Awesome! Thanks for the write up! I was going to wing it after I saw it on tacomaworld from LTDSC’s build. I figured it was going to be a pain removing the headliner. Any plans for the empty opening where the glass panel is?
Sunroof to Skylight and Headliner Removal (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter James C
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- #22
The opening in the headliner or the hole in the roof? Right now the OEM sunroof glass is bolted in and silicone sealed around the edges (no leaks so far!) and the headliner slide operates as normal.
If the glass ever breaks, I think I'll just fab up a "plug" out of fiberglass. We never open the headliner slide anyway, so I wouldn't miss the window. The opening in the headliner is definitely a potential storage space, but there's noticeably more wind noise with it open so I'd have to figure that out too.
If the glass ever breaks, I think I'll just fab up a "plug" out of fiberglass. We never open the headliner slide anyway, so I wouldn't miss the window. The opening in the headliner is definitely a potential storage space, but there's noticeably more wind noise with it open so I'd have to figure that out too.
The headliner slide. Good to know it still functions. It definitely helps with noise. I might dynamat the glass itself since I don’t need to see out of it. We never open the headliner slide as it is.
Headliner back in. Will finish with the rest of the interior panels tomorrow. It's quite nice driving QUIETLY down the road now.
Any chance that you could bypass all that and just install the bolts? Of course you would have to figure out what wire to cut to kill power to the motor too. If I'm not mistaken, it looks like all 4 bolts you added would be accessible from opening the sun shield cover thing.
- Thread starter
- #26
Maybe if you have super small dexterous hands, but even then I doubt it. Having the headliner off was crucial to holding the bolt heads. Also, getting all the mechanical crap out was the main reason I did this - my sunroof worked fine it was just noisy and I didn't want it anymore.
Need to do this before summer time. It rattles too much
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Like many others, I had sunroof rattle. I tried the standard fixes (half-heartedly) but it kept getting worse. It didn't surprise me that adding stiff suspension to a 14-year old luxury car would cause issues like this, and personally, I don't care for sunroofs. I've been dreaming of a way to delete the sunroof for a while, but didn't have the guts or the cash to have it welded shut and was coming up short on ideas. Luckily I found this thread:
LTDSC Build Thread - Page 74 - Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum
and decided that was good enough for me. We've got a big winter road trip planned, and I wasn't ready to handle 5,000 miles of rattling. I know this isn't groundbreaking, but I decided to document it here on Mud anyway because it's a great site and I owe this community so much. Plus I don't know how to use any other parts of the internet
So here are way too many pictures and details of my never-ending quest to make this truck simpler:
I read a quote once in reference to headliners, and that "they drop them in and then build the car around them". So, we start from the bottom:
Rear hatch kick panel + all other kick panels
6x seatbelt covers and bolts (label them, they're not all the same)
Third row seat brackets
Rear quarter panel has some screws under the carpet
Rear overhead light
Some random headliner clips
B pillar
A pillar
Visor screws
Front overhead light (there's a middle one too, forgot to take a picture)
8x oh-s*** bars
The rear upper quarter panels have these two clips along the roof rail that were super annoying to remove. I resorted to jamming my hand behind the panel with a screwdriver and prying the red section off the white clip. Not sure that's how Toyota would do it, but it's all I could think of. Hardest part of the removal for me by far.
After there's no interior of your GX left, you can drop the headliner! I had a friend help in exchange for a few beers and some grilled chicken
And then you have to pull the wiring harness off so you can remove it
Empty!
Remove the 10 or so bolts and nuts holding the sunroof tray in
There are 4 brackets (2 front, 2 rear) that support it from the bottom. Loosen the bolts that hold these to the body to move them out of the way.
What's the best way to get the A-pillar off? Considering pulling mine to get a better look at the sunroof drain tubes and clean them out.
Just pull the grab handles off and then they pop off. Two screws that hold the handles on hold the a pillar as well. Very easy.
Thank you so much for the write up! This gave me the confidence to drop my headliner myself as I've removed most of those panels separately at some point. Reason why I want to do this is possibly fix my sunroof as it isn't working (previous owner) and it leaks a lot. I'd like to get it fixed and replace the seal but will be just as happy to remove the moving parts and seal it up. I don't daily drive my GX so this project will be just fine and have a super long road trip coming up in the summer.
Couple of questions, what did you use to seal the sunroof? i'm guessing clear silicone? Thank you so much once again!
Couple of questions, what did you use to seal the sunroof? i'm guessing clear silicone? Thank you so much once again!
Thanks for the write up! I've been wanting to take mine off because my Prinsu rack keeps rattling. I believe I may have to replace some of the OEM mounting brackets for the roof rack or may have botched a few of them using my impact wrench to get the bolts off during install smh.
Did you happen to notice if these were accessible after removing the headliner?
Did you happen to notice if these were accessible after removing the headliner?
- Thread starter
- #32
Glad it helped! Yeah clear silicone. It attracts dirt so it's not perfect looking, but you can't see it because of the roof rack. It's held up surprisingly well over the last few winters.
Yeah they are! There are some wires and brackets you might have to move, but they're right there. My biggest regret is not adding two more up front when I had the headliner out. it would have really helped stabilize the front of the roof rack. Next time I guess.
sandcruiser
....back in the saddle again....
nice writeup. thanks!
I have to dig into mine, soon, to repair a (broken?) cable. I do like having the sunroof so I'll opt to fix vs. delete, but seeing the removal helps a lot.
I have to dig into mine, soon, to repair a (broken?) cable. I do like having the sunroof so I'll opt to fix vs. delete, but seeing the removal helps a lot.
My sunroof just started grinding/clicking/popping when opening it, and searching about that brought me here. Nice work! How's it holding up? I was contemplating using eternabond tape around the perimeter of the sunroof opening, but it hasn't come to that yet.
