OEM Roof Rack Leak and Fix

At least your rack came with foam washers, mine didn't come with instructions nor foam washers. Everything is water tight now that I put silicon around every bolt.

 

You saved yourself a headache, the foam was useless. The silicone seems to be OK, I hosed both sides down and no water came in, hopefully it stays that way ::knock on wood::

Once it dries and I can get to it, I'm going to completely cover the bolts on the top and fill the holes in flush with the rack with silicone. Right now I just ran a ring around em and made it flush to the bolt head, but I really don't want to deal with this shit again.

 

I put a BajaRack on the truck a couple years ago. No leaks *knocks on wood*
With a leather punch, I knocked out the holes I needed in the tape that covered the holes under the roof strip.
Applied a generous dab of

$6 Permatex 80050 Clear RTV Silicone Adhesive Sealant, 3 oz

RTV silicone to each bolt and some in the hole.
Wished I had found

$21 GSSI Sealants Butyl Tape 1/8" x 1" x 50' Black

this stuff before doing the install. Would have been another layer of weather proof protection. Someone mentioned it in another thread.

 

I installed a factor ra k and haven't had any problems with water leaks at. When installing the rack make sure the there's a good clean surface and that there's everything you're gonna need to complete the job. Putting silicon on the top of the bolts which not help the water problem cause it'll seep underneath the mldgs so take the rack off and use sealant around the threads and anchors this will help or solve the problem. Once you take it off check and see if the sealant on the roof is cracked if it is that's gonna need to be sealed also

 

Another option is liquid teflon thread sealant

 

Very true but if you have to take it off it's a pain in the ass cause now those torx are gonna stripe out so then they'll have to be drilled out

 

I removed them twice from my 2014 Tacoma, once to fix leak, 2nd time
to remove to install them in my 2015. Guess I was lucky.

 

Nice that long apart from each other. If you use thread sealant that's great. The torx won't back off. Toyota use thread sealant on all threads. When they're new they're easy to get off but the old they get the harder they are to remove the bolts. Most times they end up twisting off

 

I just installed mine yesterday. What a PAIN! The foam washers on the long torx screw holes were in bad shape by the time I was done but I also stripped one of the two small torx screws that holds the plastic to the bracket on the driver's side, so I couldn't take off the whole thing to weatherproof it better.

So I decided to fill up the screw holes with black permatex silicone. I was liberal with the silicone, so hopefully it'll keep the water out since the consensus is that's where the leaks originate from.

I'm going to see how it holds up and then just buy all new screws and washers at home depot and resintall if necessary. That small stripped torx is going to be a pain to take out though.

 

About to do the install this weekend. Thanks for all the recommendations! My only question is about the silicone. How much did you use around the holes? I'm worried I might put too much, then when it's dry I'll have issues installing the rack.

 

Okay, so I decided to put the OEM one on my truck. I also plan to add a light bar to the front of it but installation hardware for the roof rack really sucks. Great idea with terrible execution I guess. I also stripped a couple of those torx screws that just hold down plastic to front bracket. Basically, all four of the short blue coated torx crap are stripped out so I will be finding new screws that can thread into those brackets. Mine was extremely hard to thread to the point it was like they were cross threaded but I don't think they were. Holes in the bracket didn't line up very well either so that was a hassle to get bolts started too. Hate torx bolts! They always end up stripping out. Plus, since I was wondering about leakage I read some of the posts so I guess I will be just taking it all off to put back one with lots of sealers since I don't want to risk leakage. I figured those holes didn't go all the way through (stupid they do) so I wasn't too concerned until I read some of the threads about leakage. I think I can tweak it all and make it fit better in the front too (not flush enough to the roof) if I don't break the little yellow push grommets or strip out more of the worthless torx bolts. Lesson learned what should be a 30 or 45 minute process can become a nightmare fast but happy I read up on the leakage before I experience it. Just wish I would have done that prior to installing too.

Does make me wonder why some leak and some don't. I didn't put the cheap little foam like washers on by accident but seems like those are crap anyway but it probably only adds chances to mine leaking so with rain on the way I tarped it until I can get to it in the tomorrow. How much do those washers that come with kit seal? Sounds like they are junk anyway but I also didn't add any extra sealers just the lock coating that were on the bolts with the kit is all I got for water protection. Not enough right?

 

So it's been almost a year for me and have had no leaks, even with several heavy rain storms. But then again I haven't used it much. One day I'll get around to replacing the one I stripped. If I had to do it again I'd just silicone the heck out of it all even more than I did and call it a day. You should try and get silicone down the screw area. But you are correct, installing these can be 40 minutes or many hours. Good luck!

 

Yeah, that is exactly what I did when I redid it........I silicone the heck out of it and put blue thread lock on each bolt. I would still like to get those front bolts better since those stripped out on mine and I had to drill those out. I put stainless metal screws in but went a little too much with the drill out so not real tight. I will think of something on those but the rest is down good now and those four bolts I can reach easily. Good rack idea but they could of made the mounting parts much better.

 

Any advice on how to get this off without breaking these? I installed mine a bit over a year ago and it has started leaking. Should I just pull straight up, I can’t quite remember how they went in? Also what washers did people use to replace oem and how many do I need? Do I need to remove the rubber strips that go in the channel towards the very back? If so what adhesive would you recommend in order to re attach?Any opinions on joint compound vs automotive silicone? Sorry for all the questions, I realize this isn’t rocket science but if I’m gonna take the time to re-do this I’d prefer to get it right the first time. Thanks for any/all help.

 

My driver b pillar (seatbelt adjuster) and c pillar just started to leak on the driver side. I took a towel to wile it dry. And let it sit. Its been raining all day and when i got back i thought there would be a puddle of water. But there was no sign of water. I went home and sprayed water everywhere on/in the roof rack for 20 minutes and no leaks anywhere. Idk what to do. I dont wanna take it apart cuz it was such a pain to put back. And it seems to go away but in the back of my mind its telling me to open it up and see whats going on. But on the otherside its saying dont do it if it went away.

 

Hello. Help....
I recently had to readjust the passenger side OEM roof rack. The arm was loose. While doing the job, I was careful with the yellow bracket holder. Dropped two new stainless bolts in the front part of rack. I reused the existing hardware. I used JB Weld Ultimate Black RTV 100% Silicone. Now the driver's side of my roof is leaking in just above the windshield!
Could it be from my repairs or the other rack is leaking or something else?
Thanks, Gene

 

Got pictures?

 

Not yet

 

This thread is pretty old, but when I installed my ditch mounted Rhino Rack using the factory threaded holes as well as drilled holes with rivets, I used a generous amount 3M Marine Grade silicone in each hole. No leaks yet.

 

Thanks. I'm thinking about taking both racks off and starting all over with all new hardware and a ton of silicone. Thoughts?