OEM Roof Rack Leaking:Help

So late Spring/early Summer last year I purchased the OEM roof rack off Amazon. I followed the directions very closely and used all the supplied hardware. However, I've noticed that any time it rains and my Truck is parked downhill I get the worst leak in the middle pillars. It totally soaks my seatbelts on both sides.

I'm already not very thrilled with the limited weight capacity of the OEM rack, so I'm considering my options. Knowing that I'm gonna have to pull it off to deal with the leak I'm thinking about upgrading to the Prinsu.

Does anyone know if the Prinsu comes with weather stripping?

 

Did you silicone the threads on the bolts that go into the roof?

Check out @Dissent86 cab racks.

 

The Prinsu does not, but you can use the OEM weather stripping and drill holes in it.

You're still going to want to silicone the hell out of the bolt areas.

 

Silicone the bolt holes to fix the underlying issue, then research roof racks.

If you do go Prinsu, I have the 3/4 inch punch to make the holes that you can have for shipping cost.

 

There is info on here about the Prinsu roof rack that talks about installing one on a 3rd gen. Siliconing the installation bolts should take care of any leaking issues. No place else for the water to get in. As far as the weatherstripping is concerned, the same thread talks about how to deal with it. You need a 3/4" punch to make a hole in the weather stripping. The thread talks about the type of punch and how to accurately make the hole. Don't recall if it talks about what adhesive to use to reinstall the weather stripping but 3M has a clear weatherstrip adhesive that would do the trick. What the thread cautions is not to use a hole saw to try and make the 3/4" hole. Need to use the punch. They don't cost but $15 or $20 off ebay. You can search for this thread or maybe someone else has a link to it. I'm about to order the Prinsu rack myself. Just have not pulled the trigger yet.

 

Funny, as Prinsu says to use a spade drill bit I think.

 

Used a spade bit, had to buy replacement weather strips. Don't use a spade bit.

 

Use a drill press?

 

Leather hole punch

 

No I'm asking if you used a drill press with the spade bit. I don't think I'd try it by hand.

 

No, the prinsu does not come with weather stripping. however a few people installed the prinsu without the OEM weather stripping. You put a good size dollop of silicone over the holes and put the bolts through. that's what keeps water out, not the weatherstipping.

I'm not sure that weatherstripping does anything except fill that space and is for looks. I don't believe it completely seals that channel. Without a OEM roof rack, the holes are already taped over and sealed.

 

Thanks for the info. Now I'm really torn. I think I want to ditch this OEM.

 

I very much like my prinsu, and know that I'd like it over the OEM.

 

FYI, there's someone on the 3rd gen marketplace that has started a feeler thread about doing a Prinsu group buy. CBI, who owns prinsu now, never does group buys... but you might want to tag along with that effort to see if it actually happens.

I'd give it a 3.7% chance of happening.

 

I’ve been debating a roof rack just for this reason - another place water can potentially get in but I know many have installed without issues.

Probably a stupid question, but for the mounting locations on the roof for the rack, is there an engineering reason why they couldn’t have just had some threaded blind ended holes for the mounts as opposed to going all the way through the cab? Seems like a poor decision in the design of the mounts??

 

I give it a snowball's chance, but who knows?

Especially since they and everyone else knows they are sitting on a product that basically all are willing to pay sticker for.

Mass production assembly line ease is my guess. Why bother welding in threaded pockets, when you can just drill a threaded hole?

 

The combo cab and bed rack system he has designed is at the top of my list.

 

Used a hand drill. Not sure if a drill press would change the outcome, the friction coupldd with the pliable nature of the weather strip after removing the steel band cause the strip to wrap around the bit. I tried both a hole saw and spade bit, hole saw had better results for the wrap issue but left really rough edges.

The punch left clean holes and no wrap issues.

Picked up a set off Amazon for <$20 and it took about two hours for the full install.

 

It’s awesome. Was my very first mod. I’ll be picking up the side doors for it in the next week or two.

Dissent Off Road is his brand if anyone’s interested

 

I used a spade bit when doing my prinsu and had no issues. That being said changing racks isn't going to help OP with his underlining issues.