Sunroof Crack/Shatter (2 Viewers)

[80 Life]

A few weeks ago I noticed relatively small cracking in the glass of my 80 Series sunroof. I went and found the cheapest glass I could for it, $100 for the OEM used glass plus $100 shipping, $200 total.
The more research I do on it, I realize how lucky I am to have never experience any leaking around the seal. Also I am noticing that many other people have been riding with a crack in their sunroof for quite some time now without issue. Regardless I have a Bowfin rack on the way so the sunroof wont be of much use soon.

Here are my options as I see them:
1) Install the new glass and risk future leaking.
2) Leave the Sunroof with a crack until it shatters or leaks and then replace.
3) Delete the sunroof and weld Sheetmetal to the roof. I got a quote around $800 to do it properly.

Anyone have any advice or experience dealing with their 80 Series sunroof? Or are there any of you out there that have been rocking a sunroof crack for years? It seems the install of a new sunroof is pretty straight forward, but its the risk of improperly sealing it and causing leaking that was there previously that has me hesitating.

 

[Malleus]

You don't seal the sunroof; the seal on the glass does that. If your sunroof isn't leaking, it's due more to the fact that your drains are clear than anything else.

As to what to do with the crack,

 

[Kernal]

@80 Life : Got photos of the sunroof glass crack(s) you can post up?

 

[80 Life]

You don't seal the sunroof; the seal on the glass does that

Yes... Exactly what I was saying. There certainly is a seal and it is rubber around the sunroof glass. If this seal doesn't work properly it can leak, and when rubber is 30 years old that isn't terribly uncommon. I have seen threads where people seal the entire sunroof with silicone and never open it again because they are sick of fixing sunroof leaks.
I will look into sealing the crack as advised, but it is a little too big for Safelite to touch I'd think.

@80 Life : Got photos of the sunroof glass crack(s) you can post up?

I will post a pic when I get home tonight. It looks like the below but smaller. It spiders webs out just once like this and its why I would think sealing the crack wouldn't be possible

 

[Malleus]

The glass seal is actually a dust seal. It'll exclude most spray, but it's not meant to make the sunroof watertight; that's why there are drains.

 

[80 Life]

The glass seal is actually a dust seal. It'll exclude most spray, but it's not meant to make the sunroof watertight; that's why there are drains

I get what you’re saying now.
I wonder why so many people have reoccurring leaks from the sunroof if it all comes down to keeping the drains clear

 

[Kernal]

IME the sunroof glass assembly can/does sag over time, adding shims (available from Toyota or about any parts store) to the nuts/studs will raise it up and help the gasket seal better, although as mentioned it's not entirely waterproof.

If you remove the glass entirely there are other tricks you can use to help the seal work better (search sunroof leaks). However when you reinstall the glass you have to test fit the glass position (fore/aft) and spray it with a water hose before you tighten it down as that also can also make a difference in how much it leaks, IME.

 

[Malleus]

The system leaks because it was designed to leak. The problem is that the leaks were very poorly managed.

The water leaks past the sunroof seal, into the pan. From there it has to find its way into one of four drains, and then into the sheetmetal pocket in the footwell, or it drains out through the rear cargo area wheelwell (if you're very lucky). After it makes its way into the front footwells, it has to fill the pocket in order to flow over the weir that was created when the sheetmetal was assembled (you have to use a camera to see this, but it's in there). This, by the way, is the same pocket that all the floor harness connectors are tucked into. After that, it flows into the rocker panels, hoping to find its way into one of the pinch drains. If the drains aren't plugged, the water which started its journey on the roof, dribbles out from between the inner and outer rocker panels.

If the water doesn't drain out of the rocker panels, it does what water does: it rusts the panels. It's your job to continually keep those pinch drains clean, and you cannot flush the debris out of the vee created inside the rocker panels, because there's no good way in, and if there was, there;'s only the pinch drains and inner facing plugged holes for the water and debris to get out.

If that sounds complex, it's because it is, and that's why the 80 series sunroofs leak. The 120s don't have this problem; the drains exit through the floor and out behind the front wheels.

The permanent solution is to do the same on the 80; pull one of the sheetmetal body screws holding the rear edge of the fender on the body (there are two) and drill the weldnut out of the pocket. Replace the front drain tube with a rear drain tube, which is the same tube, but longer, and run it out of this hole. The sunroof will drain out through the floor the way it should have from the factory. This is the way the rear drains work, too.

Why Toyota didn't do this is a mystery. They already had the correct part (the rear drain tube) in the correct size and length. They already had the correct solution (look at the way the rear drains exit the body). Maybe this design was lifted from one of the sedans, I've never investigated that. I can see it may have worked, if the drains were half the length they are in the 80, but that's not the case. It took Toyota a long time to fix this, in what is supposed to be their flagship.

Some people have almost done this by using a hole in the floorboard, that's not in the footwell pocket, but that solution requires the drain tube to be in the floor area with your foot, and it's protected (i mean it's secured in the exit hole) by the carpet laying over it. It will work, but it's not a best solution, IMHO.

 

[80 Life]

The system leaks because it was designed to leak. The problem is that the leaks were very poorly managed.

The water leaks past the sunroof seal, into the pan. From there it has to find its way into one of four drains, and then into the sheetmetal pocket in the footwell, or it drains out through the rear cargo area wheelwell (if you're very lucky). After it makes its way into the front footwells, it has to fill the pocket in order to flow over the weir that was created when the sheetmetal was assembled (you have to use a camera to see this, but it's in there). This, by the way, is the same pocket that all the floor harness connectors are tucked into. After that, it flows into the rocker panels, hoping to find its way into one of the pinch drains. If the drains aren't plugged, the water which started its journey on the roof, dribbles out from between the inner and outer rocker panels.

If the water doesn't drain out of the rocker panels, it does what water does: it rusts the panels. It's your job to continually keep those pinch drains clean, and you cannot flush the debris out of the vee created inside the rocker panels, because there's no good way in, and if there was, there;'s only the pinch drains and inner facing plugged holes for the water and debris to get out.

If that sounds complex, it's because it is, and that's why the 80 series sunroofs leak. The 120s don't have this problem; the drains exit through the floor and out behind the front wheels.

The permanent solution is to do the same on the 80; pull one of the sheetmetal body screws holding the rear edge of the fender on the body (there are two) and drill the weldnut out of the pocket. Replace the front drain tube with a rear drain tube, which is the same tube, but longer, and run it out of this hole. The sunroof will drain out through the floor the way it should have from the factory. This is the way the rear drains work, too.

Why Toyota didn't do this is a mystery. They already had the correct part (the rear drain tube) in the correct size and length. They already had the correct solution (look at the way the rear drains exit the body). Maybe this design was lifted from one of the sedans, I've never investigated that. I can see it may have worked, if the drains were half the length they are in the 80, but that's not the case. It took Toyota a long time to fix this, in what is supposed to be their flagship.

Some people have almost done this by using a hole in the floorboard, that's not in the footwell pocket, but that solution requires the drain tube to be in the floor area with your foot, and it's protected (i mean it's secured in the exit hole) by the carpet laying over it. It will work, but it's not a best solution, IMHO.

Awesome information. This kinda makes me want to explore the other permanent solution you didn't discuss of welding it shut and forgetting about it

 

[Malleus]

That's not a rabbit hole, it's a project. rerouting the tubing is an hour job. And it doesn't require welding, painting or sourcing a replacement panel.

 

[80 Life]

That's not a rabbit hole, it's a project. rerouting the tubing is an hour job. And it doesn't require welding, painting or sourcing a replacement panel.

Agreed, that is not option #1, but I like to explore all options before making a decision. I will most definitely look into your solution and more than likely implement it.
Cheer up! More emojis and less . I feel like I'm talking to my dad who is disappointed in me lol

 

[Malleus]

Well, I am old...

 

[Malleus]

This video (from my EXTENSIVE media collection) shows the inner well the water from the drains has to navigate through to get out of the truck. The two bolts at the bottom of the well are the sheetmetal body bolts that are installed from under the front fender lower, rear edge. One, doesn't matter which, has to be removed and the hole enlarged to make room for the drain tube.

Sunroof front drain well, without drain tubing

This is the same area as the other video. I've removed the drain tubing so that the well area is more visible.

forum.ih8mud.com

The other video in the collection shows the well with the tube in it, to give you an idea of what it looks like, as installed from the factory.

 

[effjay80]

I'm very interested in the video. 25 years in CO and this year most rain ever by far which has exposed this issue. And thundering as a type.

 

[Malleus]

This is probably the most useful modification I've made since owning any 80. I was disappointed when I compared my 80 to my wife's GX and saw the front sunroof drain tubes coming out through the floor. I was unsure about the modification until I saw that. Along with the fact that Toyota had already done it this way in the rear of the 80 gave me the impetus to do it. Now I grab rear drain tubes out of every 80 I find in the salvage yards. Just because.

 

[80 Life]

This video (from my EXTENSIVE media collection) shows the inner well the water from the drains has to navigate through to get out of the truck. The two bolts at the bottom of the well are the sheetmetal body bolts that are installed from under the front fender lower, rear edge. One, doesn't matter which, has to be removed and the hole enlarged to make room for the drain tube.

Sunroof front drain well, without drain tubing

This is the same area as the other video. I've removed the drain tubing so that the well area is more visible.

forum.ih8mud.com

The other video in the collection shows the well with the tube in it, to give you an idea of what it looks like, as installed from the factory.

You da thanks!

 

[Kernal]

Apologies to the OP for hijacking his thread.


I just had to use the zip tie trick to open up the slit drains on my 96 model's rocker panels. Hadn't thought about them for ? years and recently started to hear sloshing water but ignored it at first because I had a few gallons of water (jugs) in the vehicle but after a few days I decided to see if the slit drains were plugged, Yup.

At least a quart came out of both sides. A bit surprising at first as this vehicle never goes off road and the area is not particularly dusty, it was plugged up with moldy crud that built up over time in a humid environment. So reminder to self, clean the sunroof drains and rocker panels every ? 12 months. I poured hot soapy water into the sunroof drain pan followed by an industrial strength (non-bleach) disinfectant to kill mold, then more water.

Has there been a thread on this modification, I don't recall??

"pull one of the sheetmetal body screws holding the rear edge of the fender on the body (there are two) and drill the weldnut out of the pocket"

 

[Malleus]

Yep, I pretty much preach the same sermon every time the question is asked. In a pinch, you can just pull the screw. This will prevent water from getting into the rocker panels, because the pocket will never fill to the point of overflow. I chose to take the step of replacing the shorter front drain tubing with the longer rear tubing, because I don't think storing water in body panels is a good idea.

 

[effjay80]

Stupid question but is it possible to splice on another length of tubing to the existing tube and route it out one of those holes accordingly?

 

[Kernal]

Agree all above, I used to keep on top of that PM on both 80's that are on the road, just slipped my mind on the 96 model (until I heard the sloshing).

FWIW last year as a PM I sprayed 3M Cavity wax into the rocker panels of my 97 model making sure it didn't block any of the slit drains. Used zip ties to ensure they were all open after spraying the wax. I was surprised to find that the rocker panel cavities were extremely clean, there was still a light coating of what appeared to be (original) cavity wax present inside the panel.

Got photos of the routing of the longer hose?