If you are thinking of getting a roof rack for your Gen 2/3, here is my unbiased review of the Prinsu rack. One thing to note, they advertise it as only fitting 2015-2018 but I had no fitment issues on my 2021 Gen3 as Ford has not changed the top of the cab between the Gen 13 and 14 F-150. The only exception to that statement is the last crossbar on the rack would hit the Gen3 communication antennas but turning it 90˚ to match the other crossbars and drilling 2 new holes in the rack rails made the bar clear the antennas.
Pros:
+ The cross bars are actually an off-the-shelf extruded aluminum part called 80/20. 80/20 literally makes hundreds of accessories/clamps/brackets to fit 80/20 bars.
Cons:
+ The sides feel like they are made from 5052 aluminum instead of 6061 or 7075. 5052 is very soft and flexy. The sides of the rack that don’t have a roof mount directly underneath can be moved back and forth just with your hand pressure. Now imagine at 80MPH what the wind will do up there with a load. 6061 would be “stiff as a board”. The sides look much thinner (probably 1/8") than any other rack I have seen out there.
+ The sides look waterjet cut instead of CNC. Waterjet leaves a very hard/rough edge so the strap slots that they cut will eat away at any straps you put through them (I used them once and ruined a couple straps). CNC would have been able to put a rounded edge on those slots. Even laser cut would have left a nicer edge. But maybe they are not strap slots? But wrapping a ******** any edge of the rack sides will result in a severely chaffed/compromised strap.
+ Noisiest rack that I have ever installed for two reasons. One, the top bars run side-to-side on the rack instead of front to back like on a quality rack like Rhino Rack. There are 7 bars so each bar and all their hard little edges are catching the air as it rushes over the rack. Two, the windscreen has a Prinsu logo cutout on the passenger side which is further adding hard edges and more wind noise. I am pretty sure I can hear the passenger side of the rack is louder than the driver side (could be my imagination though). I am probably going to cover that logo with something to kill that extra noise. You always expect some wind noise from a roof rack but this is the loudest I have experienced in a rack—my wife thought the sunroof was open when she first heard it.
+ Half the hardware rusts instantly (as in after one wash). I asked Prinsu directly if by chance I got non-stainless steel hardware by accident. They responded that, no, I did indeed got the rusting hardware on purpose. They said that if I want stainless I could purchase stainless hardware on my own and reinstall the rack. “Reinstall” the rack is not an understatement as to get to the roof mount hardware the sides and therefore the entire rack must come apart to replace those bolts. I have ordered my own stainless hardware but haven’t had a chance to install them yet.
+ No torque values on any of the bolts in the instructions so you just kind of have to guess and then periodically check your rack to make sure nothing is coming loose. This was a problem for me because the rack mounts require you to install aluminum rivnuts into your roof and over torquing the steel bolts had me pull out two rivnuts so I had to redo those. It’s a fine line of just tight enough and too tight.
So, that is my unbiased review of the Prinsu roof rack. You can take that info and form your own opinion.
The rack looks good but for the price I expected a better build quality. I used it for two things: 1. as a shooting platform for photography and 2. to transport long things like paddle boards and surfboard.
Pros:
+ The cross bars are actually an off-the-shelf extruded aluminum part called 80/20. 80/20 literally makes hundreds of accessories/clamps/brackets to fit 80/20 bars.
Cons:
+ The sides feel like they are made from 5052 aluminum instead of 6061 or 7075. 5052 is very soft and flexy. The sides of the rack that don’t have a roof mount directly underneath can be moved back and forth just with your hand pressure. Now imagine at 80MPH what the wind will do up there with a load. 6061 would be “stiff as a board”. The sides look much thinner (probably 1/8") than any other rack I have seen out there.
+ The sides look waterjet cut instead of CNC. Waterjet leaves a very hard/rough edge so the strap slots that they cut will eat away at any straps you put through them (I used them once and ruined a couple straps). CNC would have been able to put a rounded edge on those slots. Even laser cut would have left a nicer edge. But maybe they are not strap slots? But wrapping a ******** any edge of the rack sides will result in a severely chaffed/compromised strap.
+ Noisiest rack that I have ever installed for two reasons. One, the top bars run side-to-side on the rack instead of front to back like on a quality rack like Rhino Rack. There are 7 bars so each bar and all their hard little edges are catching the air as it rushes over the rack. Two, the windscreen has a Prinsu logo cutout on the passenger side which is further adding hard edges and more wind noise. I am pretty sure I can hear the passenger side of the rack is louder than the driver side (could be my imagination though). I am probably going to cover that logo with something to kill that extra noise. You always expect some wind noise from a roof rack but this is the loudest I have experienced in a rack—my wife thought the sunroof was open when she first heard it.
+ Half the hardware rusts instantly (as in after one wash). I asked Prinsu directly if by chance I got non-stainless steel hardware by accident. They responded that, no, I did indeed got the rusting hardware on purpose. They said that if I want stainless I could purchase stainless hardware on my own and reinstall the rack. “Reinstall” the rack is not an understatement as to get to the roof mount hardware the sides and therefore the entire rack must come apart to replace those bolts. I have ordered my own stainless hardware but haven’t had a chance to install them yet.
+ No torque values on any of the bolts in the instructions so you just kind of have to guess and then periodically check your rack to make sure nothing is coming loose. This was a problem for me because the rack mounts require you to install aluminum rivnuts into your roof and over torquing the steel bolts had me pull out two rivnuts so I had to redo those. It’s a fine line of just tight enough and too tight.
So, that is my unbiased review of the Prinsu roof rack. You can take that info and form your own opinion.
The rack looks good but for the price I expected a better build quality. I used it for two things: 1. as a shooting platform for photography and 2. to transport long things like paddle boards and surfboard.
