Hey all,
I have a major problem with my roof. I have a roof rack that mounts in place of the factory rails, using the same nutzerts that hold the rails on. I recently pulled the rack off to "hammered" paint it and when I went to put it back on, I notice that the holes in the roof have wobbled out so the nutzert free spins in the hole. Has anybody else had this problem? Got new nutzerts and they spin too. Asked a local body shop and they said rough estimate to weld the new nutzerts place would run in the $200 range. I'm just worried that if I have to take the rack off again for some reason, I'll rip the nutzerts. Anybody have any suggestions to help me out? I thought about welding a nut/ washer in there, but that might allow water to seep in. THanks in advance.
Mike

I took mine off and on four times now, haven't had a problem yet ... probably just bad luck.

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DIRTY KJ :: flickr photostream
"Primitive life is very common and intelligent life is fairly rare ... some would say it has yet to occur on Earth" --- Stephen Hawking

Yeah I am sure it is. probably over tightened them or something when I put it on the first time.

How about a small dab of jb-weld to hold things in place? As long as you're not lifting the KJ by the rack, it's likely to hold the 'zert in there as tight as you could possibly need (and it's sandable if you put a little too much one).

Dan

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2005 Silver CRD Limited
245/75R16 GoodYear Duratracs
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I put some JB Weld on today, we'll see if that will keep them from slipping. Tried threading the bolt into a couple of them and it held fine. Guess I could just weld the whole thing onto the roof. lol

thanks for the help

Mike

My roof actually ripped around the nutzert when my factory rails broke of, left a hole about the size of a quarter. I am going to make a nut plate to slip inside the roof, and then seal it with either JB weld or an RTV based seal/glue, or just get Marty to weld it in place. Just remember the weight up on the rack if you are wheeling and it bounces, the weight ads extra force. Just my tire on top of a garvin rack (still fine and for sale) was enough to snap the plastic factory foot and bust that nutzert out when I bounced up a rock stair on a wet trail her in Colorado.

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If you can read this you don't need glasses, go Wheel your Jeep!

Hence the "Who need a roof rack?" comment, get it now. We'll see how well it holds up. Some of the nutzerts were ok, think about 4 good and four welded in. I guess time will tell, guess I could just get a roll cage tied into a roof rack too, lol.

mike

hehheh, why not? Thought about getting the back half of mine done for just that reason. Not that mine are rusted out, just that I don't think those plastic bars are that strong.

Man that looks pretty cool, any after pics? without the cover? If I only had the time, money, or know how....

click the "why not" in my post above. It's a Ford but, I love the "exoskeleton." Local company. Plan on getting a rear Trailready bumper from him, when I can swing the $$. Went to him for sliders but, he can't beat Rock Lizard so, I'll be ordering my StepSkinks next week!

update for anybody that cares. Well tried the JB Weld and it preformed horrible. Didn't really hold down when any pressure was put on the bolt. After pulling the headliner back, I was able to see the holes in the roof. I ended up just pushing the bolt up throught the roof and tightiening it down in with a nut/lockwasher/ washer. It looks a bit odd with the threaded end of the bolt facing up, but until I can get more time to play around with it, it will have to work. Next step is to silicone it so I will not get any leaks. Sure saves big $$ on having the nutzert welded in.

mike