Roof Rack Mounting point broken

[NC_Pinz]

Folks, you can stop with the easy-out or welding a nut on to extract. These are studs and not bolts so you can't extract.

Fixing it back to original is going to be tough. I'd look at the interior condition...meaning what is on the interior of the top opposite the bracket? Is there a possibility of drilling out the stud and replacing with a through-bolt? I'm not saying this is an absolute option but would be worth exploring. Good luck and let us know what you encounter and come up with.

Sponsored

 

[Sledge]

Oh wait scratch that…. I looked at the pc again and you won’t be able to slide anything under the bracket. Sigh….

 

[wetdog]

Drill out stud

Tap existing hole for stud

Insert stud

Tack weld base of stud

 

[Garemlin]

Looks more like either a flange bolt or a bolt with a washer. That would mean no way to extract it out. It would need to come out from the bottom of the bracket.

 

[JohnnyBronco]

Ain't no way to extract a flange headed bolt from the bracket. Yes you can with care drill out the remains but to install anything new without replacing the bracket would require removing headliner above windshield and drilling all the way through. It's all sheet metal .there is no nut welded underneath. The bracket with studs attached is welded in place prior to frame being painted

Best bet? Replace cover. Sell vehicle for 20kore than you paid znd get in line all over again (or find a mannequin that's been sitting)

 

[Scott R Nelson]

Folks, you can stop with the easy-out or welding a nut on to extract. These are studs and not bolts so you can't extract.

Half of the people on this thread are confused, thinking it's a bolt and not a stud. We'll probably still get responses about drilling and tapping the thing. That can't work.

I don't see an easy way to fix it correctly. If you cut the bracket out of there, you can't spot weld it back in place without taking apart a whole bunch of stuff.

I hope the original poster will post something about how this gets resolved, because I would like to find out.

Meanwhile, this can serve as a warning to the rest of us to be careful tightening nuts onto those studs.

 

[da_jokker]

Yeah I don't see how all these people keep saying backing out.... It clearly has a head on it in the shape of some sort of flat washer.

Unless everyone thinks that's sort of a floating nutsert?

What I see is at least four spots, the small little round indentions, where it is welded on, along with all the sealant along the edges. Seems to me that you'd have to grind off the spot welds, and replace that entire plate (maybe just the stud, but it made come as one piece).

Also, as someone else pointed out, if you look at the stud that still there, you can see a metal thread dangling off of it. Those things were cross-threaded or something and under too much twist.

Probably weak Chinese steel.

 

[Hdscreens]

Seems like it’s just epoxy on bracket but would still be difficult to remove. Cut out section as I marked up in red, slide bolt out, fill with industrial epoxy, slide new bolt in and clear off excess epoxy then let dry. Much cheaper and easier than dealing with any shop. I would not trust dealership to warranty that.

 

[Scott R Nelson]

Seems like it’s just epoxy on bracket but would still be difficult to remove. Cut out section as I marked up in red, slide bolt out, fill with industrial epoxy, slide new bolt in and clear off excess epoxy then let dry. Much cheaper and easier than dealing with any shop. I would not trust dealership to warranty that.

That could work. That's the sort of solution the guys at Fab Rats would come up with. If the dealer won't fix it, that would be the first thing I would try.

 

[BigFootie]

Half of the people on this thread are confused, thinking it's a bolt and not a stud. We'll probably still get responses about drilling and tapping the thing. That can't work.

I don't see an easy way to fix it correctly. If you cut the bracket out of there, you can't spot weld it back in place without taking apart a whole bunch of stuff.

I hope the original poster will post something about how this gets resolved, because I would like to find out.

Meanwhile, this can serve as a warning to the rest of us to be careful tightening nuts onto those studs.

This and I’d get a thread die and re-chase the threads to remove the paint then coat with a bit of anti cease

 

[Baja71]

I wouldn’t cut the spot welds…I’d use a hole saw to just remove the “dome” area. Unscrew the bolt, thread in new bolt from behind, weld dome back in place. Everything stays in factory position.

 

[da_jokker]

Seems like it’s just epoxy on bracket but would still be difficult to remove.

I see it differently. I see a at least 4 spot welds that would need to be removed?

 

[Hdscreens]

Do you think my idea would easily work or not? No, idea those were spot welds. Figured they were marks left by machine press when piece was made.

I see it differently. I see a at least 4 spot welds that would need to be removed?

 

[da_jokker]

Do you think my idea would easily work or not? No, idea those were spot welds. Figured they were marks left by machine press when piece was made.

Personally I don't think it would be super easy. That entire round dome is the head if the bolt so you would have to grind/cut that entire section...then of course this is assuming you could even find the replacement bolt.

That flat head can't just be sitting in there or the It would spin.

I have a feeling that that head is somehow attached to that plate (to prevent spinning).

The one idea of using a hole saw to cut that entire dome out, doing whatever to fix it, and then welding it back in, is probably the best kludge option. Removing and replacing the entire plate would be the proper fix.

.. especially because the top bolt looks questionable as well.

 

[Hopeless Diamond]

Yeah, probably hole saw or grind it out and then weld in an elevator bolt https://www.mcmaster.com/elevator-bolts/. You'd probably have to do some modifications to it so the mating face of the rack bracket would line up at the correct level.

Sponsored