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Reoving Nutserts from Roof

twisted_ed

twisted_ed

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Courtenay, British Columbia, Canada
My roof rack leaks from my surco and fullsize spare up top, I changed it over to gutter mounts and have decided to simply remove the rack, nuserts and weld the holes up since the paint around most of them has rusted away

They are not rubber ones, it is a 1990 and they are all metal. What is the best way to remove them without special tools. I am thinking that simply drilling them out is the answer? is there an easier way?
 
Really? I've got a 1990 with rubber well nuts in it - and I've got them in all the rest of my rigs anyhow.

On my 88, since I got tired of the roof rack leaking, I peeled it off and put a batch of 1/4"-20 nuts in with "Auto Glass Sealer" (a light-bodied, clear silicone) around the nuts and screws. That will do until I finally have time to strip out the sunroof and get rid of it totally - I'll fill the holes in the roof then (since I plan to re-paint the thing anyhow.)

If they turn out to be rubber, you can just shave the flange off with a razor blade if they don't pull right out. If they're true "nutserts," they're swaged into the metal panel - you'd have to punch them out. You can try threading in a short bit of allthread (if you can figure out the thread size,) put a protector on the roof panel around the stud, and whack it with a hammer. I've had some luck doing that.

Since it's supposed to swage into the panel, they're probably also steel - which means you can just weld over them if they are. That's also an option.
 
Not meaning to high-jack the thread... but have a question along these lines. 5-90, my rails are coming up from the previous owner of the Jeep putting a huge rack up top and pulling up the rails.. the rubber nutzerts are old and crappy and have come out and don't really work.. you talked about putting in other nutzerts with a sealant... how well would that work to hold down the rails and also a factory ghetto fab'd lightbar? That's all it needs to hold... is the lightbar on the rails and when I get another roof rack it will be gutter mount to not cause the nutzert problem... got any pictures of what you used or explain more how you did it? That would be great as I have my light bar and lights ready to go on... but the rail and nutzert issue has to be fixed first.. thanks in advance.
 
I know the screws I took out were goofy, but (as I recall) 1/4"-20 nutserts fit neatly into the holes.

The screws that came out definitely had countersunk flat heads, so once you know what size to use, get a flat head screw and you can probably do that. I didn't put the roof rack back - so I just used brass pan heads to kinda give it a "finished" look for now.
 
Yea, those rubber well nuts dont hold up to much abuse. I ended up leaving just the chrome rails on the roof and took off the rest. A good steel gutter mount is the only way to go up there. I bought all new rubber well nuts from the dealer, to hold down the chrome and seal it about 3 or 4 years ago. they werent expensive.

KH
 
Bdiddy11 said:
Not meaning to high-jack the thread... but have a question along these lines. 5-90, my rails are coming up from the previous owner of the Jeep putting a huge rack up top and pulling up the rails.. the rubber nutzerts are old and crappy and have come out and don't really work.. you talked about putting in other nutzerts with a sealant... how well would that work to hold down the rails and also a factory ghetto fab'd lightbar? That's all it needs to hold... is the lightbar on the rails and when I get another roof rack it will be gutter mount to not cause the nutzert problem... got any pictures of what you used or explain more how you did it? That would be great as I have my light bar and lights ready to go on... but the rail and nutzert issue has to be fixed first.. thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I replaced mine with new ones from the dealership 2 months ago on my 87. The new ones turned out to be all metal "moly-bolt" style inserts. No way they will ever pull out. They will take the roof with them first! They apperently no longer sell the old brass thread/rubber inserts.

Also the new ones have the exposed external ends coated in a PVC/vinyl, plastisol coating so they seal great (quite leakproof). They do not leak, are easy to install and highly recommened.

Now the only week spot on my OEM racks is the upper cross rails themselves.
 
langer1 said:
You have to remove the rust anyways so just grind them off flush and fill them.
Click to expand...

On the rust issue, depends on the amount of rust. If the old holes are seriously compromised with rust such that new nut inserts will not hold, then forget my earlier suggestion.

If it is superficial surface rust I have had excellant experience (10+ years with no rust) with wire brushing only followed by one of the rust converter formulas (brands) available in the paint sections that convert rust into a polymerized polymer primer coat. One brand I know of is Klean-Strip Rust Converter, containing barium Sulfate, and an acrylic copolymer.

The stuff turns from pink/flesh color to black as it reacts with the red rust and forms one hell of a rust proof primer. I have used it on cancerous body rust and gotten at least 10 years of additional life with out any further rust in the treated areas. First used it in the early 1980's. Costs about $8.00 for an 8 oz bottle. There are several brands of it out there.
 
So they sell the new metal-ish nutzerts at the dealer? Got a pic of them? I've seen them on other junkyard XJ's... know how they install at all? this would be ideal as they would definately hold longer and be more sturdy than some rubber ones...thanks for your help.
 
Bdiddy11 said:
So they sell the new metal-ish nutzerts at the dealer? Got a pic of them? I've seen them on other junkyard XJ's... know how they install at all? this would be ideal as they would definately hold longer and be more sturdy than some rubber ones...thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

I used the OEM rack rails as a back up tool to keep them from turning or slipping while I expanded them inserts. The screw goes through the rack rail then through the nutcert then press and turn the screw tell they have expanded all the way.

No pictures yet.
 
Eco, I guess i'm a little confused by your last post...I can see how the screw goes through the rail... into the already exhisting hole where it should go normall... then into the nutzert which is in the roof..the new metal one... but how does it expand? How does it stay in the roof? Do you take out the headliner and stick it up through the inside and it has kind of a washer like bottom to hold it in place? That's where i'm lost... is how this new nutzert stays in the hole and doesn't move... if anyone could expound on this, that would be great.:spin1:
 
I'm fighting with two of those now on the TJ, I removed the fender extensions that go alongside the front of the body behind the TJ fender flare and one is spinning on each side, of course it's the ones that are 'inside' the body, both have the bolts about 1/2 way out and short of using a slide hammer I'm trying to figure out how to remove them.
I cut a slot in the extensions in that one hole to get them off. I would love to remove them and then reinstall new ones or plugs to keep water out of that sealed area. Been trying to find some kind of knife edged pliers that could grab the lip on the nutcert so I could back the bolt out the rest of the way and maybe plug it with liquid rubber.
 
Bdiddy11 said:
Eco, I guess i'm a little confused by your last post...I can see how the screw goes through the rail... into the already exhisting hole where it should go normall... then into the nutzert which is in the roof..the new metal one... but how does it expand? How does it stay in the roof? Do you take out the headliner and stick it up through the inside and it has kind of a washer like bottom to hold it in place? That's where i'm lost... is how this new nutzert stays in the hole and doesn't move... if anyone could expound on this, that would be great.:spin1:
Click to expand...
It works just like a residential drywall "MolyBolt".

Once the screw bottoms out on the roof rail (by screwing the bolt into the nut all the way first) it starts to slowly draw the nut up to the roof and the four split sides spread out to make a large surface (about 1" dia) nut/spread out leg assembly inside and under the roof (hole).

No need to access the bottom or mess with the headliner.
 
RichP said:
I'm fighting with two of those now on the TJ, I removed the fender extensions that go alongside the front of the body behind the TJ fender flare and one is spinning on each side, of course it's the ones that are 'inside' the body, both have the bolts about 1/2 way out and short of using a slide hammer I'm trying to figure out how to remove them.
I cut a slot in the extensions in that one hole to get them off. I would love to remove them and then reinstall new ones or plugs to keep water out of that sealed area. Been trying to find some kind of knife edged pliers that could grab the lip on the nutcert so I could back the bolt out the rest of the way and maybe plug it with liquid rubber.
Click to expand...

If you are trying to remove the new style (molybolt like nutcerts) just partially thread the bolt into the nut a few turns (just a few threads) and them gently hit the top of the bolt with a hammer and it will respread the four legs of the nut/leg assembly back out so that they can be pulled back out and through the front hole and replaced.
 
Ecomike said:
If you are trying to remove the new style (molybolt like nutcerts) just partially thread the bolt into the nut a few turns (just a few threads) and them gently hit the top of the bolt with a hammer and it will respread the four legs of the nut/leg assembly back out so that they can be pulled back out and through the front hole and replaced.
Click to expand...

That sounds like a plan, got two on the YJ that have the same problem. A deadblow hammer maybe.
 
Thanks for clarifying. So if I go to the dealer, they should know what i'm talking about when I tell em' I need nutzerts for the roof? Is there anywhere else to get them? Maybe cheaper than what a dealer would be? Or have an idea of what they roughly cost? Thanks again.
 
Bdiddy11 said:
Thanks for clarifying. So if I go to the dealer, they should know what i'm talking about when I tell em' I need nutzerts for the roof? Is there anywhere else to get them? Maybe cheaper than what a dealer would be? Or have an idea of what they roughly cost? Thanks again.
Click to expand...
I don't know about the size of the roof ones but I bought a bag of about 18 or so when we were rebuilding my sons TJ after he rolled it. The dealer charged me $1.50 ea...
 
Bdiddy11 said:
Thanks for clarifying. So if I go to the dealer, they should know what i'm talking about when I tell em' I need nutzerts for the roof? Is there anywhere else to get them? Maybe cheaper than what a dealer would be? Or have an idea of what they roughly cost? Thanks again.
Click to expand...

About $1.50 each as I recall.
 
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