Broken Roof rail mount point

[troypl Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close troypl]

Hey guys,



In the process of installing rhino rack backbone rails, on one of the mounting sections, I have accidentally cross threaded the Fix mount underneath the roof, trying to fix it and in the process have totally damaged the insert to the point it has broken and fallen down in the cavity. I have removed the seat belt cover near the interior roof lining but the area is so small to work with I can’t work out how I’m going to fix this mess. Can I order a new mounting plate through toyota? I don’t even know how I would be able to fit it underneath?

Any ideas or thoughts would be appreciated.

This has got me so angry, bloody annoyed with myself. 2022 GXL.

[RPP Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close RPP]

Dealer's Spares shops will sell the parts, they can also be purchased on-line from www.partsouq.com. Type in your VIN and navigate to the part.
Also, online Service and Repair Manuals are at https://toyotamanuals.com.au. Make an account and pay a fee to read the applicable web pages.

The major installers of roof racks have had similar mishaps and had to make good.
Whilst shopping around for the same rhino kit people at big name stores told me similar war stories. Maybe one of them might give you some tips.

[Zonvon Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Zonvon]

Hey guys,



In the process of installing rhino rack backbone rails, on one of the mounting sections, I have accidentally cross threaded the Fix mount underneath the roof, trying to fix it and in the process have totally damaged the insert to the point it has broken and fallen down in the cavity. I have removed the seat belt cover near the interior roof lining but the area is so small to work with I can’t work out how I’m going to fix this mess. Can I order a new mounting plate through toyota? I don’t even know how I would be able to fit it underneath?

Any ideas or thoughts would be appreciated.

This has got me so angry, bloody annoyed with myself. 2022 GXL.

Hey Troy,

Did you end up resolving this? I've just had the same issue on my 2021 GXL. I'm going to give a 4x4 place a call today that specialises in roof racks.

Be interested to see how you went.

Cameron

[Daveo120R Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Daveo120R]

Installing RhinoRack backbone and accessing front bolt holes under roof lining

I thought it might be useful to post some tips for those installing their own Rhino Backbone (or other roof bars/backbones). Also there appear to have been some others who encountered a similar problem when installing a RhinoRack but I can’t find any solutions posted.

The installation instructions (and YouTube videos) are fine until you get to the stage where you have removed the roof rail and are ready to start installing the backbone.

At step 15, you are instructed to ‘Apply butyl patches’ with the warning ‘Do not apply downward force onto plastic sleeves of nutserts’. The issue is that the hole in the Butyl patches is too small to go around the plastic nutserts. So you either a) have them partially covering the hole, b) force them down around the hole and risk the warning or c) punch a 6mm or 8mm hole in the patches so they fit.

Why are I telling you all this, because, due to the warning in the instructions, I made sure not to use any force and as a result the patches then partly overhung the lips of the nutsleeve. I then dutifully followed the rest of the instruction and in the process of installing the bolts, a number grabbed the patches and shifted them out of position during installation. In the worst case, the bolt pushed the patch into hole and the bolt would not fully go into the nutsleeve.

Soon after I encountered a severe thunderstorm which resulted in a lovely waterfall in the car as a result of this particular bolt.

So I then uninstalled the roof rack to rectify the problem, and while trying to clear the most problematic nutsleeve, inadvertently pushed down on the offending nutsleeve. The two nutsleeves are actually a connected pair and this caused the pair to disappear into the cars roof lining (yes, it was all going very well at this point).

This required me to get into the roof lining to retrieve the nutsleeve (see below for how I did this), and re-bore the nut (presumably all gummed up with the Butyl patch), order 12 more expensive patches (which only come in packs of ten) and reinstall the roof rack. During this I learnt the RhinoRack instructions are lacking and the pre-cut hole in the patches are too small.

Luckily it is a fairly easy solution - punch a 6mm or 8mm hole in the patches so they fit neatly around the nutsleeves.

A number of roof rack installers also recommended using RTV sealant instead of, or in addition to, the Butyl patches. So, I used RTV sealant around the nutsleeves in addition to the patches.

I couldn’t find any instructions for getting into the roof lining – so here they are.

Remove rear step guard inside car below passenger seat – 2 covers and then 10mm bolts

Remove front and rear plastic guards inside door – front is held by 4 plastic clips and slots at either end and the rear by 3 plastic clips – find clips underneath and pop up

Peel rubber door seals out of the way

Remove bottom anchor for seat belt

Pull bottom pillar cover out from bottom while carefully leverage sides out – there are two clips about a third the way up.

Remove side grab bar (simple covers and 10mm bolts)

Remove single bolt at the bottom of upper pillar cover and pop out single clip (leave the upper pillar cover in place until roof lining is loose)

Remove front and rear roof grab handles – remove the covers with a flat screw driver and then use a flat screw driver to manipulate metal clips into centre so handles come out – take out metal clips and put into handle in preparation for reinstallation.

I also freed the front left of the roof lining – but possibly you don’t need to do this.

Remove cover over sunscreen and take out two screws

Remove front grab handle

Pop out top of front pillar

Once the roof lining is loose around the edges of the doors, gently manipulate the roof lining above the centre pillar so you can unhinge the top pillar cover

You can now gently insert a hand to get access to the front roof bolt holes. You need to be careful with the roof lining to avoid creasing it and to ensure you don’t interfere with the curtain airbags (you may want to be extra cautious and disconnect the battery to remove any chance of setting off the airbags).

As my nutsleeve was now free floating, I put a cable tie into each lug and fed that up through the holes in the roof so I could use the cable ties to pull the nutsleeve into position from above while manually manipulating it with my hand inside the roof lining. The cable ties then allowed me to keep the nutsleeve in rough position while I prepared the roof backbone for installation (the cable ties were not locked – I just used the locking lug on one end to pull on the nut).

I fed the replacement butyl patches (with new 8mm holes) over the cable ties and placed the patch around the hole with the cable ties in place.

When installing the backbone, I use the cable ties to position the nutsleeves correctly and then held them in place with my hand under the roof lining while I removed the cable ties and inserted the backbone bolts.

Everything then was pretty much reverse to install – other than the side grab handles. For these place the metal clips in the handle, insert into roof and then insert covers to lock clips in place.

[GeeWhizz Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close GeeWhizz]

Thanks for the detailed guide on dealing with installing roof bars. I appreciate the ordeal you went through to do the job properly: I knew there must have been a reason why I never went for carrying anything on my roof!

I tow a caravan with my Prado and realised very early on that if you carry two adults and an average load in the Prado (fridge, tool box, folding chairs, folding solar panel, a full fuel tank and a few other personal items), there is no weight GVM headroom when a caravan is hitched up. My observation is that a roofrack and towing a caravan or camper-trailer are mutually exclusive.