Roof rail installation trouble

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taxi

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4 plastic inserts broke off and I've already spent about 1.5 hours on clearing out the first one. Has anyone come up with a decent method of getting them out? I've drilled, screw extractor, drove a screw into it etc.
 

elmo366036

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You could replace the rail studs and then reseal them.

When I installed my rack, I sheared off 2 of those plastic inserts and spent a lot of time trying to get those plastic bits out. Andy from Voyager Racks suggested replacing the rail studs rather than trying to clean them out (thanks for the help!!).

You have to cut through the sealant around the studs and then they can be removed. I used an exacto knife to do it. I then used clear RTV to seal in the replacement studs.

Here is a link:

 
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BigBriDogGuy

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I've got the same problem. my 2011 LR4 looks like it never had anything but the (aluminum?) rail trim. It's full-length and one solid piece on each side. The plastic button inserts were just old and the trim seems to have shifted forward to keep them from wanting to come out due to binding. Good to know I'm not alone. I bought a very small tap and was thinking about using that to pull the plugs out of the insert. I won't do anything until I know I'm not going to damage the insert.

Once I get the last plastic button plug out, it looks like I can lift out the entire trim piece and get better access to the inserts. I was thinking maybe a tiny little drill bit with a hole down the middle of the broken plastic stem and then a picture frame nail with a dab of super glue stuck into the middle. Let it dry and then pull the remainder of the black plastic stem out by the nail with a pair of pliers. Won't even try it unless I feel it's safe. Will let you know how it goes. Maybe take some pics to share.

Attached are pics of a good insert and a clogged one, both with and without the trim piece covering.
 

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BigBriDogGuy

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Got the genuine Land Rover short rails in tonight. Will be using them as the mounting base for a full-sized Baja Standard Rack. Not a lot of "wow" factor here, but they are roof rails. As long as they fit and work as intended what more can I really expect?
 

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ugmw177

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Wow, i must have been really lucky here. I just did this on my sons 2011 LR4. I used a dremel and cut a slot on each of the plastic tree plugs' heads. then using a screwdriver and a trim remover unscrewed them a bit and lifted them with the trim tool. They all came out and the captive nuts were fine. The aftermarket rails were kind of cheesy as far a fit goes but went on ok. I then ordered some aftermarket cross bars. [the feet were actually too big to fit in the channels properly but with some dremel work fit ok]. Just could not justify the cost difference for the genuine LR items. Difference was less than $200 for the aftermarket total and just under $1000 for the genuine stuff.
 

BigBriDogGuy

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Whelp, I'm striking our at every turn. The material is too soft to hold an edge when I cut a slot into it. I can get a small flat head screw driver pretty deeply into it and it just rotates and bores out the hole. I am going to grab some WD-40 and see if that will loosen up the threads. Next move is to just try and cut out all the plastic with an X-Acto knife and try to get the pieces out. It may be tedious and take a long time, but I will not compromise the metal threads by going in there aggressively with a drill bit or metal tap.
 

BigBriDogGuy

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Okay, finally got one side on and figured out why it wasn't working out.


It's not easy or straightforward.

I'll try pulling the other side's ditch rail tomorrow. Tested a couple of the button cap plastic fasteners. None of them rotated easily, or at all. Doesn't look good, but I'll try some of the techniques mentioned here. I wouldn't be surprised if someone previously glued them in. I may need to ream them out, even re-tap the threads on a couple. Just for the record, this is truly ridiculous. What should be a 15-30 minute job on each side is turning into a enraging nightmare scenario.
 
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BigBriDogGuy

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Got the short rails installed. Only 2 of the 8 button cap plastic fasteners came out clean. The rest popped right off and left the plastic stem inside the nutserts. Those needed to be reamed out, cleaned out, and then re-tapped. Bought an extraction tool and that did nothing. Tried twisting it counter-clockwise and it just pulled right out of the plastic. My new best friends are the ladder, WD-40, a thread tapper, and X-Acto knife. Got the short rails installed shortly after the Baja rack arrived. Got the Baja installed today with the help of my (tall) neighbors. I have to say, the end result looks sharp. Will snap off a few pics tomorrow. Burnt too much daylight today to get that done.
 

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BigBriDogGuy

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Okay, so here are some pics that are the culmination of all that hard work. Looks sharp.
 

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