Hi there,
Maybe I missed it but is there an official accessory to mount a pair of max trax on the side of the tent like pictured here: Loki the Wolfdog on Instagram: "Loki’s luxurious lodging: 5 star views, 5 star landscaping, 2 star cleanliness. We don’t have a gym, but we do offer squirrel chasing classes. @toyotausa #4runner #letsgoplaces #sponsored"
Thanks!
That looks like it’s mounted to the extrusion just below the tent. In the pic, you can just make out the mounting bolts on the bottom slots of the MaxTrax.
You can mount MaxTrax to the side of the tent with GFC’s awning brackets! Should really be called “Universal Mounts”.
Gotcha, that makes sense now! Thank you!!
Can you do it with just the awning brackets? It looks like the awning brackets are only 6 inches tall and the maxtrax are 13 inches wide if you want to use all 4 pins which i would. I’m guessing he (Loki) used another bracket to attach to the awning bracket so he could use all 4 pins. Any ideas?
Welcome!
If using awning brackets, you could just bolt two pieces of bar stock to them that spanned the Maxtrax, and mount two pins to each piece of bar stock.
GFC Awning Brackets should work, but they’re overkill for this application, in my opinion. All that’s required is a spacer between the bar stock and T-slot frame to allow clearance for the tent to open, and the hardware to attach it to the frame.
I did some more research and found this video on youtube where the vlogger does a review of his GFC tent and he actually has MaxTrax mounted on the side with the help of a pair of FrontRunner MaxTrax brackets.
Video: https://youtu.be/OScf_7m6qHs?t=680
FrontRunner Brackets: https://www.frontrunneroutfitters.com/en/us/maxtrax-brackets.html
I don’t have my tent yet so it’s not clear to me how they would be a direct fit but figured I should post it here!
Still expensive for what’s required, but definitely cheaper than GFC awning brackets & Maxtrax pins.
Sharing my experience here if people are looking to do the same thing on their 4Runner.
The FrontRunner brackets fit nicely on the tent BUT they don’t really work with a 5th 4Runner (I could not open the doors after installing them haha). So I returned the brackets and ended up installing 2 GFC awning “universal” brackets with two pieces of bar stock like suggested by Han.
It might be a little expensive but very easy to install without too much knowledge and tools. I am very happy with the result.
Hi, I’m planning on mounting my MaxTrax on the side like your photo. Can you post some photos of how you ending up actually mounting using “bar stock” please. I’m tech challenged so need to see visually what you’re talking about. So the FrontRunner brackets don’t work because they block the door from opening on the 5th gen? Dang I was going to try that. Glad I found this out before I ordered them. I was hoping they would work and I wouldn’t have to use the more expensive GFC brackets. But whatever works the best I’m all for.
Hey Whopper
Yes, correct, impossible to use the FrontRunner brackets, you won’t be able to open your doors with them.
I did sell my 4Runner a couple of weeks ago so I can’t take a picture showing the install. I have a couple of pictures here https://photos.app.goo.gl/ABjEzFvm66YhgNPP9 but I don’t think they are useful.
If I recall correctly, I used:
That’s it! That’s expensive for me but that worked great for me -someone not super handy and with limited knowledge-
Thanks so much for the fast response.
Another question. Would I be using only the Vert bars part and not the mounting part? Bolt the vert bars directly to the GFC awning brackets? If so I have access to some used https://www.ragofabrication.com/collections/recovery-tools-1/products/maxtrax-mounts-for-hi-lift-jack I saw for sale for half price. If so then I’ll go that route. Just wanted to make double sure if I’d need to use the entire TOYOTA BED RAIL RECOVERY BOARD MOUNTS unit or just the vert plate before I ordered. Thanks for the help Vic.
Yep, you just need the vertical bars
Sorry to be a dub, but how does one get the maxtraxxs on the beef bars? I have the axia mounts and the GFC T bolts for the bars. The bolts are too short, just barely grabs the nylon nuts. Any help would be appreciated. I currently have them strapped up there with the nuggets and Frontrunner scatchets.
Any assists with pics are appreciated.
Thx
very late here haha, should be some mounts available like this would work:
Wow, @etower, wish i knew that bracket existed earlier hah.
Below is how I managed mine. But it was definitely an effort to figure out how to get it working.
First I got my maxtrax pins and a pair of Axia Alloy Mounting Brackets.
Pair this with some Beefrack track studs and you can mount the tacks side to side on a single beefrack, which I did for awhile, like below. I did this because the threads on the pins for Maxtrax are very long, and even if I cut them, the bolt to attach them to the axia brackets is too wide to nestle down into the T-Track of the Beef Rack bars.
But of course that mean I can’t lay anything front to back on the bars.
So to get them front to back I had to find some way to raise the Axia brackets slightly to create enough clearance for the bolts. You could prob fab this up a bunch of different ways, but I found some Kuat Riser Kit and used the short ones to raise the mount up slightly. I had to drill holes in these plastic riser and widen the holes in the Axia mount to fit some Barrel bindings that would reach down and connects to the track studs (since the studs are pretty short). I used these: 18-8 Stainless Steel Binding Barrels, 1/4"-20 Thread, 3/4" Long.
Lastly you need to make sure to cut the threads on your Maxtrax pins shorter so the extra threads can fit down into the t-track. I did this with a Dremel and a bolt cutter wheel pretty easily.
End Result:
i think ive seen you cruising around. Are you located in LA? Ive seen you on pch
Very very possible. I live in Venice and was up on the PCH last Weds.
I’ve def been seeing a lot more GFCs around here, but I’m probably the only one with it on an Xterra.
Make that one of two now! Such a clean rig and setup man
