Roof Rack Advice (1 Viewer)

[MPS]

Had a fantastic trip to Moab a few weeks back, with the highlight being an overnight trip on the White Rim Trail. Our 1996 LX450 (The Beast) performed admirably, even in 109 degree heat, but the roof rack front mounts failed. Carrying camping gear for 4 people did it in but unseen rust probably didn't help. I am planning to drop the liner, pull the rack and do whatever clean up is necessary to fill the holes then repaint. The PO did a nasty job on a previous repaint so this was on my to-do list anyway. Here are the questions:
- My auto body guy says I should leave on the OEM roof ribs / roof rack rails as they provide rigidity to an otherwise weak roof. I live in Tahoe and he says that a heavy snow load will pop the roof which will also mess up the sun roof seals. I think the roof looks cleaner without the ribs / rails but maybe I am overthinking it. Also, some new roof racks mentioned in other threads ride quite low so may not clear the ribs. In any case, your input here would be helpful.
- Is there an advantage to cleaning up the rust and keeping the original rack holes. I could then put in bolts / rubber washers for future use? The old racks worked well for simple stuff (skis, surfboards) so if I ever sell my car then someone may want to revert to OEM. Again, I am probably overthinking this but I only want to pull the roof liner once. Just curious if folks think there is some positive aspect to retaining the ability to reattach an OEM rack at some point.
Thanks everyone.

 

[cahill]

If it were me I would just weld it all shut. I don't think the ribs add any or much structural rigidity to the roof. Maybe leave one hole towards the front and one towards the back to run wires through if you are planning to put lights or solar on the roof. Just so you know, from what I understand these roof ribs and rack are not installed from factory in Japan. They were added at the port/dealerships here in the USA. I don't think the 80 series will suffer without them or have a "weak roof". The thing I would look at when you drop the headliner is the cross braces that add structural ridgitiy to the roof. They are adhered to the roof skin with a NVH glue material that gets old and cracks and often separates over time allowing the roof to flex more that it should. I would re-glue it to the cross braces if that is the case.

 

[bigredmachine]

i would leave the ribs unless when you drop the headliner you see rust where they are, its less holes to fill when doing the body work and they wont hurt anything. fill up the rack holes and just get gutter mounts for whatever rack or basket you feel that you need. the gutter mounts will be stronger and i dont really see having the factory rack really being a selling point on the truck

 

[gummycarbs]

There's no way that any part of the port-installed roof rack adds any strength to any part of the roof. It's just small pads attached to the roof skin with riv-nuts.

If you want a stronger roof, remove the sunroof and add bracing. Sunroof models are missing two roof reinforcements.

 

[MPS]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I knew many parts were port installed, but I didn't realize the roof rack was. Would also mean the roof was built strong enough originally so doesn't really need to roof ribs to add rigidity. Will see what he finds when they pull the liner. If there is no rust then will likely leave the ribs in place.

 

[LandLocked93]

Don't overlook the 'ribs'. They are 3 wall, *thick* aluminum bits. and attached to the roof by what looks to be length-long, plastic adhesive strips shaped to match the routed edge on the bottom of ribs. Very high contact to grip ratio. The ribs slide off when the end caps are removed, forward or rearward.
My rack for example, is made of ultra-lightweight protruded chinesium strips bolted together with metal roofing screws.
54x39 and attached to the two farthest-apart ribs with two bolts per rib, it fits between the outside 'bars'.
With the two middle ribs removed, the rack sits 1" above the roof and introduces no noticeable wind noise.
Of course there are no plans to put more than 120 dynamic# on top.
All depends on intended use.

Otherwise, use rain gutter mounts for serious weight up top. It's part of their purpose. And don't skimp on them either. At least four per side for more than 200# dynamic.

 

[jaymar]

There's no way that any part of the port-installed roof rack adds any strength to any part of the roof. It's just small pads attached to the roof skin with riv-nuts.

If you want a stronger roof, remove the sunroof and add bracing. Sunroof models are missing two roof reinforcements.

Damn. And that's right where upside-down Cruisers come to rest...

 

[MPS]

Thank you everyone for your helpful advice. It took me some time but did want to close the loop on my project. I ended up doing a complete roof rack delete, which included removing the ribs. I then had the roof liner dropped, rivnuts cut out, holes patched and roof repainted (I used Ritch's Auto in Incline Village, NV...who did a great job fixing both the holes and the sorry paint job the PO had done). I finished it off with a new set of load bars from Front Runner. I often trade off between a roof rack, roof box, surf racks, whatever so like the flexibility of just having the bars. Love the new set-up. Here are some before and after pics.