How To remove LR3/LR4 Plastic Caps securing Roof ditch molding

I recently bought a used 2013 LR4. It came with no side rails and no cross bars. One of the first things I wanted to do was put a rack on the vehicle.

I found a rack, ordered it, received it, and the first task of the installation was as follows;




Doesn't that sound simple? Just pop off those plastic caps to expose the threaded mounting points and you'll be on your way! Not so much...

I suppose if your car is factory fresh and the caps are still soft and pliable, they may be easy to remove. I discovered three methods via online research, some with videos, and none of them worked for me;

1. Insert small screw driver along side of cap and pry it out until you can get a grip on it and turn it. (nope.)
2. Use plastic body tools to pry under the cap and lift it out. (nope!)
3. Bend the sides of the cap upward so you can grip on with a pair of pliers and turn it. (hell no!)

Trying those methods I succeeded in removing one cap and breaking two. In the process I made quite a mess of my ditch molding and also broke my moon roof. That's a long story, but I inadvertently applied light pressure from a rubber tool to the floating edge of my moon roof. Don't do that.

After much frustration, I came across an incredibly simple way to remove the caps quickly without damaging the molding or the caps. You can even pop them back in if you like.

The key is that the plastic caps are in threaded holes. The caps aren't threaded, but they grip onto the sides of the inserts. If you can turn them somehow, they come right out.

Here's my simple method for removing the LR3/LR4 ditch molding plastic caps:

1. Use a small drill bit to make a couple holes in the center of your cap. Just wide enough to insert a small straight edge screwdriver. (one hole may be enough)



2. Insert screwdriver



3. Unscrew the ditch molding cap




I'm hoping this saves someone else hours of work, frustration, and damage to their vehicle.

I could not find any useful tips online or when calling my rack manufacturer or other installers for advice. They all described methods that sometimes involve breaking of the caps and usually destroying them. Additionally, the caps, if broken off in the hole, are very difficult to remove. You can try drilling them out, or using a screw extractor tool, but will likely have to re-tap the holes to clean up the threads.

This method is simple. Good luck!

Clever, thanks for the post. In my case, this method may have worked but my rig has seen 3 winters with road salt. The plastic part inserted into the holes had essentially been bonded with rust and grime, so I could not unscrew them. Ended up popping the cap part off, drilling into the hole, scrapping everything out, and retapping the threads to clean them up. Hours of work....

I used a grilling fork, slid it on and popped them off. lol. A little barbaric but I used what I had available.

iSurfvilano said:

I used a grilling fork, slid it on and popped them off. lol. A little barbaric but I used what I had available.

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Yeah, I tried something similar with various tools, but mine would not budge. It must all vary depending on age where the truck spent that time.

I can't tell you how frustrating the job was and then how simple and effortless the ultimate solution was. I want to remove more plastic caps! Sadly, I only have the 8...

thanks for posting. saved me the trouble. I ended up using curved needle nose pliers and was able to grab the edge and after 3 rotations I could turn them by hand.

Guess I'm an oddball. I just use a trim tool.....

avslash said:

Guess I'm an oddball. I just use a trim tool.....

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This is funny, last week I replaced the alternator on my 06'LR3 and the little plastic clips totally kicked my a$$. Of course they sale a tool and yes I've seen hundreds of adds for the tool including a large assortment of plastic clips but NO I fought with the little clips for a good ten minutes.

avslash said:

Guess I'm an oddball. I just use a trim tool.....

Click to expand...

In my case a trim tool wouldn’t work. I tried that as well. My truck had sat in Florida sun for 50,000 miles before I bought it and the caps were rock hard.

Maybe you have a better trim tool. I bought whatever pep boys had on the rack which was a kit with a half dozen different sizes. If I recall, they were all too thick to get under my hardened cap.

At least there are now several solutions for people to try and hopefully none of them involve vehicle damage or wasted hours.

Results are all that matters.

I personally have a vendetta against those damned clips that hold the fender liners in. I can never get those little turds to release