Removing roof rack

[Davidlazaro]

Anybody know how to remove a stock roof rack from a 2002 ford explorer?

 

[D Hook]

1. Find a low clearance overpass.
2. Back up 100 feet.
3. Shift into drive.
4. Floor it.
5. Return and pick up pieces. (Always think of the environment!)

 

[Number4]

1. Find a low clearance overpass.
2. Back up 100 feet.
3. Shift into drive.
4. Floor it.
5. Return and pick up pieces. (Always think of the environment!)

Can you provide documents proving your "57" state registration status?

 

[Number4]

Anybody know how to remove a stock roof rack from a 2002 ford explorer?

I believe underneith the main rail, you'll find hex screws. These should release the upper cover. Hopefully this will give you access to other fasteners. It's a place to start at least.

If you do remove them, I'd suspect you'd have 6 holes in the roof to deal with.

 

[Blue91Ex]

and you coudl fill in those holes with either silicon caulking or maybe by jb-welding or epoxying some sheet metal underneath (drop headliner for access) and use bondo to fill the low spots from the holes.

 

[Davidlazaro]

Thank you ! I will try that

 

[swshawaii]

removed roof rack -->PICS<--

i just finished removing my roof rack on my 03 and also put touch up paint on the bolts just thought i would share a few pictures with everyone also i cant remember if i have even posted any pictures of my truck on here so for those of you that have never seen it there it is lol

www.explorerforum.com

need help removing roof rack on a 04

Ok so today i saw a dropped 03 explorer red also w/o the roof racks and i think it looks pretty nice. Gives it a clean look. SO i want to try and see how it looks on mine but i'm afraid of breaking something and then not liking how it looks. Any help will be appreciated.

www.explorerforum.com

 

[Number4]

Had to remove mine on my 94 to clear up some rust (Different setup obviously.) for the time being. I put the bolts back through the holes and caulked under the bolt heads. This was just to make it water tight while I repaired the roof.

 

[Davidlazaro]

I heard about somethig about leaking ? Also if is there any way I can just take it to a shop to get them removed ?

 

[wbrudi28]

i removed mine. 2004 X. on either side main rail, theres a front, a rear and a middle plastic cover. you need to pry them off, but they don't want to come off without any sort of reasonable force.

use a flathead screwdriver and pry around the edges. each cap has 2 plastic plugs surrounded by a metal sleeve that serves a shim. mine each broke off one peg, so i had to remove them and then superglue it back onto the cap (in the event you ever want to reinstall the rack)

once you do this, theres 2 Torx head screws under each cover. unscrew them slowly as to not strip them out. i used a hand Torx driver to prevent this.

once you remove the screws the rack will come off. theres a rubber foot under each mounting point, 6 in total. save those too.

after i removed all 12, i used a soapy rag and cleaned off the painted roof surface because it has dirt and grime buildup. i then hit it with a bit of turtle wax. you could also use some isopropyl, then wax to prevent it from oxidizing.

after you do that, just screw the scews back in. they don't need to be super tight, just hand tight. the holes terminate, they do not go all the way through so you don't need to worry about leakage.

good luck

 

[Number4]

Coat the screws in anti seize before putting them back in. Will keep the rust from taking hold.

 

[Number4]

Just picked up a set of chrome rails from the wrecking yard. Everything came off easy. No broken parts.