'98 Roof Rack/Cross bar question

[timmie88]

I just got a used '98 Ford Explorer Sport.

I've read some other posts that talk about the screws being hard to remove from the rails.

The problem I have is that the rear cross bar was damaged and missing.

It looks like to put on a replacement cross bar, I need to get the end caps of the rails off.

Does anyone know, do I need to remove the closes screw to get the end cap off? The endcap doesn't seem to want to budge.

Otherwise how else can I get a replacement cross bar into the rail?

Thanks for any help!

Tim

 

[IZwack]

the cross bars can be unscrewed off .. there are black plastic thumb screw thingies on the side of each cross bar that will allow you to unscrew the cross bar from the bottom piece that slides inside the rail (thats attached to the roof). so to sum it up, you dont need to mess with the end caps at all.

i wish it was daytime, i could take pictures for you to explain what i just said.

 

[timmie88]

Thanks for that info

But I still need to know about the end caps for two reasons

1) I'm missing the right rear end cap - it was missing when I got the car and I'd like to know if need to remove the screw to replace it.

2) I got a cross bar from a '92 and it doesn't have the round screw you're talking about, but it does slide in from the missing end cap area nicely, and uses a slide to lock. But I'll need to remove the driver side end cap to get it in.

Thanks for any info.

Tim

 

[IZwack]

I guess the problem is that you got a cross bar from a 92 - which is considered as a "first generation" Explorer. Your 98 Explorer is a "second generation" .. and the cross bar designs between the two are different.

So I guess you will need to remove the end caps to install those first generation load bars. Be careful about removing those end screws as they are a pain in the butt to remove. I've never been able to remove mine so I ended up drilling out and replacing the entire design that holds down the back end of the rail (the reason was because my roof rack and a spare tire was just too much weight for those screws).

If you didn't live so far, I'd be more than happy to give you my load bars that came off of my 98 Explorer. You can still have em for free but shipping might be costly ... try looking around at your local junk yards first. If you can't dig up a set, then we can talk about mailing these load bars im not using.

 

[timmie88]

Sorry it's taken me so long to reply to this. I just had the incredible experience of having a little baby girl!

Anyway, if you're willing to part with your cross bars, I'd be happy to pay you the shipping costs (via paypal?). Just let me know. Send me an email offline if you'd like.

timmie@<REMOVE>gmail.com

just remove the <REMOVE> section and email me.

Thanks!

Tim