Rhino Rack Pioneer Platform for the 76 Series Toyota Land Cruiser
We have always preferred a wagon in a 4WD, but it does come at a cost to storage, so we chose to fit the Rhino Rack Pioneer Platform to our 76 Series Toyota Land Cruiser to give us a few more storage options. In this post we look at the Rhino Rack Pioneer Platform on our 76 Series Land Cruiser as well as some of the factors you need to consider when looking at roof rack storage for your 4WD setup.
Pioneer Platform
What Size for the 76 Series Land Cruiser?
Rhino Rack has a broad range of roof racks and when it comes to the Pioneer Platform a fairly big range of sizes. For the 76 Series Toyota Land Cruiser the recommended size is the 2,128mm x 1,426mm Pioneer Platform. The width of this Pioneer Platform is perfect for the 76 Series Land Cruiser. The length of the Pioneer Platform would be better if 150mm longer as it would sit much better on the roof. With the Pioneer Platform you will also need mounting legs, we have a total of six, three on each side. You can get different leg heights which will affect how high the Pioneer Platform sits on your roof. We chose to go with the recommended 150mm legs that come in a set of two. The lower profile does look slightly better and will keep your load slightly lower, but we prefer the 150mm legs as it does make it easier to clean your roof. We can just fit our arm underneath the Pioneer Platform when cleaning although we need to be sitting on top of the platform to do the entire roof easily.
Design Change in 2020
We purchased our Rhino Rack Pioneer Platform for the 76 Series Land Cruiser back in 2019 and since then the design of the platform has changed. These changes are for the better however this has added to the overall price tag. The updated design does look better with more angles added to the outer channel frames. Rhino Rack have also added slots to the front and rear horizontal channels which provides you more mounting solutions compared to the old model. There has also been the addition of wiring storage to allow you to hide any wiring easily for antennas, led light bars or other accessories fitted to the platform.
Pioneer Platform Specifications
Here are the exact details on the Rhino Rack Pioneer Platform for the 76 Series Toyota Land Cruiser:
- Pioneer Platform dimensions – 2,128mm x 1,426mm.
- Pioneer Platform Part Number – Old Design R42104B & New Design 52104.
- Requires RL Mounting Legs 150mm (pair) x 3 Part Number – RL150S11.
- Load Carrying Capacity – 120kgs.
- Total Weight of Pioneer Platform fitted – 36kgs.
- Made from aluminium channels and fiberglass reinforced nylon joiners.
- Cost of the Pioneer Platform in 2019 was $1,074 now they are over $1,400.
- Cost for a total of 6 legs (3 sets) at $125 each was $375.
- ARB fitted our Pioneer Platform for $120.
- Total cost supplied and fitted by ARB was $1,569 but now closer to $2,000.
- 5-year warranty and made in China.
Aluminium the Best Option
The Rhino Rack Pioneer Platform is made predominantly from aluminium which is the best material for any roof rack in our opinion. Firstly, aluminium is lightweight in comparison to steel although our Pioneer Platform still weighs in at a total of 36kgs. Secondly, aluminium is a far better material when it comes to corrosion compared to steel roof racks. Weight and rust are both killers when it comes to setting up a 4WD, so an aluminium roof rack is by far the best but more expensive option. All the Pioneer Platform channels are aluminium powder coated black and are connected using fiberglass reinforced nylon corners. The six legs are secured to the roof gutter of the 76 Series Toyota Land Cruiser.
Aftermarket Accessories Galore
One real big benefit of having the Rhino Rack Pioneer Platform is the massive availability of aftermarket accessories made specifically to fit the Pioneer range of roof platforms. This is a real benefit as it gives you a broad option of accessories to choose from that in most cases are far better made than the Rhino Rack accessories with a big bunch of them made here in Australia. On top of being better quality accessories made here they are usually a similar price and sometimes even cheaper. For example, we mostly use the Pioneer Platform accessories made in Brisbane by Svnty6 Fab. They are all a better-quality design than anything you can buy from Rhino Rack as well as being more useful while off-road and touring. We have written reviews on the Svnty6 Fab Pioneer Platform side angled Maxtrax and shovel mount, EVA foam gas bottle mount and EVA foam jerry can mount. All these accessories are a better quality and cheaper than any of the comparable Rhino Rack made accessories.
Compared to other roof platforms including Yakima, Rola, Front Runner and Kings, the Rhino Rack Pioneer Platform has a huge aftermarket accessories marketplace. This provides you with a massive amount of choice of accessories to find the right solution for what you need. The issue with some of these other brands is you are then stuck with limited choice and usually only their accessories. The big aftermarket product choice for the Pioneer Platform provides you with far better pricing as the general rule of supply and demand. For this reason, we would always choose the Pioneer Platform over other platforms the available accessories are key in getting your roof rack storage setup right.
The Big Roof Rack Load Rating Saga!
If you are on social media regularly you would have seen all the discussions being had about roof racks and their load ratings. This was all started with some misinformation or unclear information from companies such as Rhino Rack (who have since added more information to their website) about load ratings in different driving conditions, as well as people not having their roof racks fitted correctly. This led to a lot more chatter as people became aware of what the load ratings of their roof racks were after a few disasters with roof top tents flying off overloaded and incorrectly installed roof racks.
Rhino Rack took most of the bad publicity here as at the time they only disclosed a lot of this information in their fitting instructions rather than at the time of purchase. As a result, many people were unaware especially if they had their roof rack fitted by someone else as they may never see these fitting instructions and the load ratings listed within them (we never saw ours after ARB fitted our Pioneer Platform). The other problem that was sometimes missed in the uproar, as it is always easier to point the finger at someone else, was that people were just overloading their roof racks as well as not having them fitted correctly. So, Rhino Rack needed to take some of the blame but the social media influencers kicking up a stink had some personal responsibility in the issues they experienced as well.
Vehicle & Roof Rack Load Ratings
With all this talk about load ratings lets discuss this more to try and assist you in making the right decision. Everyone talks about ensuring you understand the load rating of your vehicle’s roof. Extremely easy to say but then trying to determine this is a far more difficult task. We have read through the Toyota 76 Series Land Cruiser manual and cannot find any reference to the roof’s load rating. This then becomes a bit more of a difficult task trying to determine what our roof load rating is. From what we can determine it appears that the roof load rating of the 76 Series Land Cruiser is 100kgs. You also need to know what the load rating of your roof rack is. Our Pioneer Platform has a total load capacity of 120kgs. Therefore, our maximum roof rack load is the lower rating at 100kgs less the weight of the platform (64kgs). Once you have determined your 4WDs roof and roof racks load ratings you then need to understand the difference between on-road, static and off-road roof rack load ratings.
Ratings Usually Reduced Off-Road
The on-road roof rack rating is the load rating of your 4WD when traveling on sealed (bitumen) roads. The static roof rack rating is the load rating when your 4WD is stationary. The off-road rack rating is the load rating when travelling on unsealed roads so anything that is not a bitumen road. Understanding these ratings is extremely important as it will affect what you can load on your roof rack in different conditions. If you are never driving off the bitumen, then the on-road rating would mean we could load 100kgs on our roof with no adjustments required. Remembering that we can only actually load another 64kgs of gear as we need to consider the weight of the roof rack at 36kgs. The off-road load rating is far more important, and this will depend on the type of roof rack system you have. In most cases, the off-road load ratings can be reduced by 30% to 50% depending on the roof rack and how it is installed on the vehicle. For example, our Pioneer Platform does not have an off-road load reduction because of how the Pioneer Platform is made and secured to the roof. If we had a standard two cross bar style roof rack, there would be an off-road load reduction of around 35%.
Static Ratings Important for Roof Top Tents
We have discussed on-road and off-road load ratings so why is the static load rating important? The static roof rack load rating is the total weight you can have on your roof when you are stationary. This is something to consider if you regularly climb on top of your roof rack to get your gear or have a roof top tent. As a rule of thumb, the static load rating can be increased by about three times the roof rating. In our example this would be 300kgs less the weight of the roof platform. As we always climb on top of our Pioneer Platform when loading and unloading our gear, we do not need to be concerned with our additional weight walking on top of the platform. If we ever wanted to fit a roof top tent, then this would also not be an issue with two of us sleeping in it if the roof top tent weighed less than 64kgs to keep within our on-road and off-road roof rack load capacity. However, we always try and keep our load on the Pioneer Platform as low or light as possible. Lots of weight sitting up high is no good for fuel consumption and driving while off-road. The maximum load we place on our Pioneer Platform is usually around 50kgs (excluding the weight of the platform) but in most instances we are running with loads far less than that.
Roof Load Ratings Summary
Some important points to remember:
- Pioneer Platform has a load limit of 120kgs.
- Off-road load ratings can have a reduction of 30% to 50% depending on the type off roof rack and mounting system.
- Remembering off-road is classified as any road that is not sealed (bitumen).
- Pioneer Platform for the 76 Series Toyota Land Cruiser does not reduce your load rating when off-road.
- Off-road load ratings will be affected by the type of roof rack system and how it is fitted to your 4WD.
- When calculating your roof rack carrying capacity do not forget to subtract the weight of your roof rack setup.
- Do not forget to use the lower of your 4WD roof rating or roof rack load rating.
- Pioneer Platform weighs 36kgs.
- Our roof rack carrying capacity is 64kgs both on-road and off-road (100kgs – 36kgs = 64kgs).
- As a rule, static load ratings can be increased by 3 times the roof load rating.
- Static load ratings are important to understand especially if considering fitting a roof top tent.
- Ensure you have your roof racks fitted to the recommended manufacturers requirements or else their listed ratings are pointless. This is where people run into problems.
18 Months On
After more than 18 months since we had the Rhino Rack Pioneer Platform fitted to our 76 Series Toyota Land Cruiser what do we really think?
What We Like
Overall, we have been happy with how the Pioneer Platform has worked for us. We try and not go crazy loading lots of gear up on our roof as it does not make sense from a fuel, noise and driving perspective. But our roof rack is still a key part in getting our setup right for the different types of trips that we do. We wanted a strong and reliable roof platform to ensure that our 270-degree Australian made Drifta awning is safe and secure as well as all the other gear we load up there. One of the keys for us has been the range of aftermarket accessories for the Pioneer Platform as it has allowed us to setup our roof storage exactly how we want it. We use the Svnty6 Fab side angled Maxtrax and shovel mounts to store our Maxtrax off the driver’s side of the Pioneer Platform for easy access when required. Our shovel (one of our most used bits of gear) is stored securely behind our Maxtrax with quick release Quick Fist clamps which only take a matter of seconds to get off and put back on. When touring and we need to carry extra fluids (water and / or fuel) the Svnty6 Fab EVA foam jerry mount is the perfect jerry can storage solution for the Pioneer Platform. EVA foam mounts are great as they protect both your gear and the Pioneer Platform. If we need to carry a gas bottle, we use another Svnty6 Fab EVA foam mount to securely carry this outside of the wagon.
Since we first installed our UHF, we found the antenna sitting on the front of the bull bar was annoying for the passenger’s vision as well as not being optimal for communication range. As a result, we moved our UHF antenna onto the Pioneer Platform using the Rhino Rack folding antenna mount. The folding antenna mount is a great addition as it allows us to keep our antenna out of the way during day to day driving but easily fold it up when we need it off-road and touring. With all this gear stored on our Pioneer Platform we still have plenty of storage space for paddle boards, our Oz Tent, swag, and anything else we need to store on our roof. After only having Rhino Rack cross bars in our other 4WDs we are far happier now that we have the Pioneer Platform. It is super easy to climb up on top of the platform using our Uneek 4×4 rear bar and spare tyre as steps and easily pack and unpack the gear we store up there. Having the platform is a far better storage option than roof bars in our experience.
Issues We Have Had
Overall, we have not had any major dramas with the Pioneer Platform. The biggest issue we have found is although the platform is aluminium and has not shown any signs of corrosion some of the fittings securing the platform together have corroded within 18 months. Other minor issues include fading of the nylon corners that hold the aluminium channels together because of sitting in the sun for long periods of time. We have also found that it is extremely easy to remove the powder coat from the aluminium channels when securing gear and some accessories to the Pioneer Platform. Because of this we now use the Svnty6 Fab EVA foam mounts where we can as these ensure that your gear does not rub directly on the platform. This is not a Rhino Rack issue as it would be a problem with any similar powder coated roof platform, just be aware of this and ensure you try and secure your gear in a way that protects the platform paint.
Summary
- Pioneer Platform is a great roof platform for additional storage requirements.
- Far more aftermarket accessories for the Pioneer Platform than any other brand.
- Made predominantly from aluminium so lightweight at 36kgs compared to steel options.
- Heavier than standard cross bar roof rack setups but much better storage than cross bars.
- Understand vehicle and roof rack load ratings especially off-road reductions to ensure you do not overload your roof.
- Do not forget to take the weight of the roof platform off your load capacity when doing your load calculations.
- Ensure you have your roof rack / platform fitted as per the manufacturers requirements or else load ratings are pointless.
- Roof top tents can be heavy so ensure you fit the right type of roof top tent in line with your load ratings.
- The actual load that we can add to our Pioneer Platform is not that high at 64kgs so if you run the same setup and want to add a rooftop tent for example, you will need to find one that is lightweight.
Thanks for reading our post on our Rhino Rack Pioneer Platform for our 76 Series Toyota Land Cruiser. If you have any questions or comments, please post them below this post. This is not a sponsored post but an honest opinion after more than 18 months of use.
For more information on our 4WD build you can read them here. To keep up to date on future posts join the 4WD Adventurer Community.
Rhino Rack Pioneer Platform for the 76 Series Toyota Land Cruiser on the Rhino Rack website.
Thanks for reading legends.
The thoughts of Peter
22/09/2021 @ 12:40 PM
Hi Folks, love the site.
We have a 2021 76 Series and fitted a pioneer platform.
Could you show us how you ran cables from the vehicle out and up to the rack?
We have some STEDI Rock Lights and Camp Floods we would like to fit but are unsure of the best way to run the cable.
Thanks in anticipation,
Julie & Steve Murphy
23/09/2021 @ 2:58 PM
G’day Julie & Steve,
Thanks for the message and great to get that positive feedback.
We are hoping to put up a post next week some time that goes through why we moved our UHF antenna to our roof rack and how we did it. I am going to be getting pictures over the weekend for the post. If you check out our site end of next week or the week after it should be posted. If you have signed up to our newsletter then you will get an update on all our recent posts as well.
But to give you an idea (sorry I can’t attached pictures to this comment). For our antenna cable, we ran this through the firewall and then along the top of the firewall within the engine bay. The antenna cable is inside split tubing to protect it of course. We then ran the cable through an opening near where the bonnet bracket goes into when it is closed. This pops out near the inside of the drivers side door. From here we then ran the cable up the snorkel. We used cable tie mounts with strong double sided tape to secure these to the snorkel. We then secured the antenna cable with table ties up the snorkel. The cable then runs along the top bracket from the snorkel to the body of the 76 and then inside the gutter. We kept the cable in place inside the gutter with clear silicon. The cable then runs up the inside of the first leg of the Pioneer Platform held in place with zip ties. As you have the new Pioneer Platform you have a channel (I think) to run cables so I am sure you can get it there.
We will be fitting a light bar in front of our Pioneer Platform as well, we just haven’t got around to it yet. Our mate with a 76, with light bars on his Pioneer Platform, did not run his cables up the snorkel but instead up the side of the windscreen. He took the cables for his lights from the engine bay through the gap in the body that runs beside the windscreen wipers. He held the cables in place using cable tie mounts with double sided tape. You don’t notice the cable that much as it runs up the part of the windscreen that is black. I do prefer the cables running up the snorkel as you don’t see them and can then hide them inside the gutter. After almost 12 months we are noticing the double sided tape is starting to come loose in areas. So we are considering drilling into our snorkel and then use pop rivets to secure the cable tie mounts. We will need to make sure we use lots of silicon when insert the pop rivets though to try and ensure the snorkel stays sealed. For now though we will keep replacing the double sided tape when required. I still need to build up the courage to drill into our snorkel.
Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Cheers,
Peter