Roof Rack Talk (Installed Sherpa rubber mounts on Westcott Rack)

Hey all,

Looking for some thoughts on something. Skip to the bottom for the quick version. Thanks in advance for any input!

I have been researching racks for a while. I narrowed it down to Westcott or Sherpa. As you may have saw by my post earlier today I decided on the Westcott. They were amazing and all of their products were too! I also really wanted to support local and Westcott is 30 min away. I have no doubt the Sherpa rack is amazing as well but Westcott won me over. Here is my dilemma ...

The one thing I don't like about the Westcott is the use of a sealant to water proof it. Not that I have to be too concerned about that here but I am concerned the sun/heat will dry that shit out and then when the monsoons do come it may leak. I don't think anyone has reported that, so it's probably overthinking but either way I didn't want to use sealant.

The Sherpa mounting system uses a rubber block and bonded rubber washers. That was a huge pro of the Sherpa rack imo. So ... I ordered them (the feet and washers from Sherpa) and am going to make them work with the Westcott rack (I'll let you know how that goes). That isn't my question though.

Here it is ...

The Westcott rack requires trimming the rubber that goes down the rain gutters of the roof and sticking the front mounting foot to the roof with adhesive, in essence, pulling the rack down and sticking it there. I don't like the idea of cutting the rubber necessarily.

The Sherpa rack front mount doesn't require cutting the rubber in the gutter and holds the rack firm by pushing against the vehicle.

Which front mount seems like the better option? I feel the Sherpa pushing up on the car would add unnecessary pressure to the middle mount even if it's minor. But why even risk it if the only negative of the Westcott front mount is that the rubber trim may not look as clean (if it's visible at all)


TL : DR
The Westcott rack requires trimming the rubber that goes down the rain gutters of the roof and sticking the front mounting foot to the roof with adhesive pulling the rack down.

The Sherpa rack front mount doesn't require cutting the rubber in the gutter and holds the rack firm by pushing against the vehicle.

Which seems like the better solution?

 

TLR

For what it's worth, I struggled a lot with water sealing when I installed mine. I don't have either rack though, I have a gobi.

I followed the install instructions with layered rubber pads and rubber washers and it's been on 2-3 years without issue. I didn't do anything extra.

From what I read, silicone can dry and crack where RVT stays wet-ish and sticky. I have noticed that the rubber pads that are exposed to the sun are very dry and cracked. I'm in MD where it's a temperate climate (lots of rain spring, fall, cold winters, and summer t-storms but mostly dry). I will probably buy the replacement hardware kit in a few years - will see how they do.

If the rack uses the stock mounting points (which I assume any good rack should), if you get water intrusion it will leak down the B and/or C pillars and make the seat belts wet to let you know there is a problem. After every hard rain storm I pull all the seat belts out to their max and feel for dampness. If I feel it, seals will be replaced.

 

@FN2187 When you say "For what it's worth, I struggled a lot with water sealing when I installed mine." Do you mean water was actually getting in or that you were just paranoid about it like I seem to be?

Any other thoughts? I ordered the parts from Sherpa, so I'll be comparing to the Westcott feet and spacers and may just use the rubber blocks from Sherpa or the whole feet depending on how things are looking. Goal is no sealant and no leaks

 

Sorry, that comment was poorly worded.

I struggled with paranoia after reading about installs on the forums where a lot of people said they were adding extra sealant during install.

I eventually decided to just follow the manufacturer install instructions, which did not call for any. Gobi had been popular for years by the time I got mine and figured if extra sealant were needed, they would have added it to the instructions so they didn't get a reputation for leaky racks

 

Excellent! Thank you for that clarification!

 

Update ...

Going to attempt install today.

On the left you'll see the Westcott mount and their black mounting sleeve.

In the middle is the rubber mounting block for the Sherpa Crestone rack.

On the right is the Sherpa Crestone rear mount and their silver mounting sleeve.

The Westcott mounts are steel, the Sherpa seem to be aluminum.

Currently I'm leaning towards trying to use the rubber mounts/Sherpa sleeve/Westcott steel mounting brackets. This will prevent the need for any silicone or other sealant. The reason for sticking with the Westcott mounting brackets for this is that it will use the holes that are the exact size/position instead of using the cross bar slots. This would prevent any sort of shift that could happen if bolts loosen if I tried using the Sherpa mount with the Westcott rack.

I also did not order the front adjustable Sherpa mount as I decided I'd prefer to trim the gutter rubber than and have a mount that sticks and pulls down rather than one that applies constant pressure down to prevent moving. So I'll be using the Westcott front mount.

The only two concerns I'm having are that the Westcott mount on the Sherpa rubber will sit slightly lower than it would on the Westcott cylinder. This may make the rack to roof lines slightly off as it will sit just a bit lower. The bolts may also end up being slightly too long. If this seems to be the case after a test mount of one side panel I will try to use the full Sherpa mounts although this may be an issue given I only have the front Westcott mount.

I'll keep you all updated.

 

@MTMik109

 

Ok ... got it installed.

I ended up using the following ...

Westcott Brackets (was really considering the Sherpa ones to the point that I mounted them but the larger bolts did not fit through the upper slots)

Sherpa rubber under mounts and silver sleeve. The silver sleeves fit so tight around the factory white plastic ones while the Westcott black ones had a lot of space around it. Given they use a lot of sealant so I can understand where it doesn't really matter in that case.

Reused the factory bolts. Sherpa sent me some with the feet, and I had also ordered their bonded washers but both factory bolts and rubber spacers seemed beefier.

I also wrapped the upper threads of each bolt with plumbers tape and coated the bottom threads with blue thread lock. I believe this would add a small amount of extra protection should any water find a way around the upper seal. I was slightly concerned about that given the Westcott mounts have oval shaped holes instead of round and the factory rubber spacer just barely covered it (although it seemed like there was plenty of coverage after the bolts were tightened.

A side effect of this set up was an oh shit moment after I had the rack 3/4 of the way installed and the front of the rack was sitting on the car ... like with pressure on the vehicle. I thought I was going to have to take the whole thing apart and install all of the Westcott pieces, but I decided to forge ahead. I shoved some microfiber towels under the rack where it was resting on the car to hopefully prevent paint damage and moved forward with installing Westcott's front mount. I cut the rubber trim from the roof gutters and put the mount down. I then had to use the microfiber to pull up on the rack to line up the holes and that moment was miraculous. It made the rack sit perfect. If you watch Westcotts install video there is about a finger of space between the bottom of the rack and the roof line on the outside edge. Mine with the lower Sherpa rubber spacers with the Westcott mounts on that have the rack sitting a few mm off the roof line. I'll throw some stuff up there and ensure it's not a problem but it's solid so I can't imagine there will be.

The other thing I decided to do since the RTT is a bit out still is utilize the basket feature of the Westcott rack. I put a few of the cross bars in the lower position and a few in the upper and will use the space to tie down luggage so our new dog can ride in the rear.

Alright, going to eat! Thanks for read all of this if you did.

 

Also for those of you getting a rack and looking for options for water prevention ... the Sherpa option is good but expensive. I also had come across this post (after I had ordered everything) that has some potential for some nice cheaper options for creating a seal without trying to just goop the shit out of your roof

https://www.4runners.com/threads/ecotechne-roof-rack-installation-5th-gen.7090/#post-59967

 

just for a data point on the prinsu rack. i installed it about a month ago following the instructions from a youtube video. used high quality silicone sealant in the bolt holes. yesterday we had torrential rain here close to 5 inches in 4 hours. i left the truck out the entire day and last night in the garage i checked for leaks and found none.

 

I think my concern is that (especially this time of year) it's 110+ here for a bit and that the sealant could dry out some and pull back. Then when the monsoons come any gap would allow water to seep in. It may not even happen here as I haven't heard of it but I wanted the safest option possible so I went overboard for sure.

Thank you for adding your experience to the thread!

 

A little update since it's been almost a week now. There is no noise so far with this set up. I expect that to change when I add stuff to the top but we'll see. I also haven't driven it enough to know the mpg loss yet (if there is one) but I expect it to be really low as Westcott reports better mpg that other rack manufacturers and with mine sitting a bit lower than their set up I'd expect it to be as good or better. I'll let you know. I also plan on trying a few additions from other companies as Westcott doesn't make too many accessories for their racks but claim others will work. I will let you know

 

curious how you were able to order rubber blocks and sleeves from Sherpa. They told me they don't sell them separately.

 

Reading through this thread has me terrified to get a roof rack now lol!

 

They lied haha
https://sherpaec.com/products/adjustable-leveling-mounts

 

I'm sure you'll be fine. There are way more racks than leaks

 

Make sure you order it for the Crestone as that is the 4Runner rack. Also save time and $$$ and order in Silver if you don't care about the brackets.