FJ Cruisers of Northern California

Rack removal question

Hey folks, Not sure I'm posting in the right area... I'm looking to remove my stock roof rack, and I'd like to avoid tearing out my mounts if at all possible. I have the torx bits and ratchets, I know some say to heat up the bolts and rack footings to loosen the lock tite, also perhaps slowly turning both bolts at the same time per mount may help... Anyone care to chime in with tips and experiences as to dos and don'ts? I'm wanting to black out my roof... Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by opg4759 on March 5, 2012 at 8:28pm

I took my stock rack off last June. I didn't do anything special other then having the correct bit on the end of a ratchet wrench. I had no issues.

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Permalink Reply by PBn'FJ on March 5, 2012 at 9:32pm

Yes, I've swapped the stock rack off my FJC for a Baja rack. Nothing special required to remove it, Toyota uses a silicone sealant around the bolt holes from what I can tell.

Cleaning it up and putting sufficient silicone around the bolts when you install the new rack is critical tho.

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Permalink Reply by Ranger Jim on March 6, 2012 at 4:25am

Same as the two folks above, nothing special needed except for the re-sealing when putting the rack back on. Whoever told you to heat it up is a bit over the top.

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Permalink Reply by Sonof40 on March 6, 2012 at 8:07am

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Permalink Reply by NestahEdition on March 6, 2012 at 8:44pm

You can't reuse those rubber mastic washers for the bolt holes.

You can buy the roof rack installation H/W kit ,. P/N PT278-35070-HW

Or make your own gasket, using a 1/8" butyl rubber sheet like what I did when I installed my ARB rack. No need to do the silicone sealing around the white plastic bolt guide/retainer.