possibly the definitive roof rack fix ?! :) (1 Viewer)

[jcolegrove]

hi,
got the rubber feet and SS screws from landtank and did the job last nite. pulled the rack and had some rust by the nutserts and just some paint scraped off where the STUPID hard plastic rack rubs the body. was still wet in a couple places from rain the day before ! '97 from georgia. used a utility knife to scrape all rust off, then used touch up paint to cover.

got a little liquid wrench on one of the SS bolts and made sure it easily threads into each of the 8 holes. this also coats the threads a bit. then put a little silicone rtv on the rubber pads, put them on the roof. cut a very little 'V' into the low place on each foot of the rack for water seepage, just in case. place the rack down on them, put screws in a little, then rtv the underside of each screw head to help seal. (someone had mentioned making a gasket, but the screws JUST fit into the holes as is and i suspect that any more material would actually create a gap for water to leak, hence the rtv). after screwing down, fill the screw holes with rtv. completely seals it and will still be easy to pull out the rtv if ever want to take it off again.

hope this helps from a newbie....

 

[PACNW96]

Nice work. I am in the process of doing the same, but I am making the rubber feet from some EPDM 1/4" rubber sheet I found on E-bay. I had bought some weatherstrip adhesive for attaching the rubber feet to the roof, but now I am wondering if RTV is better....

Russell

 

[erics_bruisers]

show pics!

anyone have a civil solution to the rear wind-deflector?

e

 

[jcolegrove]

here i am again.... re: rear spoiler-- just did that job.

took off spoiler, (there is a screw underneath, so it must come off before the feet). took off feet... there was a little surface rust by 2 of the 6 holes, one each side at the bottom, presumably where water will drain to.

be careful not to tear the gasket, but then peel it off. clean off dirt, scrape off surface rust, touch up paint, rtv the gasket back down, then fill in rtv around the gasket where the screws go. this will seal this area from further water. fill rtv to level with the gasket all around the holes. put feet on and screw in just a bit. coat bottom of screw heads with rtv and screw all down. then fill all around the screw heads as well. use pencil or such to reach down in foot and fill around the bottom screw.

NOW... IMPORTANT !!!. you will note the stupid spoiler screws on and covers the foot and makes a 'box' around the bottom screw. i'm sure this is not watertight and is probably where water is getting in. Put rtv on the foot around the box that seals around that bottom screw. then screw on spoiler. it will then be sealed...... hopefully.