Rear Wind Deflector Mounts

[truthdetector]

Does anyone know which screws are used to fasten the rear wind deflector mounts? Specifically the third, bottom screw. I have the two top screws that thread in.

There doesn't appear to be threads in the bottom hole. Is it really a self-tap screw that goes in there?

 

[NeverFinis]

All three should be M8 nutserts. You are missing the bottom one. I would go with the dark M8s, but I honestly can't recall as I removed mine.

 

[truthdetector]

Weird. Both of the bottom holes on mine are missing threads and the hole is not big enough to have had a rivnut in it.

 

[truthdetector]

And I only have 4 of the M5 screws, not 6.

(I'm re-assembling some stuff after getting it back from body/paint)

 

[NeverFinis]

Here are mine. The bottom one holds water and accelerates rust.

 

[truthdetector]

Interesting, thanks.

I have M5 rivnuts. Not excited about drilling into my new paint job, but seems as though I have no other choice.

 

[NeverFinis]

I thought they were M8s or maybe M6s, but could be wrong.

 

[truthdetector]

The screws are M5 x 16.

In mine, it had to have been the wood screws shown at the right of my first picture. Crazy.

Another question: Did the mounts come with a gasket between the mount and the body? If they did, mine are gone and I don't want to screw the hard plastic against the body, so I got a sheet of 1/16" silicon gasket material to make my own.

There's nothing in Partsouq about the rear wind deflector, so I have to improvise.

 

[truthdetector]

 

[NeverFinis]

Yes, there is a gasket.

Can't remember which side went against the body but if I had to guess, the plastic coated-side would be against the body.

 

[truthdetector]

Nice! Are these still available? If so, is there a part number?

 

[NeverFinis]

Don't think they are available. I think they, along with the roof rack, were installed port side.

 

[Kernal]

Been discussed but FWIW, the foam "gasket" IMHO was a mistake, not thought through very well (it was a port or dealer installed option, not done at the factory in Japan).

It's only purpose IMO was to fill the air gap caused by the upper lip of the nutserts ie: the wing/deflector mount sits on the top of the nutserts, not the hatch.

The problem is that it's an open cell foam which holds water like a sponge. So every time it rains or there's dew on the vehicle, that sponge soaks it up. And that is what causes the rust along with the holes that were punched through the sheet metal to install the nutserts.

Or to put it another way, it's not the lower nutsert that causes the problem, its the sponge that holds water which stays wet (more) at the lower
edge of that foam filler. The foam gasket at the upper nutserts dries out quicker so less rust, IMHO.

FWIW when I fixed the rust under those mounts (13 years ago) I left the foam sheet out entirely, no replacement, so there's a 1/16" air gap that will not hold water.

This is after the repair (removing rust, applying RustMort, JB Weld, priming and painting). The mount appears to be sitting on top of the repair but it's actually sitting on the top of the nutserts (as before). I just left the gasket out so that area would not hold water. You don't notice that gap with the dust deflector in place. This was meant a stop-gap quickie fix but it's still good after 13 years.

Previous thread:

Check under your rear wind deflector mounts for rust

Noticed a few months ago some rust starting to peek out from under the mounting brackets for the rear wind deflector so this evening decided to pull the deflector off and take a look. When removing the deflector I first removed the wing from the mounts, two #2 Phillips screws on each side...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[truthdetector]

Thanks for the info. Fortunately, mine was not rusted…or maybe it was and it was repaired during the body and paint work.

I just don’t understand why the bottom. Nutserts are missing on mine.

In any case, I’m going to install new nutserts along with the DIY silicon rubber gasket.

 

[NeverFinis]

The issue is not only the gasket, but the way the mount is designed. The bottom bolt sits in a water collecting cavity that doesn't drain.

When I took my mounts off, there was a teaspoon of water in both bottom bolt cavities.

Maybe drill a small hole in the bottom mount cavity to let water drain out.

 

[Kernal]

Yes, been discussed before about water getting into the mounts in that long thread from ?13 years years ago (and others talking about drilling holes, sealing the mounts, etc,etc).

So when I put the mounts back on IIRC I first put a very small button of a non-hardening sealant (the blue stuff?) on top of each nutsert to help seal them once the mount was installed. But I also applied Permatex thread sealer (the white stuff) to the nutsert and screw threads as I found (when driving with the wing off for a few days with the screws in the nutserts) that water did get by the fully tightened screw threads ie: into the hatch (another reason to spray Cavity wax inside your hatch).

I also sealed the top edge of the "box" of the mounts (where the one screw is located down inside and where the wing sits) with mounting tape (sticky side down) before putting the wing back on top of the mounts. I did it that way so I could easily remove the wing in the future. And the very last thing before sealing that "box" section of the mount was to use a tiny spritz of cavity wax inside to cover the head of the screw. Then seal the final screws when attaching the wing.

I didn't drill a drain hole into the mounts (others have) figuring that if water can get out then water can get in so I focused on sealing the mounts and the threads to keep water out but IDK which is the "best" method. A small drain hole at the very lowest point at the rear of the mounts but also sealing everything up could be one way to approach it.

The primary issue, rusting of the hatch around the nutserts (which could cause a nutsert to disappear inside the hatch), is due to the dumb arse idea of drilling holes in the factory primed/painted hatch and installing nutserts. Then making it worse by installing a foam pad that acts like a wet sponge.