip is epic regardless.

Also hoping you get the needed hardware that matches. My experience with several of their pieces has been great.

It’s a good piece of kit, just poorly executed.

Full disclosure, I’m happy with the product, just wish it came together better.

On a good note, the 1/4-20 Stainless hardware I did find, fit better than the 1/4-20 that I did get with the kit (I tried the ones from the Pakrax, in the extruded aluminum). The black ones they sent had lots of “wiggle” in the threads.

I’ll more than likely not change them out.

 

[stampede1]

I guess I am old school when it comes to the inferior aspects of your purchase. $1800.00? FAIL.

 

[CoolContractor]

I just received the rack yesterday (Saturday) and did the install today (Sunday). They’re only open Monday through Thursday, but I did send a message, and voicemail, and called hoping maybe someone was around. Really I don’t have time to wait on them though, I have 2 month trip I need to be ready to leave in 2 days.

Hopefully I’ll get a response this week.

You should let them know the situation and go on your trip. Come back and have them replace it with a complete, undamaged kit. Send them back the damaged one and all is good.

 

[505Bronco]

Getting ready to place my order with them. I guess I'll call first and see if they are aware of the handling issues.

 

[ssqch]

My experience with Trailrax was extremely positive. All the pieces arrived with no scratches or nicks, assembly was easy. I was missing 5 pieces of hardware, after a call and sending them a pic of what I did receive they were sent out the same day.

 

[darchetti]

I had a similar experience with my order. It came with missing HW and some minor chips and scratches. I had also ordered the model with the wind deflector that supports a light bar but received one without cutout. I reached out to support and they were less than helpful. They told me I can just go to local HW store for missing HW. Regarding the wind deflector they said I got what I ordered. I asked if I could return the wind deflector and they send me the one with cutout and they said no but can order another wind deflector if I wanted. If I knew what the support from them was like I would have looked elsewhere.

The HW that is provided for the little color inserts behind logo are not SS and will rust and stain the rack.

BUT I am happy with the rack overall and it is a solid design. It is unfortunate that the QC and customer service is so bad. At that price point I probably wouldn’t order again if I had to.

If you want a solid roof rack this is it BUT expect to over pay and not get exactly what you wanted in the condition you expect.

 

[RagnarKon]

Yeah contact Trailrax when you can, they'll get you sorted.

I ordered through Bronco Nation, and they accidentally left out pack of bolts/screws. I was doing the installation over the Christmas holiday a few years ago, and given Trailrax is a smallish business, I figured it would be a few weeks before I was able to get the issue resolved. But I left them an email and had the missing pack of hardware on my front steps January 3rd.

Unfortunately, my rack also arrived pretty beat up, but that's more a UPS thing. The box was not handled nicely during shipping, and I literally saw the UPS driver kick it off the truck when he delivered it. But... whatever... I don't know how you resolve issues like that without packing it in a wooden crate, which will dramatically increase shipping costs.

Trailrax did offer to replace the damaged pieces, but none of the damage impacted functionality and I was able to get everything back in shape with a mallet.

 

[DrillRX]

Getting ready to place my order with them. I guess I'll call first and see if they are aware of the handling issues.

That may be a good idea.

It wasn’t my intention to persuade anyone to not purchase their rack, as the build quality is very good. Just a warning and what to look out for, to a potential customer.

I did receive an email back early this morning, we’ll see how it goes.

 

[Mdozier]

@TrailRax is pretty active here so flagging them might also expedite helping-. My experience has been they are very responsive and helpful.
‘Just my experience.

 

[DrillRX]

I had a similar experience with my order. It came with missing HW and some minor chips and scratches. I had also ordered the model with the wind deflector that supports a light bar but received one without cutout. I reached out to support and they were less than helpful. They told me I can just go to local HW store for missing HW. Regarding the wind deflector they said I got what I ordered. I asked if I could return the wind deflector and they send me the one with cutout and they said no but can order another wind deflector if I wanted. If I knew what the support from them was like I would have looked elsewhere.

The HW that is provided for the little color inserts behind logo are not SS and will rust and stain the rack.

BUT I am happy with the rack overall and it is a solid design. It is unfortunate that the QC and customer service is so bad. At that price point I probably wouldn’t order again if I had to.

If you want a solid roof rack this is it BUT expect to over pay and not get exactly what you wanted in the condition you expect.

Good to know about the little cutout pieces. I think I have some aluminum laying around I can make some that won’t rust. I had actually thought about some low intensity colored light to bolt in their place. Obviously blue or red wouldn’t work, but maybe amber or green, or maybe even white might look ok.

 

[20wenty]

Based on your install experience (minus the missing pieces and cosmetic blemishes), how difficult would it be to take everything off again? I'm asking because I've been looking at this exact setup, but want to use it only in the fall/winter months and remove the rack in the spring/summer so I can take all the tops off. Would that be a nightmare based on your experience?

First, the good….

TRMR with Pakrax showed up about 5 days earlier than expected. Assembly was “easy” (see bad news below). The fit was better than expected, and the rack was much more rigid than what I thought it would be for a bolt together kit of all aluminum parts. Driving on the highway 75 mph and didn’t have any noticeable noise difference than without the rack.

So far so good right? Not quite!

For a rack that cost $1,800 with the Paxrax, I’d expect a pristine piece of hardware. Nicks, dents, and scratches in various places, which looked as though it was dropped before packing. I say before packing due to the fact the boxes were in great condition, as well as the spots where the damage was, would be impossible to happen during shipping based on location, and how the rack was packed. The wife spent a fair amount of time touching up what she could with a sharpie.

Second issue was, the rack was packed with 2 sets of hardware for the Pakrax, and absolutely nothing to put the rack together.
I spent 3 hours this morning, driving around sourcing hardware to put this together from various hardware stores and Amazon one day delivery. Unfortunately, the hardware I could find was in “bright” stainless only, and the T-nuts I could find available, were $5 a piece, resulting in an additional $200 in assembly hardware in addition to what I paid for the rack.

Final thoughts are, this is a very well built, robust product, with a less than stellar QC by Trailrax packing/handling crew. I’ve watched several videos describing similar issues, but figured it was a minority of owners.

!! UPDATE !!

Trailrax has contacted me to send out the new hardware. Due to the fact I wouldn’t be taking my rack back apart to install this new hardware, they’ve agreed to send me a set of their grab handles instead.

A+ for customer service.

Cheers

Sponsored