Topic: Advise needed Leaky Roof

[valentin36]

So raniny season has not been great to my poor X. I started getting water seeping in from the holes that hold the wisors. Not heavy well depens on the rain but it will drip and some times down the the front pillar handle oh shit bar. I have taken of my roof rack and intend to take everything off to asses the damage. I know at some point its probably my fault since i fed the wiring for the roof light bar through one of the premade holes.  (Intend to do it again and install a rear small light bar)

But my question is, those rivot screws that everyone seems to hate on the X due to the poor quality of resistance, did anyone replace those? And if so with what?
I intend to take the roof set up off and the headliner to properly seal with water proof tape and sealant to avoid but do i replace the bolts to the point i wont ever be able to remove the roof rails unless i take off the headliner. Is the sacrifice worth it?

Appreciate the input.

[JFanaselle]

Ah, those little pieces of $h!t. They are called rivet nuts, or rivnuts, or nutserts, or threaded inserts. I replaced all of them on my roof with new ones. I can't sugar coat it - it was a major pain in the ass. I just used the crush/riveting method that they are designed for (along with some silicone to seal the holes), but the BEST way to install new ones is to tack weld them to the inside of the roof. This will likely cause slight damage to the paint on the exterior of the roof (that would probably be covered by the rack anyway). Either method requires dropping the entire headliner.

See my post about mid-way down this page for details on how I replaced them, along with some helpful photos: https://www.sccxterra.com/smf/index.php?topic=1527.1680

Here's another post I made a while back where folks were recommending the tack-weld method. Not as much info here, but gives you an idea of my journey with these: https://www.sccxterra.com/smf/index.php?topic=3010.0

Final piece of advice: use a thread sealer when you install the bolts again, whether you're re-installing the OEM rack or an aftermarket rack. The OEM bolts have a small rubber washer on them that is supposed to help seal the threads, but they're usually pretty torn up the first time the bolts come out. Water can seep through the threads and into the truck, even if the new rivnuts are sealed tightly against the roof. Thread sealer is basically like loctite that doesn't harden... a couple of drops on the threads, and it'll keep water from getting in. I picked up a tube of it for like $4 at Auto Zone, and I think it was actually loctite brand.

[JFanaselle]

Oh and one more piece of advice: use a waterproof strain relief to seal up the area where your electrical wires penetrate the roof. Something like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Black-Right-Angle-Cable-Gland/dp/B00HBKN8RY/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=1%2F2+90+degree+strain+relief&qid=1553556853&s=gateway&sr=8-8

You can get either 90* or straight, and they make them in all kinds of diameters for your wire thickness. If you run a few wires through one, just put them inside a piece of heat shrink tubing where they run through the strain relief, and seal it all up with some silicone. Here's how I did mine. Browse through the whole thread and see how others have done it too: https://www.thenewx.org/forum/12-electrical/119121-roof-lights-ideas-wiring-3.html

[PDRX]

@JFanaselle These posts are helpful. Thanks. You mentioned that you changed all of the rivnuts on you truck. How did you get to the ones in the front just above the windshield? I have one to repair on the drivers side in the middle but it’s blocked underneath by a structural support. Did you drill a hole to get to it or can you repair it from above?

[valentin36]

Now the question be does anyone know a welder wanting to make a few bucks for my small project?

I need to fix this prior to me making my military move to the east coast of quantico virginia. Where snow and ice could rust through and damage my poor X. Appreciate the help

[JFanaselle]

@JFanaselle These posts are helpful. Thanks. You mentioned that you changed all of the rivnuts on you truck. How did you get to the ones in the front just above the windshield? I have one to repair on the drivers side in the middle but it’s blocked underneath by a structural support. Did you drill a hole to get to it or can you repair it from above?

I guess I lied... the front 4 are the only ones I didn't change, as my aftermarket rack does not mount to them. However, you should be able to clamp some needle nose vice grips to them from the outside of the truck (on the roof side) and drill them out enough to pull them through. That's how I did almost all of my other ones. I didn't even bother gripping most of them from the inside, since I could do the whole operation from the roof.