pj07Limited
Member
- Joined
- October 18, 2009
- Messages
- 21
- Reaction score
- 2
- City, State
- Springfield, Mo
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2007 Sport Trac
I tackled this little project over the weekend, and since I could not find pictures of the process anywhere, I took some myself. I followed ChrisK's instructions(which were very helpful) from an older post on here with a similar title. I think the comments and instructions on that post made the project sound more daunting than it really is though. I was done in 30 to 45 minutes while taking pictures.
First you need to lift the back end of the rear caps of the roof rails. I used a screwdriver but be careful not to indent the lip that goes around the base of the cap, a putty knife might be safer.
Once you raise the cap up it will slide back about 1/4 inch, enough to rest on top of the lip around the base. Now you can put down the screwdriver(or whatever you use) and focus on pulling the cap off. I put my fingers on the front edge of the cap on each side and pulled straight back, they popped loose with just a little effort.
This is what it looks like under the cap. Not much to it.
Now you can slide the crossbar guides in, they will flex past the rail substructure will just a little effort. Make sure the bolt holes are to the front and the posts are in the back.
Use both hands to flex the guides around this piece of the rail(above).
Once you have the guides in you can mount the crossbars, just drop the crossbars onto the posts on the guides...
...and then rotate the bar forward and install the bolt in the front of each guide.
NOTE: See turbods reply to this post before proceeding with removing the fasteners, if you can slide your endcaps back on and feel that they are secure I recommend taking that approach instead.
Now you need to remove the rail endcap fastener(the yellow thing) from the endcap substructure. It should still be stuck in it's hole.
I put a large screwdriver under each side of the fastener's cap and simply turned them both outwards at the same time prying the fastener up.
This method worked well, although some of the barbs on my driver's side fastener broke off when being removed. The barbs will probably be somewhat mangled when you get the fastener out, you should straighten them as much as possible before reinstalling them.
Close-up of fastener;
Note the barbs on the bottom and slots in the cap on top. Use the top slot when mounting the fastener back in the rail cap so that as much as possible of the fastener is pushed down in the hole when it is installed.
Mount the fastener in the slot inside the rail endcap using the top slot in the faster cap.
Note the two prongs on the back of the endcap in this picture, these are what you are prying up at the beginning of the process to pull the endcaps off.
Just push the endcaps down onto the rail substructure until you feel it pop into place. (I actually put some silicone adhesive on the fasteners and in/around the holes they go into, I think it would have been fine without them but some of the barbs were gone or twisted, I just wanted to make sure the caps didn't rattle around).
Go enjoy your new crossbars.
First you need to lift the back end of the rear caps of the roof rails. I used a screwdriver but be careful not to indent the lip that goes around the base of the cap, a putty knife might be safer.
Once you raise the cap up it will slide back about 1/4 inch, enough to rest on top of the lip around the base. Now you can put down the screwdriver(or whatever you use) and focus on pulling the cap off. I put my fingers on the front edge of the cap on each side and pulled straight back, they popped loose with just a little effort.
This is what it looks like under the cap. Not much to it.
Now you can slide the crossbar guides in, they will flex past the rail substructure will just a little effort. Make sure the bolt holes are to the front and the posts are in the back.
Use both hands to flex the guides around this piece of the rail(above).
Once you have the guides in you can mount the crossbars, just drop the crossbars onto the posts on the guides...
...and then rotate the bar forward and install the bolt in the front of each guide.
NOTE: See turbods reply to this post before proceeding with removing the fasteners, if you can slide your endcaps back on and feel that they are secure I recommend taking that approach instead.
Now you need to remove the rail endcap fastener(the yellow thing) from the endcap substructure. It should still be stuck in it's hole.
I put a large screwdriver under each side of the fastener's cap and simply turned them both outwards at the same time prying the fastener up.
This method worked well, although some of the barbs on my driver's side fastener broke off when being removed. The barbs will probably be somewhat mangled when you get the fastener out, you should straighten them as much as possible before reinstalling them.
Close-up of fastener;
Note the barbs on the bottom and slots in the cap on top. Use the top slot when mounting the fastener back in the rail cap so that as much as possible of the fastener is pushed down in the hole when it is installed.
Mount the fastener in the slot inside the rail endcap using the top slot in the faster cap.
Note the two prongs on the back of the endcap in this picture, these are what you are prying up at the beginning of the process to pull the endcaps off.
Just push the endcaps down onto the rail substructure until you feel it pop into place. (I actually put some silicone adhesive on the fasteners and in/around the holes they go into, I think it would have been fine without them but some of the barbs were gone or twisted, I just wanted to make sure the caps didn't rattle around).
Go enjoy your new crossbars.
