who has removed the roof rack crossbars?

[tbomb]

guys,

im thinking about taking off my roofrack crossbars. i know its not the biggest deal in the world, they come off in about 30 seconds, but i was wondering if the majority of people who did this just unscrewed the crossbars, or you actually took out the little insert things that slide back and forth from the front to the rear of the vehicle?...ya know what i mean?

thanks.

 

[aldive]

I unscrewed them and took them off. I think it makes the truck look better and definately helps with fas mileage at highway speeds.

Goos luck....

 

[taxx]

I would just unscrew them. I took mine all the way out, but that is because I installed a Yakima rack and I didn't want them in the way. Either way is easy.

 

[aldive]

See, my friend, YOU are indeed a trend setter.....

 

[tbomb]

yeah, i think itll clean it up a lil (smoother lines overall.) i used to have thule attachments to hold snowboards up there, but now i just throw the boards in the truck with the seats down.

im still not sure what to do about the "inserts" though. if i take off the crossbars, but i leave those "tie-downs", it might look a little goofy just having those things sticking up out of the roof; but i have nothing to do all week, so i guess ill go out, try some different things, post some pics, and get some opinions.

thanks guys.

 

[Dave W.]

I always take mine off for the winter, easier to clean the snow off the roof!

 

[X24]

I took off the cross bars and unscrewed the tie downs. I cant get the damn screws out of the ends of the rails to take the sliders out. I broke my screw driver trying. How did other people get them out?

 

[Campo]

Last summer when I went to Colorado to visit my sister I removed my cross bars, In the front and back on mine there are pushdown tabs in the track, I just loosend the crossbars and the tie downs and slid them the the end's, pushed down the tab and the slid out of the track.. when I got back I put them back on.. Don't know about the other years but that's how mine came out..

 

[X24]

you must have a different rack than me.

 

[james t]

i broke my screw driver trying...

did you try using a #3 phillips? you gotta use a #3.

 

[taxx]

I too broke the first screw driver then ended up just pulling on them realy hard and busting them out. I got them back in and tghey have stayed since. Although I don't recomend my technique!

 

[X24]

yeah I used a #3...

 

[james t]

...and you broke a #3? jeez, i use mine as a prybar half of the time!

 

[taxx]

I don't think I broke mine. I just couldn't get the screw to budge without stripping the head.

 

[X24]

Well at least it was a craftsman. I can break it as many times as I want.

 

[Crankcase]

That's weird. My Explorer is an XL, so it came with no roof racks at all. A long time ago I wanted to get some to put on top to match 98% of the other Explorers.

Then I realised mine is a bit different that way, and I like it better without them. I always saw other people with them off, but always wondered why. I thought they had moved matresses on the roof or something, but now I see some people don't like them at all...

**Just my worthless .02CAN**

 

[tbomb]

well guys, i tried to unscrew the end of the rack to slide the tie-downs and the cross bars out, but i couldnt budge that screw one bit. i dont really wanna just unscrew everything to take it off because im paranoid that the little inserts will rattle on the highway or something. anyone have any other ideas?

 

[X24]

dont worry about the sliders and tiedowns. I just unscrewed everytyhing and left them on. I couldnt budge the screws either. I dont get a rattle or anything. I would like to get them out tho just for looks.

 

[CBoug76]

FYI, If you loose the Nut plates, and you want to replace them, They can be Expensive!

I wanted to get a 2nd set of tie down anchor points and I called Ford, they told me it would be close to $100 for a set of 4 Tie down anchors and the nut plates......

 

[tbomb]

chris, did you expect to hear a reasonable price for those things from ford?

im still not sure what im gonna do. i might unscrew them for a few days and drive around and see if i can hear anything different. if i dont hear anything, maybe ill leave it.