Factory roof rack (1 Viewer)

[foejuice]

Hi all! Been a while, but have an opportunity to get a factory roof rack for my 1995. PO removed it and sealed with silicone and plastic caps. Can I just clean that silicone out and put the potentially new to me rack in the original place? Will clean up the surface rust and seal prior to install.

 

[FMC80]

Recommend you don’t reinstall the rack that most people delete due to the rust you speak of. Instead, look into getting those holes permanently fixed via welding or other method that has been documented in this forum.
If you’re hell bent on putting that rack back on then I’d suggest looking for a better way to inhibit the rust. The roof rack were port installed in the s***tiest way with rivnuts. Assuming the PO drilled those out and now your holes are wallered out. You may need to step up to a bigger size. Again, counter to what I would do.
Why do you want this rack anyway? In my opinion, it isn’t practical and the gain you get in a subpar roof rack, you lose exponentially in the corrosion of your otherwise good roof.

 

[REKCUT]

Very likely that one or more of the nuts broke off one the inside of the truck.

 

[foejuice]

Recommend you don’t reinstall the rack that most people delete due to the rust you speak of. Instead, look into getting those holes permanently fixed via welding or other method that has been documented in this forum.
If you’re hell bent on putting that rack back on then I’d suggest looking for a better way to inhibit the rust. The roof rack were port installed in the s***tiest way with rivnuts. Assuming the PO drilled those out and now your holes are wallered out. You may need to step up to a bigger size. Again, counter to what I would do.
Why do you want this rack anyway? In my opinion, it isn’t practical and the gain you get in a subpar roof rack, you lose exponentially in the corrosion of your otherwise good roof.

Good points that I wasn't aware of. Thank you. Idea is to have a budget rack until I can save up for a gobi.

 

[FMC80]

Good points that I wasn't aware of. Thank you. Idea is to have a budget rack until I can save up for a gobi.

Yeah dude, the roof rack and rear deflector can really mess up your ride. I just deleted both of mine and although my rig has always been in dry climates, there was rust beginning to form around the rivnuts. I extracted them, sealed up the holes with JB SteelStik, applied rust prevention and painted it over. Read up on here and there are so many examples of rusted roofs. Besides, the clean roof looks great! Save up for your gobi or check out some other affordable and better roof racks through the vendors on here. I especially like @dogfishlake roof racks.