Factory roof rack

[str8nm]

Hello all. I have enjoyed reading this site for the last months trying to figure out which way to go with my truck. I will start posting pics as I go along.

The first thing I want to do is the roof rack. I have decided after a long and hard personal debate to leave the factory rack on for now as all I really want it for in the immediate future is skis and snowboards. (down the road I may go with a full rack, but the $$ is better spent on PM and baselining now) I read a thread about replacing the screws with stainless steel ones and putting some sort of feet between the rack and the paint to protect it. Can anyone steer me in the right direction with this?

 

[SpillmanCruiser]

Search is your buddy. Try advanced search, keyword "roof rack" or "rack removal" or "nusert". get ready to have way more info than you care for.

Oh and welcome

 

[Brentbba]

What year is your truck? If it's lived it's life on the east coast, I'd say leave well enough alone on the screws and nutserts in your existing factory rack. They are likely rusting now. Even soaking them with PB Blaster you'll likely have issues removing some of them an just strip/spin the nutsert.

When you're ready to remove the factory rack, if you ever get to that point, just deal with it then.

 

[str8nm]

east coast from....

it came from california....has not sat outside here....hope to head off any rust

 

[Brentbba]

I'd still leave well enough alone. I had some rust on mine (born in Japan, raised in SoCal) when I took off the factory rack a couple of years ago. Even after the PB soaking I had to cut off two of the screws and one of the nutserts was spinning.

 

[str8nm]

roof rack

I guess I have two main questions....so am I guaranteed to have nutsert problems (falling into sunroof etc) and what is the foot that can be put between the existing rack and roof to protect/seal. I guess everyone agrees to leave it alone or elinimate it.

 

[cruiserdan]

Landtank had some special gaskets made up to go between the feet and the roof. PM him and see if he still has some.



https://forum.ih8mud.com/members/landtank.html

 

[str8nm]

Removal

So I picked up a set of African Outback Loadbars here on mud...thanks John! and desiced to immediately investigate that rack.

I was sure I had no rust issues as the truck is from Cali, and it has not spent but a bit outside in the last year.

Upon removal.....RUST.....you were right Lance (IPOR). I am now convinced that everyone should just take these off. Now I have to decide how to fix it. Here are few pics I took while removing, cleaning, picking off bubbly paint. under the rails is the same condition, so they will go too.

 

[str8nm]

more pics

after cleaning

 

[str8nm]

removing loose paint

rust.....

 

[WarDamnEagle]

It took me forever to find a 97 FZJ80 with no factory roof rack or running boards....boy am I glad!

Good luck with that. You could fill the nutserts with a short screw and gasket and POR15 (or equivalent) over the top and then try to match your paint or you could go the whole hog and weld the holes up. There are quite a few threads on here where people have dealt with this issue.

 

[cartercd]

Here is my write-up on getting rid of nutserts and replacing all screws/nuts with stainless steel.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/172759-making-factory-roof-rack-more-secure.html

 

[str8nm]

I know this should be obvious

I have spent the last hour reading about peoples experience with this..and have some good ideas. And this should be obvious to me but it is not. All of my screws will thread back in without spinning the nutsert. I assume that I do want to remove them as they are rusty pieces of #$&% and go from there. What is the easiest way to remove them without losing them in the headliner (This is a 1994...so headliner removal is not an option). JUst thread the bols back in well and dremal off the edge of the nutsert and pull them out?

 

[cruiserdan]

You will not be able to pull them out unless the roof is badly rusted. They flatten-out on both sides of the panel in the same manner that a rivet does. You would drill them out in the same manner as you would a rivet. There is not much of a base and they will probably not be a problem when they drop. I have a few of them trapped in my headliner with no ill effects.

 

[thisilldefend]

You guys have me completly paranoid. I am having nightmares of my baby rusting away before I get back.
I really didn't need anything else to worry about.

 

[cruiserdan]

The factory roof rack is a rust-breeding POS and I have been saying that for over 10 years.

 

[str8nm]

Darn Headliner

Hey Dan, I really want to do it the right way and take down the headliner, weld up the holes, paint, and reinstall headliner. The added cost sucks, but I am treating this like a LONG TERM vehicle so that decision does not scare me. It does however when you talk about a headliner that will not reinstall correctly or at all. Is this really true?

 

[sdnative]

headliner that will not reinstall correctly or at all.

I am about to do this on mine also. Per Dan advice, I am going to let a qualified shop drop and reinstall the headliner. Hopefully they can get it back on straight and factory looking? Maybe not? Dan, what is your opinion?

 

[cruiserdan]

I would not attempt to drop a 91-94 headliner. I would leave that to an upholstry professional. They are now manufacture-discontinued and there are no new ones left. The last published list price for a new one was $1,419.92.

As far as I am concerned the suspended headliner is a sleeping dog that should not be awakened.

 

[JERSEY80]

I would not attempt to drop a 91-94 headliner. I would leave that to an upholstry professional. They are now manufacture-discontinued and there are no new ones left. The last published list price for a new one was $1,419.92.

As far as I am concerned the suspended headliner is a sleeping dog that should not be awakened.

Is it possible to swap a 95-97 headliner into a 93-94?