another factory roof rack post

30 minutes. That's how long I spent trying to search, browse through 12 pages of posts, trying to find something to just post to, rather than creating a new thread. Well, fuggit. The best I found was in the FAQ's, but that roof rack post is mostly about ARB vs. Hannibals, then at the end it gets to the factory removal stuff but there's no pics or anything. I know those pics of Cdan's rosette washers, and all the other factory roof comments are out there somewhere, but I just can't find them tonight. Ok, ok, rant off, I feel better.

So I offer a solution.. Junk can I start an official factory roof rack post? If any of you have some of the other good ones bookmarked please post links to them in here, so we can have one solid resource for the FAQ's.. and in case you hadn't guessed by now, this is what I did today. got lucky that none of the "nutserts" were loose, so all of the screws came out of the rack no problem. Underneath the rack itself was just as I suspected... rusty threaded inserts, and grooves worn in the paint.

I know, looks like a big smily face, taunting you. what are you going to do about this, smart guy? not sure yet. Started with the holes. I know that some have used "marine quality" stainless screws and washers, but I don't see much water up here in the high desert, so what I know is the Home Depot. Here's what I bought to seal the threaded holes.. Stainless M5 screws, and some galvanized "sealing washers."

The washers seem pretty trick.. they have this rubber part that's adhered to the washer, and it'll displace pretty well once pressed against the roof.

I added some silicone to the screw threads before installing, then wiped the excess away once the washers were flattened down on the roof. Feel pretty confident that those holes aren't going to leak.

Anyone have any tricks for removing the double-sided sticky tape that's holding down the 4 rails in the center? I seemed to have the best luck using a 1" putty knife, and letting the stuff heat up in the sun as much as possible. Acetone didn't seem to work, and a razor blade left a thin film of gunk on the roof. Spent an hour scraping that stuff, and barely put a dent in it...

try Goo Off on the adhesive

I tried taking mine off, the first 3 screws I tried just spun I gave up did not have enough time to get that deep, gonna try again later

is the paint just worn in the clear coat? you may be able to buff it out

I'm sure you know but I'll say it anyway....careful with the Acetone near any paint, rubber, or plastic that you want to hang on to. Anyway to get under the tape with a piece of fishing line, ie floss it off? Then attack what's left with the Goo Off.

I used Goof Off on my adhesive. I would soak the grey stuff with Goof Off (use in a well ventilated area), and after about an hour or so it would get real gummy. It made it easier to rub off with my fingers. We'll just say I was nice and blistered after I got all the adhesive off.

Now there is supposedly a 3M adhesive removal wheel that I believe attaches to a drill which should make short work of the adhesive. That's what they say anyhow.

Awesome, Goo Off it is, thanks guys! Yeah MoJ I've lightened paint before, so I was careful to not use too much. Just put some on a rag, then tried to dampen the tape.. but the stuff evaporates so fast there's not much to it. Works great for getting duct tape off a window though, in case that ever comes up for you..

If anybody is having trouble finding the fasteners they need locally, you can get most anything you need at http://www.mcmaster.com/

They even have Black-Oxide Finish Stainless Steel screws--IMHO, better looking on darker painted cruisers.
http://www.mcmaster.com/param/asp/psearch.asp?FAM=machine&FT_101=343&FT_110=286&FT_255=22659&FT_136=2864&session=machine;101=343;110=286;255=22659;136=2864

[quote author=hoser link=board=2;threadid=17266;start=msg167284#msg167284 date=1086107347]
If anybody is having trouble finding the fasteners they need locally, you can get most anything you need at http://www.mcmaster.com/

They even have Black-Oxide Finish Stainless Steel screws--IMHO, better looking on darker painted cruisers.
http://www.mcmaster.com/param/asp/psearch.asp?FAM=machine&FT_101=343&FT_110=286&FT_255=22659&FT_136=2864&session=machine;101=343;110=286;255=22659;136=2864
[/quote]

They don't seem to have the black-oxide finish in metric sizes. You will want a 5mm by 8 or 10mm screw.

Derek, you're right, it is a 5mm screw.
When I first went to the marine store, I didn't know the correct size but I tried the #10-32's and they worked fine without binding or being loose. Probably not a "perfect" fit though.

hmm

5mm = 0.197"
#10 = 0.188"

close enough for thsi light load, I wonder how well the threads match?

Well, if you were wondering how many of your other threaded inserts were about to break free, cramming a 10-32 screw into them will most surely reveal the answer.. how are you going to address your spinners, anyway?

[quote author=nakman link=board=2;threadid=17266;start=msg167491#msg167491 date=1086128133]
Well, if you were wondering how many of your other threaded inserts were about to break free, cramming a 10-32 screw into them will most surely reveal the answer.. how are you going to address your spinners, anyway?
[/quote]

if the 5mm treads match the #10-32 (AKA 3/16"x32tpi national fine thread) might actually be better as is it slightly smaller and would have less drive resistance, here in GA I can get excellent SAE hardware, my metric selection is limited, but that is a big IF, need to find out what thread pitch the 5mm is

for the spinners I will probalby have to drill the heads off to get the roof rack off and then may still have to remove the headliner to get the leftovers of the screw out

OK somebody check my math becase this sounds to good to be true, from an online search 5mm is 0.8MM per thread

25.4/0.8 = 31.75 witch is very close to 32

nakman,

Seach on keyword: Rosette
Author: Cruiserdan
80 section only
600 days

returned 6 posts, including pictures of Cruiserdan's factory rack removal.

Thread #1: https://forum.ih8mud.com/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=6445
Thread #2: https://forum.ih8mud.com/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=9120
Thread #3: https://forum.ih8mud.com/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=4092 (Includes some funny stuff too.)
Thread #4: Dupe of #3
Thread #5: https://forum.ih8mud.com/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=2120
Thread #6: https://forum.ih8mud.com/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=2217

-B-

Thanks, B, maybe I was spelling rosette wrong? I dunno.. but now all the links are together, which fulfills the dream. Now if only our moderator would put a link to this in the FAQ's.. we could all sleep a little better tonight.

Follow up: I tried "goo gone" or something or other to remove the double-sided sticky tape, it was right next to the Goof off at the Depot. The Goof Off had a caution about using it on painted surfaces, so went with the citrus-flavored safer stuff.. worked ok I guess, still required a lot of elbow grease. I ended up scraping it all up with a razor blade anyway, which left a little film behind in some places, I'm hoping that after some time in the elements that film will break itself down a little and peel right off. Yes, I did chip the paint a little with the razor even though I was trying to be careful. And my calves are sore today from standing on by back tire for 2 hours last night..

Goo gone is crap use De-Solv-it also critus based available in both the household cleaners and paint departments at Wally World. Spray in on and let it sit for 5 minutes or longer, wipe it down and re-apply if necessary. No elbow grease required if you let it sit.

Instead of seriously Hijacking this wind deflector thread I thought I would post this here, Nakman is it possibly for you to refresh you pictures from before the forum software change?

RavenTai said:

this weekend I removed the factory roof rack, still trying to repair its leftovers, never thought taking off something so simple would take 2 weekends, also debating taking off the rear wind defl……….snip

Click to expand...

sea2skydad said:

Where did you run into so much trouble? I've got a hate on for my rack and I'm wanting to lose it but I'm wondering where you hit the snags? Thanks, Greg.

Click to expand...

hoser said:

The snag usually is with the nutserts. When you turn the screws, the nutserts go round and round in their holes without the screws ever loosening up. Removing the headliner to access the backside of the nutsert is a headache. What's the solution?

Click to expand...

Long story that is not finished yet Agree on the hate part, the truck looks much cleaner without the roof rack and the rack had started the seeds of rust that would only grow with time, Hoser got it, spinning nutserts was the first hurtle, on and off rain all weekend and not having the supplies and being prepared for the suddenly expanded task further hampered things,

All four on the USDS nutserts for the main bars of the RR spun with the screw being rusted to the nutsert and the surrounding metal also rusted, the USPS main bars and middle rails were all fine with little rust, I drilled the heads of the 4 screws off with a #11 bit (aprox 3/16") and removed the rack, I could have removed the headliner but the nutsetrs were rusted as was the metal arround so I opted for a blind repair (not removing headliner)

Tried soaking the screws and nutserts with PB blaster most of Saturday afternoon Sunday morning still would not let go of its grip on the nutserts gave up on saving the nutserts since they were already loose in the sheet metal, Cut the remaining exposed screw with a cut off wheel in a die grinder, then used same (not the best choice but all I had at the time, I am out of sanding disks for the mini grinder) to cut the head of the nutserts and knocked them through Then wet sanded the area with 220 grit to get to the rust creeping under the paint, treated remaining stained area with rust remover, at first I tried to cover the holes with Duraglass, my can of it was at least 7 years old and did not look right I also did not have any of the “white cream hardener” it calls for nor could I find anything but red bondo hardener in Newnan GA on Sunday so I settled for some MEKP from home depot, could not get it to harden up, not sure if age, wrong hardener, or getting rained on was the problem, gave up on filling the holes near sundown and primed and painted in several expanding circles (that I will later attempt blend) in the dark holding an umbrella over the work, even with a heat lamp the paint blushed in the high humidity , I temporarily plugged the holes with ear plugs to keep the rain out this week

Yesterday I “obtained” some uber quality blind nuts and the tooling to install them, going to try to find time this week to try them out,