I did the initial install of my roof rack, following pictures of others' installs here since there are no instructions (really not a huge deal, as I discovered there pretty much is one way to do it).
I noticed a few things I didn't like right away:
First, the hardware is too long. There are rubber caps supplied to cover the tops of the bolt assembly, but the mounting bolt is too long on the front and rear mounts for the caps to cover properly. The inner two can be capped, but the mismatch looks funny. I originally figured I'd just skip the caps and keep it industrial looking, but I found other issues.
Second, the angle that the mount bolt passes through the bracket is steep enough that the star lock washer barely makes contact on one side. I really think it will function this way, but it just looks sketchy (lots of my own home made stuff is sketchy looking too, but I'm trying to turn over a new leaf here).
Third and worst, the mount bolt goes up from the bottom, threading through the lower clamp and then up through the upper bracket. This hangs just low enough to interfere with door closure, mostly just the door gasket, but on at least one door, it actually just touches the frame - the straw that broke the camels back.
Here's a picture of the original assembly
My solution was to use a shorter bolt from the top, and something to compensate for the angle.
I found wedge washers from McMaster Carr that are made to square up I beam when using through bolts in it. They come in packs of 5 which is a bummer because I needed 6. Oh well, more spares. Next, I purchased stainless bolts (painted them black) , four 5/16-18, 1 1/2" long, and four 5/16-18, 2" long. The shorter bolts worked for the inner two brackets on each side and the longer two on the outer two brackets. I used the nuts with the star washers (I actually bought new stainless ones painted black, but you could reuse what you have) as jam nuts from the top once tension was set. The supplied fender washer comes next, followed by the wedge washer, then through the bracket. I found I did not need the wedge washer on the rear most mount, hence the need for only 6.
Pretty simple deal, especially if I had done this first, not after installing it the other way.
I can now use the rubber caps, and I think it looks much cleaner.
I noticed a few things I didn't like right away:
First, the hardware is too long. There are rubber caps supplied to cover the tops of the bolt assembly, but the mounting bolt is too long on the front and rear mounts for the caps to cover properly. The inner two can be capped, but the mismatch looks funny. I originally figured I'd just skip the caps and keep it industrial looking, but I found other issues.
Second, the angle that the mount bolt passes through the bracket is steep enough that the star lock washer barely makes contact on one side. I really think it will function this way, but it just looks sketchy (lots of my own home made stuff is sketchy looking too, but I'm trying to turn over a new leaf here).
Third and worst, the mount bolt goes up from the bottom, threading through the lower clamp and then up through the upper bracket. This hangs just low enough to interfere with door closure, mostly just the door gasket, but on at least one door, it actually just touches the frame - the straw that broke the camels back.
Here's a picture of the original assembly
My solution was to use a shorter bolt from the top, and something to compensate for the angle.
I found wedge washers from McMaster Carr that are made to square up I beam when using through bolts in it. They come in packs of 5 which is a bummer because I needed 6. Oh well, more spares. Next, I purchased stainless bolts (painted them black) , four 5/16-18, 1 1/2" long, and four 5/16-18, 2" long. The shorter bolts worked for the inner two brackets on each side and the longer two on the outer two brackets. I used the nuts with the star washers (I actually bought new stainless ones painted black, but you could reuse what you have) as jam nuts from the top once tension was set. The supplied fender washer comes next, followed by the wedge washer, then through the bracket. I found I did not need the wedge washer on the rear most mount, hence the need for only 6.
Pretty simple deal, especially if I had done this first, not after installing it the other way.
I can now use the rubber caps, and I think it looks much cleaner.