Removing Roof Rails - procedure

[glids37]

Hi Guys,

I wanted to drill additional holes in the Roof Rails so that I could mount the Roof Rack further apart, and figured the best way to do this would be to remove the vehicle's rails and drill on the bench.

The Workshop Manual gives a basic idea as follows:
Remove the Front and Rear Rail Covers.
Remove the 3 screws at Front and Rear
Remove the Centre Cover and Screw
Remove the Rail.

The Manual doesn't provide any detail about what holds the Front and Rear Covers down, so I have attached a few photos showing the locations of hooks etc.
Basically, it is as follows:
The Rear Cover has a small 'hook' / 'clip' at each front corner, and a tang and socket at the rear. Un-clip the front, lift slightly, and slide to the rear to disengage the tang.
The Front Cover is similar, but there are two additional hook/clips about halfway along the cover. Un-clip all 4, lift and slide forwards to disengage the tang.

Edit: Meant to add that I used nylon Trim Remover Tools to avoid damage to the paintwork - these: http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/onl...ecommendations


Hope this helps someone.

Cheers,
glids
Roof_Rails.pdf

Roof_Rails_2.pdf

[Jizza]

Hi Guys,

I wanted to drill additional holes in the Roof Rails so that I could mount the Roof Rack further apart, and figured the best way to do this would be to remove the vehicle's rails and drill on the bench.

The Workshop Manual gives a basic idea as follows:
Remove the Front and Rear Rail Covers.
Remove the 3 screws at Front and Rear
Remove the Centre Cover and Screw
Remove the Rail.

The Manual doesn't provide any detail about what holds the Front and Rear Covers down, so I have attached a few photos showing the locations of hooks etc.
Basically, it is as follows:
The Rear Cover has a small 'hook' / 'clip' at each front corner, and a tang and socket at the rear. Un-clip the front, lift slightly, and slide to the rear to disengage the tang.
The Front Cover is similar, but there are two additional hook/clips about halfway along the cover. Un-clip all 4, lift and slide forwards to disengage the tang.

Edit: Meant to add that I used nylon Trim Remover Tools to avoid damage to the paintwork - these: http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/onl...ecommendations


Hope this helps someone.

Cheers,
glids
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Excellent work Ian.

I did pull them apart by same method a couple of times, how'd you go with drilling the hole and how much further apart did you go?

[glids37]

Hi,

I set up a jig in the drill press to drill them. The original 4 holes were all 60mm apart, but the distance from the top (or bottom) varied quite a bit, which seemed strange as that distance is used by the locking clamp to hold the Roof Rack rails down.

I added 2 more holes at each end, 60mm and 120mm from the furthest existing hole, so I can position the Roof Rack rails at numerous spacings if needed.

The existing holes were about 9mm dia, but that was not critical as the lugs on the Roof Rack clamps are only about 7.5mm. I used a 11/32" drill (8.73mm).

Cheers,
glids

[deme]

Thank you so much for your pictures. I have rhino rack which requires bigger distance between cross bars.
Cheers

[RossMacKenzie]

Thanks

Thanks for the tips. It looks straight forward. My Mitsi dealer in Auckland wanted to charge $500 to drill the extra holes.

[Cory]

A easier way is to buy different legs from Thule. It is a universal kit that has no lugs on the legs so you can more them wherever you want. I just swapped the front legs over and moved them forward a bit. I have driven about 2000k with 3 sups and 4 surfboards on the roof, country driving at 100+ and they did not move at all, so that's a much simpler option. The fitting kit is around $60

[Crazy-Eyes]

A easier way is to buy different legs from Thule. It is a universal kit that has no lugs on the legs so you can more them wherever you want. I just swapped the front legs over and moved them forward a bit. I have driven about 2000k with 3 sups and 4 surfboards on the roof, country driving at 100+ and they did not move at all, so that's a much simpler option. The fitting kit is around $60

Hey Cory,

do you mind sharing what roof rack setup you're running?

I'm looking to get some eventually, and just scoping out what people are using and how much they'll set me back.

[Cory]

Mine are just the standard MM roof racks (roof bars) which are just rebranded Thule. The only difference between the Thule legs and the MM legs are the Thule ones don't have the lugs that fit into the holes in the roof rails and therefore they are not limited to one spot. Hope that helps.

[Aff1878]

Absolute legend! This will really help me on my weekend project of installing a 43in light bar B-)

Thank you!

[pfgrobler]

I've added some pics as I could not find any of the car side.

On the main front and rear sets the bolts are 6cm appart.

The last front bolt to the center bolt is 76cm
Center to first rear bolt is 76cm again.

I'm looking the tray based option from Rola and Rhino and I'm a bit that there is only a single bolt through the metal portion of the rail.


.

Sent from my SM-N910H using Tapatalk

[AstinGC90]

Appreciate the walk through

Grabbed a Front Runner today, now the waiting game.

[Bulldog]

Roof Rail Cover

Does anyone know where I could get a replacement roof rail cover, as mine has fallen off.

[flungabunga]

Thanks for the photos. Very helpful. I'm aiming to install a front runner slimline this weekend and the car's user manual instructions are really unclear on how these rails should be removed. Any other tips on how to disengage the hooks ?

[Greg Grey Grumbly]

A easier way is to buy different legs from Thule. It is a universal kit that has no lugs on the legs so you can more them wherever you want. I just swapped the front legs over and moved them forward a bit. I have driven about 2000k with 3 sups and 4 surfboards on the roof, country driving at 100+ and they did not move at all, so that's a much simpler option. The fitting kit is around $60

Yes, the latest Rhino Racks use that method as well which makes it really easy to slide the mounting feet wherever you like on the rails (not the covers).

[kod10]

Thank you for the excellent info, my dealer was less than useful in providing information about those holes in the roof rails, he gave me the impression that the bar-mounts screwed into those holes, whereas you have now made me aware that they are locating holes and Rhino/Thule mounts can be positioned wherever practical.
Kod