Stock roof rack attachment

Headliner is out for a fabric replacement and want to replace the nutserts that have completely disintergrated. I'm thinking stainless steel panhead screw through the roof rack and roof, then through a 2 in.sq. selfsealing rubber roof material square, 2 in. fender washer and nut with Loctite red. I was thinking a 1/2 inch washer to fit into the hole would help with the sealing too. Any thoughts . . . ? Thanks ahead of time and yes I do carry things up there from time to time.

Well, it sounds good in theory. I think you're on the right track with a washer to fill the hole, otherwise the rack will tend to shift in the large hole under stress. But the washer will have to be no thicker than the sheet metal, or you won't be able to tighten it all properly in the first place.

I think sealing will still be a little bit of a problem, and wonder if it wouldn't be better to get solid nutserts (or Rivnuts -same thing, different brand). They will seal well enough when they are installed, but if in doubt you can put a little goop under the lip before you expand them. They might seep a little through the threads if you don't seal them, but that shouldn't be hard to do. They are stronger than the rubber wellnuts. I redid a couple of the nuts on my old 87 this way. The only problem was that the rivnuts I had in the right outside diameter had a different thread, so I had to enlarge the holes in the rack. Otherwise they worked fine.

I just put a homemade half rack on my roof, I removed the stock rack and only used three holes on each side for the new one. For the ones I used, I went 3/8 hex heads with washers inside and out and a simple nut on the inside, before I tightened them down I squeezed a liberal helping of uv resistant soft setting silicone into the holes aroudn the bolts. It might be a pain to get them loose the next time I need to but I won't leak. just my 2cents

Thanks for the info. The only thing that I don't like about the nutzerts, or the originals for that matter, is the lack of contact that it has with the roof. If I'm fishing by myself, I like to just throw my wood strip canoe up there and cinch it down. This is what pulled one side up originally. I always tie the bow and stern down anyways, so I didn't lose it, just didn't like it pulling out like that. I'd love to be able to use the hex heads but the rails get adjusted for what ever I'm carrying. Nice for your homemade, probably wouldn't work here. Congrats on building your own. Hope to take a welding class this fall at the local VoTech and learn to make one myself, along with a few other things. Matt, you have a point on the 1/2 inch washers being too thick and not allowing the selfseal roofing to seal the hole. I wonder if the plastic base will give way enough for it to pull up even and seal? Like I said, thanks for your info. I've got a week to think about it. Maybe something else will come up.

Marshall

Here's a link to a fix I did on my 89. http://jeepsunited.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4 This was done over 2 years ago and so far it's solid as a rock with no leaks. After I had done this, I thought about doing the same thing only as one continuous "nut strip" for each side.
J.R.

NICE! That's why I was going with 2 inch washers as I figured that was all the room I had in there, especially the way the roof line is. You're right about not much room either to work. Hmmm. . .

You may be right about the nutserts for really heavy-duty use, although they are much stronger than the rubber well-nuts. But I have seen them pull out under high stress in applications such as truck side-view mirrors. If you can get your design to seal well and not slip sideways, it's pretty certain the rack will fail before the mounting does.

What ever I end up doing Matt, I'll post a closing with pics here. I think I may even put one together and let it sit overnight. If I take it apart the next day and the plastic trim on the bottom of the rack shows that the 1/2 inch washer indented itself, then I'll feel comfortable with the seal. Thanks for the info AND the support.

If you have an aircraft supply store nearby (or on the web) they have domed nutplates that seal themselves. They have two types. Riveted or epoxyed. Making your own nutstrips as suggested before is a great idea also. If you are concerned about it leaking then epoxy or seal it into place.

You might want to slow down a bit when your carrying that wind catching canoe and just holding it on by the rack. A lighter canoe like you have would actually get picked up more by the wind than say a large metal version. Although both would be better fastened in at least one forward postion to something more solid, like your rock rails. Or run a rachet strap in through the door opening and close the door on it after tightening.

XJ_MAC said:

You might want to slow down a bit when your carrying that wind catching canoe and just holding it on by the rack. A lighter canoe like you have would actually get picked up more by the wind than say a large metal version. Although both would be better fastened in at least one forward postion to something more solid, like your rock rails. Or run a rachet strap in through the door opening and close the door on it after tightening.

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HossHoffer, I'll check out those nuts. Never heard of them before.

XJ_MAC, slowdown? I have a 2.8, my VW Westfalia will out accelerate me. hahahahaha :laugh3: I always tie the bow and stern down. Just cinched up across the bottom onetime and for some reason they popped while I was driving. OK, so the road was a LITTLE rough, but I didn't expect that to happen. Just looking for a better way to secure the rack till I can get a ConFer or something. Money's allocated to other upgrades right now and the rack would be one of the last.