Making the factory roof rack more secure

[cartercd]

Dan has described the factory roof rack best: “a rust-breeding POS and is the devil incarnate.” While this is true, it does have the advantage of being low-profile, light weight, quiet, and it blends in well with the factory roof lines. It is the load carrying ability and dubious attachment method (nutserts) that leave a lot to be desired. I don’t need to carry much weight, so I decided to beef up the attachment points to give me a little more confidence going down the freeway with my bike on top.

I started by removing the roof rack and drilling out all the nutserts. I have a zero-rust rig so this was easy for me. I cleaned and primed the area where the nutserts once lived, repainted the rack with a spray paint, and then remounted the rack with 1/4” socket head screws with a fender washer and nut secured from inside the vehicle.

 

[cartercd]

The rear mounts can be accessed by prying off the speaker covers (you will break at least half of the mounting tabs, but I secured the covers back to the headliner with a hot glue gun without issues). There is plenty of room to get a ¼ socket in there to tighten the nut. The front mounts are a bit more challenging. I taped a thin metal bar to a wrench, taped the nut/washer to the wrench, and fished it through the sunroof opening. Through trial and error, I got the nut positioned and tightened it from above. Do not try this without a telescoping magnetic pickup tool, because you will lose the nut and washer numerous times in the process!

 

[cartercd]

The factory crossbars are not very versatile, so I replaced them with a 1.125” diameter .083 thickness DOM tubing. This is the same diameter as Yakima crossbars if you want to use Yakima accessories. I welded two bike fork mounts, a Hi-Lift mount (I intend to just mount the mast, not the base/handle/jacking mechanism), and a few loops for a shovel handle. The end result maintains the factory look/height, provides a little more secure mounting, and is much more versatile.

 

[Ting]

Very nice... Thanks for sharing...

 

[gettn2]

Very clean job ... ! Looks great!

 

[gbell210]

Did you put any rubber between those hard plastic feet and the roof? Those also tend to vibrate and remove paint. Otherwise, nice factory look.

 

[dcFJ]

That's good stuff right there...great job on that and some good thinking.

 

[KliersLC]

X2 on the rubber.


I'd at least use some silicone to seal the bottoms and also between the two pieces. Also, water can access inside the feet from the long pieces--there is a hole that needs to be siliconed also.

 

[cartercd]

I didn't put rubber underneath the feet, although I agree that it is a good idea. There is a thread on neoprene gaskets that covers this. I did have some surface wear on the paint where the feet sit, which I touched up with some clearcoat. It is so dry in Phoenix that rust isn't on of the battles that I have to fight (I just have to avoid melting).

 

[wcbr]

I like this design. Can you post additional images showing how you are attaching the new crossbars to the factory rails? I assume you shopped up the OEM connection points some how?

Thnaks,

Wc

 

[artech]

After working on my rack I put some silicone caulk in the top bolt holes to help prevent water from going down the bolts. Probably wouldn't be an issue in a drier state.

 

[cartercd]

I welded a small flat plate on the ends of the crossbars. 2 bolts pass through these holes into the factory rails, where they screw into the sliding nuts (similar to OEM setup).

 

[wcbr]

Thanks, for the additional info. The search begins to find someone to build a set of these for my LX.
Any chance you want to build another set?

Wc

 

[cartercd]

If you saw my welds you would not want me to build you anything. Buy the DOM online, get some steel plate at Home Depot and cut to size, then take to a local welder who will zap them on in a few minutes.

 

[harrydunn]

Sent you a PM with a question.

 

[harrydunn]

Old thread, I realize but I'm just curious if you recall how long the new 1/4" screws are that you used. Nice work on reviving the OEM rack.

--Mark

 

[harrydunn]

Did this last night. 2.5" length 1/4" bolts for the "tall" side of the mounts and 2" for the short side. I found that out the hard way. :-O I superglued the nut to the washer then superglued the washer to the end of a piece of flat steel to fish it under the bolt hole opening. Worked great for the front bolts. My wife's tiny hands worked well for the rear bolts via the speaker openings. I couldn't get my big paws up in there. Much more secure now.

 

[Rifleman]

I see that great minds think alike, i really like what you built. I wanted a low profile rack too, so i built a custom frame to fit down inside of the factory rack. Here's a few photos of what i made.