Roof rack removal observations.

[Mars]

I drilled out the rusted screws from the nutserts, the ones that didn't just totally snap off. Little wiggling, and a little roof deformation, and I've got clean holes. Home depot plugs and automotive sealer, 3+" of rain, and no leaks...so far. I'm going to keep my eye on them though.

 

[rolliges]

What are the surgical gloves for?

 

[jlc]

gloves

i knew someone was gonna ask what the gloves were for...
threadlocker goop.. i just had a manicure.

 

[NorCalSam]

i knew someone was gonna ask what the gloves were for...
threadlocker goop.. i just had a manicure.

That looks much cleaner than our rig looks. I peeked at it there is rust and black silicone or 995 type stuf all over.

I got some black plastic pugs from the toyota body and fender man and plan on using a little black sealer too.

 

[C6H12O6]

You will have trouble with those threaded inserts rusting if you don't get a perfectly watertight seal all around them. I used a black finish cheapo Home Depot parts drawer screw to temporarily fill the holes until I could round up all the stainless hardware to do my "final" fix and they rusted in a matter of days.

I used some of the Teflon thread sealer goop that is supposed to cure inside the threads and seal just like Teflon tape, but it never seemed to cure. I pulled the screws out after a week and the white goop appeared as though I had just applied it. The goop that was exposed to the air cured in a matter of minutes. I wanted something that would migrate down in between the threads a little better than RTV silicone. This may not be it.

Anybody else tried this stuff?

 

[tarbe]

I ground my nutserts flush, sanded the entire pad area, treated with phosphoric acid and filled the holes and covered the (formerly) rusted area with POR 15 putty. I then sprayed bed-liner over the top of the POR 15.

The bed-liner is probably overkill as the POR 15 is like a rock when it hardens (you can tap threads into the stuff).

 

[elmariachi]

I ground my nutserts flush, sanded the entire pad area, treated with phosphoric acid and filled the holes and covered the (formerly) rusted area with POR 15 putty. I then sprayed bed-liner over the top of the POR 15.

Yes, and in 10,000 years three archeologists are going to find those four small roof attachment areas from your long-since decomposed and rusted-to-powder Lexus and be puzzled about what the hell they are.

 

[lndcruz]

So after reading these rust rack threads I decided to tackle mine. All my screws came out smooth and I had very minimal rust underneath. I prefer the rackless look but dont know what to do about the slider things that are attached to the roof, I wish I could explain it better but im sure someone understands what im saying. Do these just unbolt as the rack did? Or am I stuck with them?

 

[sandcruiser]

the sliders unbolt, exposing more nutserts