Introducing The Velox Offroad Gullwings for the 5th Gen 4Runner – Install & Review

Meet Velox Offroad’s 5th Gen 4Runner Gullwings, Interior Rear Window MOLLE Panels, and Exterior Accessory MOLLE Panels

Every once in a while there comes an epic mod, so epic you think about it all day and into the night. Seriously, I was blown away when I first saw the Gullwings mounted on the 5th Gen.

Gullwings aren’t new by any means as they’ve been retrofitted on defenders, land cruisers, and many other off-road platforms for decades. For the 5th Gen 4Runner though, this is definitely something new and exciting that has now landed in our community.

A company by the name of Velox Offroad out of Katy, Texas designed the Gullwings pictured here today. They streamlined the manufacturing process which allows them to mass-produce a precision cut, waterproof and dustproof Gullwing window all while being somewhat affordable for the end-user.

Group Buy: 

• For 30 Days, Velox Offroad is offering 50 Slots up to 30% OFF: Group Buy Page

Find it online: 

• Gullwings – Check Price
• Gullwing compatible MOLLE Panels – Check Price
• Rear Window Delete Exterior MOLLE Panels (Accessory Panels) – Check Price

What’s a Gullwing?

What is a Gullwing Door? In the automotive industry, a gull-wing door, also known as a falcon-wing door or an up-door, is a car door that is hinged at the roof rather than the side, as pioneered by the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL – Wiki

Prior to the Velox Offroad Gullwings, there were a couple of prototypes in the forums and a few companies that said they were going to mass-produce them, but that never happened. Fast forward to 2020 and the product was officially offered by Velox Offroad.

Velox Offroad was more or less the first one to market and they currently offer a pretty kick-ass line of not only Gullwings but Gullwing compatible MOLLE Panels and Rear Window Delete Exterior MOLLE Panels (Accessory Panels).

Without any more introduction, meet Velox Offroad and their lineup of killer Gullwing Products.

Choose Configuration

Velox Offroad offers a wide variety of configurations you can run. 

1. Gullwing + MOLLE Panel: Mount your gear on both sides of a MOLLE panel. Access one side from the gullwing and the other from inside your rig. Double your MOLLE real estate and gear access.
2. Gullwing + No MOLLE panels: Give your dog a dedicated window, access your overland fridge, access general cargo stacked up. This is a great option if you are running rear bumpers, tire carriers, bike racks, or hitch-mounted items that get the way. Running only the gullwings keeps everything wide open and easily accessible.
3. Exterior MOLLE Panel: Remove your glass, mount a 1/8″ aluminum plate, then mount a heavy-duty exterior MOLLE panel for overland gear, tools, and accessories.

They make gullwings for a wide variety of Toyota and Lexus applications.

• 5th Gen 4Runner (2010-2022)
• 4th Gen 4Runner (2003-2009)
• 3rd Gen 4Runner (1996-2002)
• Lexus GX460 (2010-2022)
• FJ Cruiser (2007-2014)

Gullwing Windows – What are they?

The rear window Gullwings are a direct replacement for the window between the D pillar and C pillar on your 4Runner. They adhere directly to the body of the 4Runner using double-sided tape and then bolt to the body using stainless steel hardware.

The Gullwing windows are wind and waterproof, made of 1/8″ Aluminum, CNC cut for a precise fit on all applications, and finished in a black powder coating but is available in many colors upon request.

For added security, they Include 1 locking latch with 2 keys and one 25-lb piston. Velox Offroad offers a 5-year warranty on all its products against workmanship and material failures. Finally, the Gullwings are finished off in a nice black powder coat. The fit and finish of these are pretty nice.

Company & Experience

The Gullwings are packed with features and today I wanted to break down a few of them. I’ve been pretty happy running the actual products and interacting with their team has definitely been pretty impressive as well. You can tell their entire team really cares about the manufacturing, fulfillment, and customer service for what they’re selling. They’re incredibly passionate about what they do and very excited to bring this product to market as it’s such a new, unique, and game-changing product.

I had the opportunity to meet with Willie (one of the founders) and his wife Jenn as they were on their way through Northern California from Katy, TX. We were able to spend the day together installing a set of Gullwings and one of their MOLLE panels on Jade, our 2016 TEP. It was an awesome day filled with genuine laughs. The people behind this company are authentic to the core and it was a pleasure meeting the people that run this company and back this product.

Easy Access (Driver or Passenger)

To start, I think the biggest selling point of a Gullwing is that they make it incredibly easy to access the rear cargo area. You can hop out of the driver seat, walk around the rear window, pop a wing, open it and grab whatever you need. You don’t have to deal with tire swing-outs, bumpers, bike racks, or anything else in order to access your cargo area.

Whether you are looking to mount weapons, lighting, first aid kits, tear away MOLLE systems, or anything else, the Gullwings make it beyond simple to access the sides of your rear cargo. I might eventually swap out my current fridge setup and remove one panel to make it even easier to access my fridge through the Gullwing window.

The options are endless for what you might need to access.

Dead Space Behind MOLLE Panels

Another big selling point of the Gullwings is that you finally get to utilize the space between your MOLLE panel and your rear window. Prior to the Gullwings, no one was really able to mount anything to the backside of a MOLLE panel because there’s really no way to access it.

With the Gullwing, you can mount whatever you want. There’s actually enough room to mount a full-blown twin ARB compressor – which is amazing because in most other scenarios it takes up a ton of real estate, whether that be in your engine bay, rear cargo area, or somewhere else. With the Gullwings, you free up so much space for accessories to be mounted in the 4Runner.

MOLLE Panels or No MOLLE Panels

Choose to run no MOLLE panels like the image above.

The Gullwings from Velox Offroad are compatible with any other MOLLE panels on the market, or you can obviously run their line of MOLLE panels as well but if you’re running another set like I am, that’s cool too. I am running a set of Finn Fab Power Grid MOLLE panels from YotaMafia.com on the passenger side and the Gullwings work well with it.

If you don’t want to run MOLLE panels at all, that’s cool. The Gullwings work with or without MOLLE panels and many people actually prefer to run them open.

Design and Material

As we mentioned above, the Gullwing windows are wind and waterproof, made of 1/8″ Aluminum, and CNC cut for a precise fit on all applications. They come shipped to your door in a matte black powder coat, however, they can be ordered in virtually any color you would like. This is obviously going to increase your price, but if you are looking to color match your rig or you’re looking for some special powder coating, Velox Offroad will accommodate your request.

There is a weather seal on the backside of the panels and then a double weather seal on the inside of the panel between the backing plate and the swing-out window. If you are questioning the waterproofness – go check out my Instagram video where I drown them with a water hose and then open them up. They were dry to the touch.

Really killer design and only the highest quality materials.

Velox Offroad MOLLE Panels

The MOLLE panels themselves might just be the strongest MOLLE panels on the market because of the reinforced gusseted shelf on the backside. The bottom portion of the shelf that runs along the distance of the panel from the back to the front reinforces the strength overall as does the secondary gusset that runs vertically up the c-pillar. There’s no other MOLLE panel like this on the market. Secondary to that, Velox Offroad also accommodates a Blue Sea Systems 12-volt DC power system, just like the Finn Fab MOLLE panel system.

On top of strength, you have an impressive design. The MOLLE system panel is actually MOLLE compatible consistent with most MOLLE packs, straps, and backings on the market. The slots in the panel are designed to fit the exact straps that come on a MOLLE pack.

MOLLE Panel Shelf

Just below the flashlight sits a shelf you can set things on (gloves pictured here)

This shelf measures almost 3″ in distance and runs the entire length of the MOLLE panel. It’s a pretty cool place to open your window and set some stuff down. You can tell a lot of thought went into the design and manufacturing of the product.

Exterior MOLLE Panels

The exterior MOLLE panels are exactly as they sound; exterior-mounted MOLLE panels. Velox refers to them as Exterior Accessory Mounts. This Exterior Accessory Mount system offered by Velox Offroad is extremely stout. They start with deleting/removing your rear window and in its place is a 1/8″ aluminum plate. Once that plate is mounted to the body of the 4Runner, the exterior MOLLE panel is then mounted to that plate. These things are strong. Can you imagine how much weight you would be able to stack on these! They quote a 400lb rating and I’d be hard-pressed to see anyone even try to outfit these with 400lbs.

Installation Overview

Installation Options: 

1. Professional Install (Katy, TX): If you’re located near Katy Texas, just have Velox Offroad do this installation for you. VeloxOffroad.com.
2. Professional Install (Sacramento, CA): If you are located in the Bay Area/Sacramento, CA reach out to Stellar Built. StellarBuilt.com
3. Professional Install (Worldwide): Call a company like Safelite Autoglass for Window Removal ($60-$100)
4. Google “Mobile Suto glass repair & Windshield Repair” in your city. Plenty of other random companies out there that can get the job done.
5. DIY – Break Glass or Cut Weather Stripping Manually: Not recommended but it does get the job done.

Step 1. Remove 10MM Hardware Holding Plastics

Start by removing all of the hardware holding together the plastics. 

Step 2. Remove Weather Stripping

Pull back the weather stripping around the D-pillar and C-pillar. This will help you get access to behind the plastics. 

Step 3. Pull Pillar Plastics

Start separating the plastics from each other and completely remove the light grey plastic (top) from where it’s connected to the dark grey plastic (bottom). There is a seat belt running through it, so you will need to set it aside somewhere out of your way so you can continue to work. 

Step 4. Pull Top Plastics

Pop off this top plastic trim piece. 

Step 5. Unclip Radio Wire

Step 6. Window Removal Tool

This is a professional window removal tool that Velox uses to remove window glass. Again, you should have this job professionally done if you want to do it the right way. If I were to do it on my own, I would call Safelite, have them remove the glass, and continue with the rest of the install on my own.

Here is a link to the window removal tool.

Step 7. Window Removal Tool Insert Line

Pushing the cutting fiber line up through the windshield glass from inside to outside.

Step 8. Pull Cutting Fiber Line

Pulling the cutting fiber line through the window.

Step 9. Wrap Cutting Fiber Line Around Glass

Once the line is out, you wrap it around the window glass.

Step 10. Window Removal Tool

Step 11. Tape Window and Remove Glass

Put some masking tape on the glass so it doesn’t fall and shatter.

Step 12. Remove Weather Seal

Use your preferred weather seal removal tool and remove any factory weather seal still stuck on the 4Runner. Willie uses a German Super Sharp Hoof Knife.

Step 13. Clean Excess Weather Seal

Step 14. Prep Gullwing Window

Before positioning the Gullwing on the 4Runner, open the window.

Step 15. Position Gullwing

Step 16. Position, Mark, and Drill

Once you have the Gullwing fully in position, you can mark and drill your pilot. Then come back through and drill out the final size once the panel is off the truck.

Step 17. Final Look Before Installation

Now drill your final size. 9/32″ bit.

Step 18. Prep Double Sided Tape

Remove that double-sided tape backing before you install.

Step 19. Install Hardware

Step 20. Hardware Installation – Inside Looking Out

Step 21. Radio Wire Relocation

Driver Side: Velox ships out a replacement male connector to plug into the female connectors. Simple unplug and then plug back in.

Passenger Side: The difference on the passenger side is that the AM/FM wire and HD radio wires are soldered to the glass. You need to cut this off and that’s what you see above (the Y). Unplug the other end of this harness from the module so you can work with the harness a little better. Then strip the ends of the wires then attach supplied butt-splice connectors (also pictured above with the blue connectors).

The other ends of the wires are simply fed into the fender well. They do not connect to anything else. These are essentially a replacement antennas that retain your AM/Fm and HD reception. Velox provides fender well zip tie connector points to run your replacement antenna lines down into the fender well along the sheet metal.

Step 22. Reconnect all Interior Plastics

Step 23. Install MOLLE Panels

This one is pretty straightforward as we’ve seen multiple Molle panel installs here on the site. 

Final Thoughts

Initial Thoughts

They’re great. After installing both wings and the interior MOLLE, I really want to see what one of their exterior MOLLE panels looks like on Jade. I think if I were to start over, I would do an exterior MOLLE panel on one side and a gullwing + MOLLE on the other side. Hard telling though – I really like having wings on both sides. This setup is really cool how I have it. Velox offers a few configurations here so your options can get pretty tailored.

Any Downsides?

A potential caveat to this install is patience all the way around. You need patience when you’re pulling your plastics off and even more when you’re putting them back on. If you miss a clip or two during the reinstall portion, your plastic lines will be off and you will have to start over. That’s not fun. It’s also really easy to break plastics so buying an extra set of OE white clips wouldn’t be a bad idea. We broke at least 5 during my install here. Just make sure you take your time getting those plastics off and back on.

One other potential challenge here is that you have to drill into the body of your 4Runner. With that said though, it’s getting covered up by the Gullwing itself. And if you ever choose to return your factory glass back in place, the glass will also cover up any new holes that were drilled.

Finally, the glass. Removing the glass is the biggest hurdle here but getting over it is simple. Just call Safelite and have them remove the glass for you and then continue about your install like you would any other mod we’ve seen on Trail4Runner.com. Don’t overthink it.

Velox Products

The MOLLE panels are incredibly stout with that shelf and gusseted c-pillar extrusion. It’s really a cool product when you see it in person.

The Gullwings themselves are just a WOW product. People see it and go “wow – that’s pretty cool”. It’s an impressive mod.

Takeaway

I think the Trail Takeaway here is that for my setup, we’re doubling the real estate we have on our MOLLE panels and it gives me a ton of opportunities for permanently mounting gear and being even more prepared than I already was. What I am really stoked about though is having an entire side dedicated towards photography great; multiple tripods, lens filters, lens swap bags, DJI gimble for video, cleaners, dusters, etc.

If you guys have any questions, let me know. Cheers!