Roof Rack and Thule/Yakima Roof Cargo Box Recommendation for a 2020 Toyota 4Runner

Question:

Hi, we have a 2020 4Runner TRD Pro 4-door SUV with a Moonroof, with the usual rails and crossbars that are Factory-Installed. The distance between bars looks as though they could slide some 40 - 42½ inch apart front to rear, but they are low and wide, with only about a 1¼ inch clearance to the top of the vehicle. Theyre also some 40 inch apart from one another, fyi, The bars not in use position is 27 inch apart. The rear antenna is about 2½ inch high the distance from the rear of the moonroof to the lifted tailgate is ~64. What would I need for a the Thule Motion Cargo Box 16 or 18 in order to mount it / make it fit ?? and as a comparison, b for the Yakima cbx 16 or 18 cu ft version ?? Thanks a lot !

asked by: Franck A

Expert Reply:

Thank you for the information! It sounds like your 2020 Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro has the raised rails and OEM crossbar setup that we'd find on the standard 2020 Toyota 4Runner. This has very low clearance under the factory crossbars so it's definitely better to upgrade to an aftermarket system that sits higher.

For your application I recommend going with the Thule WingBar Evo roof rack system because it's stylish, is easy to install, and raises the clearance height to your roof so you can easily fit a roof box on top of your 4Runner. Here are the parts you'll need:

53" WingBar Evo Crossbars - # TH711420
Evo Raised Rail Feet - # TH710401
Lock Core Kit - # TH450400

With the new roof rack we can now comfortably fit a cargo box on your roof to clear both the antenna and your moonroof (although it isn't recommended to open up the moonroof with accessories installed).

The Thule Motion 3 16 # TH67PN or 18 # TH87PN are definitely a solid choice when it comes to a roof cargo box but for your application I recommend going with the Yakima CBX 16 # Y66FR or 18 # Y86FR instead simply because I think the CBX matches the body style of the 4Runner better. The CX boxes also have a slightly better method for mounting which further solidifies my recommendation. You can fit the 16 or 18 box sizes just fine on your vehicle and still have rear hatch clearance so it just boils down to what kind of cargo space you're looking for.

Attached are photos of the Motion XT (the predecessor for the Motion 3) and CBX on Toyota 4Runner models for you to check out.