etrailer | Review of the Front Runner Slimsport Platform Rack

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Full transcript: https://www.etrailer.com/tv-Review-Fr...
Hi, everyone, Aiden here with etrailer, and today we'll be checking out the line of Front Runner Slimsport Roof Platforms. These is gonna be full-coverage roof platforms to let you mount up a variety of different accessories, either from Front Runner or stuff that you already have. So if you need to get a tent, kayaks, bikes, fishing rods up here, you can do that, and the possibilities are really endless. Let's check it out. Now, the important thing to know is that Front Runner makes the Slimsport for a wide range of different vehicles. To find the right one for you, just plug your vehicle information into our Fit Guide here at etrailer, and it'll tell you whether or not we offer one from Front Runner.

It's also important to know that Front Runner makes a variety of different platforms. There's the Slimsport that we're checking out today, but also the Slimline II, which is going to be their more flagship roof platform. There's a few more features there, and depending on your vehicle, you might only have Slimline options available, but in some cases, you might find that you have the choice between one or the other. So this video will be talking about the Slimsport, what makes it different, and why you might pick it. One of the main things that sets the Slimsport apart is the front faring.

This is the first piece that's really custom-fit depending on the kit you get, and it'll match the contour of the roof all the way through, giving you a perfect fit, giving things a nice low-profile appearance, and minimizing the wind noise. And one of the unique things about the faring is you could swap it out for one that has a cutout that you could put a light bar into. So if you're looking to add a light bar to your roof platform, this is probably one of the cleanest ways to do it, keeping it forward and out of the way of the rest of the platform. The other thing that's really unique about the Slimsport is the bars. Now, these are gonna be quite a bit smaller than the bars on the Slimline platforms.

Those are gonna be really wide and really lend themselves to channel-mounting accessories from Front Runner. And that's nice because they're strong, they've got a wide base, but on these ones, being a bit smaller, they still have that channel where you could slide in M8 hardware and channel mount your accessories. But the smaller size lends itself really well to clamp-around accessories. So if you already have something like a kayak carrier, say from Rhino-Rack, or maybe you've got a ski carrier from Kuat, anything that would clamp-around a roof rack, that accessory's probably still gonna work just fine with this platform, which, to me, makes it a little bit more versatile. The one limitation you'll probably find with mounting accessories is that the Slimline from Front Runner has a side rail that runs the whole border of the tray, and that's gonna have its own track in the top of it.

And a lot of Front Runners accessories rely on that side rail here to make an attachment point. Whereas for the Slimsport that we're seeing today, it's just flat all throughout. No side rails, which will mean certain accessories don't work. But if you never planned on using those types of accessories or you're just looking for something low-profile, this will be just fine. Now, across the line of Slimsport Platforms, the installations are gonna vary depending on your vehicle, but the one thing you can really count on is that they're all gonna be permanent installs. Now there's ways around that, sure, but these are bolted in, and they're designed to be left on. For example, on this RAV4 we installed this on, we had to take off the factory rails that ran front to back and we utilized preexisting holes to bolt through. And in some special cases, like with these rear mounting locations, we did have to enlarge the holes a bit. So while we could put the factory rails back on, it'd be fine. It's just one of those things you gotta think about. After you do that kind of modification and you go through all that work, you're probably just gonna leave this on. Overall, construction is gonna be the same across the line of platforms. The slats up top are gonna be aluminum, keeping them lightweight and rust-resistant. And the side brackets that actually attaches to your vehicle and serves as a joint between those two will be steel. And all pieces are gonna be powder-coated black to, one, help with corrosion resistance in the case of the steel. But just give it all a nice, clean, uniform look. And for me, I'm okay wit