Seat Belts Wet

Hello all. I'm new to this forum and bought my first Tacoma in October 2016. I have a 2017 TRD O/R. I bought the Toyota Roof Rack for it. In January, my wife and family called out a humid smell inside the cabin. My wife then realized her seat belt was soaked in water. I had not noticed but my seat belt was also wet.

I took the truck back to Toyota and they reinstalled the rack and added gaskets to seal the rack. Now we are in February and after heavy rains my the passenger side seat belt is again soaked, the drivers side is not. Taking the truck back to the dealership service at the end of the week.

Anybody else have this experience with their Tacoma? If so, what was the root of the issue.

 

Water leaks from the drip rails.

Silicone is your friend.

 

Might want to evaluate your situation for using this stuff

 

Can you explain? I noticed one of my drip rails is kind of wavy. Had the truck serviced this morning told them about the drip rails and they said they reinstalled the drip rails because they were pushed down too far.

 

Those are drip rail moldings.

Underneath those are the mounting holes for the roof rack, which is where water can leak into the cab.

 

Thank you. I had a third brake light leak on my last truck and I'm not dealing with water damage again.

 

Sillycone is the ticket.

 

I used Butyl putty but silicone works as well. The issue is that they remove the seals over the factory threaded holes for the roof rack when they install it. They come with butyl washers, but if not installed correctly they will fail.

 

I have both. I will use both.

 

Unless I'm missing something here the silicone would be temporary so not to flood your vehicle. Otherwise Toyota should doing something a little more permanent on a new vehicle to keep water out.

 

That is the permanent fix. If you punch holes in a roof, you have to seal around whatever you're putting in the hole.

 

Yeah, I see that. Didn't realize how the rack installed. Thats pretty dumb design not to offend anyone but engineers. Water is a bastard and WILL find a way!

I'd use some high quality rtv silicone.

 

Thanks for the response everybody! I'll let the service guys know about the silicone solution. Makes sense for a good fix. Figure I'll have them fix it since they mounted the rack. Great Forum!

 

I had that on my pro. Also OEM roof rack. At first the dealership replaced the weather striping on the passenger side window (didn't make a whole lot of sense, but I let them knock themselves out). Then I started having the issue Got worse and on both sides, and they said that the original installers for the roof rack crushed the installation grommets, which they replaced. I haven't had the problem since, going on 10 weeks or so, at least not on the driver's side. I don't carry passengers in the front very often, so now you made me want to check that that side is also still dry.

 

The good thing is itthat it is not very much water at all. It doesn't even wet the carpet. You'll get like 1 or 2 drops in a driving monsoon. It falls directly on the seatbelt and it gets soaked up.

 

Yup, same thing.

 

wow... yea I just dropped off the truck for the third time. I got the GM and Customer Relations Manager involved. They said they were taking it to the Body Shop to check it thoroughly. I bet the silicone seal is probably a safe bet, but I feel its also best they manage the fix and become aware of the issue since it was a dealer install.

Thanks Guys!

 

Who would want to get rid of Burrito Juice?! LOL

 

Did you trade your truck in after it was leaking through the 3rd Brake Light?

 

No, I traded it for many other reasons. I just didn't enjoy cleaning the headliner, seats and carpet. Then I had to replace the headliner due to mold.