Rusted Bolts on Prinsu Roof Rack

I wish I had read some of these threads regarding Prinsu roof rack hardware before purchasing. I too was a victim of their poor-quality hardware.
Prinsu (CBI Offroad) was slightly helpful but sent out the same corrosion/rust-prone hardware. As a quick fix, I replaced their hardware with all stainless bolts.
I am now switching to "tamper-resistant" black stainless for aesthetics, and longevity. There are tons of threads on this issue and recommended replacement hardware again, just regret not doing more homework.
For context, this was after a little over a year and I did apply anti-seize, I was adding/rearranging accessories and was gifted this fun.

 

I attempted to remove my wind deflector to clean under it and replace weather stripping and two bolts sheared off. I didnt go any further and I am just riding with two less bolts. I am certain that this will be the case on majority of the bolts, so my rack has lost all adjustability. I will never buy a Prinsu rack again. It looks like the Sherpa Racks have better quality control and overall a little more stout (Prinsu seems strong enough, but if youre spending the money...).

 

I bought the full cab 2nd-3rd gen roof rack used and tried to disassemble to clean. Some screws broke in the extruded aluminum due to rust. All the fasteners are rotted out. That being said, I am reaching out to Prinsu to get new extruded aluminum bars via their warranty. But this time I am buying my fasteners from McMaster-Carr to prevent future rust. I also did this for my sliders, since my sliders was purchased used and missing all the bolts. Here are the items I ordered.



Instead of the t-nuts on McMaster, which cost an arm and a leg, I ordered 1/4-20 Roll-In T-Nut with Ball Spring as 304 stainless steel from 8020. Product number: 3670

By the way, I want to note I am getting slightly longer hex screws and spacers because I have seen issues where the front of the roof rack is way too close to the body. I also combined flat washers and screws into a single piece by ordering flanged button head screws. I will be torqueing everything to instruction specs, in order to protect the aluminum parts. I ordered blue thread locker and new rubber edging from Amazon.

I live in New England, so I hate rust and will be spraying stuff with POR-15 Topcoat.

 

My washers are rusting after a few months..

 

I sheared a crossbar bolt on my Prinsu rack and stripped another. My fault for not using anti-seize. I didn’t know better. All of the crossbar bolts are locked in tight after years of use. I think the aluminum swells and contracts in extreme temps and once some corrosion sets in there is too much friction for a smooth extraction. I guess im gonna try and drill out the broken one and re-tap it. Sucks, but I learned something about using steel screws in aluminum. Maybe if heat the crossbar up a lot with a heat gun the aluminum will expand a bit and the rest will come out easy.

 

Assemble pretty much EVERYTHING with antiseize - and not just on your vehicle

 

Had my rack since 2019. I've broken so many of those bolts, smh. Had to replace 2 bars too because I couldn't get the broken part out. Just switched up my setup last week and shocker, broke another one. Thankfully it was on a spare bar that was coming out anyway.