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Roof Rail Delete

Mikey*TX

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Joined
February 3, 2020
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Location
Liv'n in the hollow of an 'ol oak tree. ;-)
City, State
Skunk Hollow, TX
Year, Model & Trim Level
2021 ST Star White
Don't even think of trying to remove the roof rails. They now mount from the inside. The entire headliner has to be removed. Worse, the replacement outer roof trim panels, side specific, are on constraint. No civilian sales. Replacement for PIU vehicles only. Verified by vin #.
 



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And, don't even think of trying to remove the roof rails. They now mount from the inside. The entire headliner has to be removed. Worse, the replacement outer roof trim panels, side specific, are on constraint. No civilian sales. Replacement for PIU vehicles only. Verified by vin #.
Hi, removed the roof rails myself, about two hours, careful inside headliner Peel back and six nuts. Not too bad, just be gentle and patient
 

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Did you cover the exposed area where the rails were installed? Also, how did you seal the mounting holes in the roof ?
 






Inquired at three different dealers. Answer was basically the same. They won't do it. Liability being the issue should the roof start leaking and cause interior damage. Also confirmed that the roof trim panels on the PIU that cover the area where the luggage rails are mounted are proprietary. If a department needs replacements, they have a requisition form that must be filled out and submitted to a certain dept at Ford. Once validated, the replacement parts are shipped directly to the gov't entity requesting them. Then, said gov't entity provides the parts to the repair facility. said person that came up with this was, in a past life, a three striper with two rockers in forms and requisitions. :rolleyes:
 






This is what the insert looks like on the 6th gen PIU. They use the same 6 through the roof mounting holes as the civilian luggage rails. The mounting studs are built into the bottom of the trim vs the exposed ones on the 5th gen PIU. Mine are on order. The hook being as I mentioned elsewhere is one must go through a Ford authorized public safety equipment reseller/installer such as Dana. Damn am I glad I have an established account with them. :)
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The trim is now one piece vs multiple on previous gens.
 


















Not a bad idea. I'll still lay out the $$ for the factory parts.
I agree with you, the challenge being trying to find the OEM parts for this "mod" from Ford
 






Yup. All comes down to contacts in the law enforcement community. It would do no good for me to post the part numbers.
 






Yup. All comes down to contacts in the law enforcement community. It would do no good for me to post the part numbers.
Even having contacts through my RCMP brothers(and sisters) and also at our local dealership that re and res our service vehicles I could not find any OEM part for this particular platform of Explorer
 






Even having contacts through my RCMP brothers(and sisters) and also at our local dealership that re and res our service vehicles I could not find any OEM part for this particular platform of Explorer
That is because of the replacement parts being restricted. The regular dealer network cannot get them nor, for that matter access the PIU parts catalog except for common across the board parts.
 






That is because of the replacement parts being restricted. The regular dealer network cannot get them nor, for that matter access the PUI parts catalog except for common across the board parts.
I understand, but as I have stated the dealership that services, wires, repairs all our service vehicles has access to PIU parts has no OEM parts for this particular "mod" because there are no ST's commissioned for our law enforcement fleet
 






Correct, you have to ask for a PIU roof rail instead. You are in Fords eye replacing or repairing a PUI vehicle so you have to look under that part number.



I understand, but as I have stated the dealership that services, wires, repairs all our service vehicles has access to PUI parts has no OEM parts for this particular "mod" because there are no ST's commissioned for our law enforcement fleet
 






The Base model is also missing the roof rack. Has anyone tried looking up the blank panel on a Base model? I'd have to imagine it'd be easier than asking for a PIU part...
 






The Base model is also missing the roof rack. Has anyone tried looking up the blank panel on a Base model? I'd have to imagine it'd be easier than asking for a PIU part...
There are no PIU parts for the ST, different platform all together
 






There are no PUI parts for the ST, different platform all together

What? The blank piece that replaces the roof rack should be universal with any Explorer / PIU. The Base Explorer parts should also interchange with a ST as well. There shouldn't be any non-swappable parts above the pillars on anything in the Explorer / PIU line.
 






What? The blank piece that replaces the roof rack should be universal with any Explorer / PIU. The Base Explorer parts should also interchange with a ST as well. There shouldn't be any non-swappable parts above the pillars on anything in the Explorer / PIU line.
Please try to source out those parts for the ST and let me know the corresponding part numbers guaranteeing they will fit the ST, I could not find that info anywhere
 






Please try to source out those parts for the ST and let me know the corresponding part numbers guaranteeing they will fit the ST, I could not find that info anywhere

The roof is identical across every model - Base, XLT, Limited, ST, and PIU. I don’t know how to prove it to you - of course it won’t flag for a ST when it was for a Base or PIU. But there is no tangible difference between the roof or mounting points for the roof rack rails or lack thereof across the model range. You either accept the common architecture of the different models, or you don’t...
 






This roof rail should probably be its own thread, as I bet there will be a part number at some point. I just looked and yes the Base model of the explorer has no roof rails. However whitebearautonation and tascaparts both list base and PIU as having the roof rails and not the blank part. If someone knew a body shop owner, or went to the parts department with a VIN of a base model, they may be able to find the P/N. They have to be available somehow as if you wreck a base model, they'd need to replace.

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EDIT: My bad, mikey had already made a thread for the roof rails.
 



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Base model explorer is roof rail free as well. I'm honestly surprised we can't find a part...

Here is a base model Explorer
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Tascaparts, and autonation are both able to list a base model and a PIU however they still list parts that are the same as the XLT for the roof rail and trim. If someone took the vin of a base model to the ford parts depo or a autobody shop, maybe they could find the P/N?
 






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