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OEM roof rack pulling out

919Chief

NAXJA Forum User
Location
WNC
My OEM roof rack on my 88 is pulling the bolts out of the mounting holes.... some ?????'s

Will water get in these and damage the inside or are they sealed from the rest of the vehicle.

Can you get new rubber bushing to replace the originals, and do the bolts just go into the rubber or is there an actual nut they go into?

Has anyone fabricated a roof rack using the OEM mounts?
 
Yes, it will leak and it will ruin the headliner.

The holes go right through.

You can replace the well nuts. That's what you need to look/ask for at the auto parts store. Determine the hole size and the thread size. They're standard. They're also not cheap, but it's better than having to redo your headliner.

I would not fabricate a new rack using the old mounts, because the well nuts are not very strong, and there isn't enough reinforcement under them to hold much weight. If you wanted to use the original holes, you'd do better either to fabricate some kind of mounting plate with a blind hole, or take your chances with solid metal "rivnuts" using some kind of sealer. But it's much easier just to do a gutter mount rack.
 
Most of mine pulled out on my '89. I stopped at a local hardware store and picked up some jam nuts (I think). Think hollow wall fastners but for metal aplications. Cost like a quarter each. Kinda hard to start with the headliner in but mine died a long time ago. You could lower one edge to get into them though. They just drop in from the top and with a little holding crank them down and install a pan head machine screw. They did have a special wrench but it was like $2 and I could get to them from the inside since I have no headliner. FIXED and I only replaced the ones that needed it. And yeah they are way stronger than the rubber jobbies that rotted out and failed. BTW to weather seal it I added a rubber washer between the rack rail and the roof. Hope that helps.
 
Two ideas -

1) Get OEMR well nuts, and reinstall roof rack. A little clear silicone "Auto Glass Sealer" won't go amiss - apply to barrel of well nut and to screw threads.

2) Get hardware store well nuts, and remove roof rack. As I recall, 1/4" well nuts fit neatly into the 1/2" holes in the roof, and I secured them with brass screws and washers. Again with the clear silicone.

It's up to you.

5-90
 
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