So I took off my factory roof rack the other day (got lucky with the nutserts!), but left the rails on dreading having to scrape up 15 feet of plastic goo tape after reading the horror stories on the forum. This morning I woke up feeling smart and decided to figure out a way to get it done without scraping and goof offing for hours. Here's what I did:
1. Remove screws and caps the ends of the rails.
2. Slide rails rearward off of the tracks
3. Use a plastic putty knife to pry up the end of the track
4. Rip upward on the track to remove
These steps have already been covered in other threads. From here, you're left with four strips of what is essentially hard core double sided foam tape, which barring any nutsert issues is what makes this project a huge PITA.
5. Grab an iron and a tee shirt rag. Make sure there is no water in the iron (important) and set it on the hottest setting. Lay the rag over the adhesive at one end and the hot iron on top of the rag. Wait a few minutes.
6. Move the rag/ iron combo forward and roll the rearward adhesive toward the iron. the adhesive should roll up cleanly and easily using your fingers.
7. Run a rag over your work with some goof off on it to remove any residual tackiness.
I get distracted a couple times in the middle of this, but I would guess the whole thing could be done in 30-45 mins and doesn't take much in the way of scraping/ elbow grease. Hopefully this saves a few folks some time and frustration.
1. Remove screws and caps the ends of the rails.
2. Slide rails rearward off of the tracks
3. Use a plastic putty knife to pry up the end of the track
4. Rip upward on the track to remove
These steps have already been covered in other threads. From here, you're left with four strips of what is essentially hard core double sided foam tape, which barring any nutsert issues is what makes this project a huge PITA.
5. Grab an iron and a tee shirt rag. Make sure there is no water in the iron (important) and set it on the hottest setting. Lay the rag over the adhesive at one end and the hot iron on top of the rag. Wait a few minutes.
6. Move the rag/ iron combo forward and roll the rearward adhesive toward the iron. the adhesive should roll up cleanly and easily using your fingers.
7. Run a rag over your work with some goof off on it to remove any residual tackiness.
I get distracted a couple times in the middle of this, but I would guess the whole thing could be done in 30-45 mins and doesn't take much in the way of scraping/ elbow grease. Hopefully this saves a few folks some time and frustration.
's blow dryer didn't do much and iron was next in line...
