Alternative Roof Rail Bolts

[jross20]

So I don't know if any of you guys are aware yet... But Toyota has discontinued the bolts that hold the roof rack rails to the roof. Uh oh... Knowing that if I remove them there is a chance that they could snap or something, or so I've been told, I'm very hesitant to actually touch them now if there's nothing to replace them with...

Do we have any idea of a viable alternative bolt?

 

[JZiggy]

So I don't know if any of you guys are aware yet... But Toyota has discontinued the bolts that hold the roof rack rails to the roof. Uh oh... Knowing that if I remove them there is a chance that they could snap or something, or so I've been told, I'm very hesitant to actually touch them now if there's nothing to replace them with...

Do we have any idea of a viable alternative bolt?

Betcha a torx pan head would be pretty close. I'm not sure if the OEMs are stainless or not.

McMaster-Carr

 

[jross20]

Betcha a torx pan head would be pretty close. I'm not sure if the OEMs are stainless or not.

McMaster-Carr

Hey Zig thanks for the post. I'll check these out. When I did a bit of searching around I was a bit worried as I saw people saying that it was some kind of a special low profile bolt. Something non-standard.

 

[Bad Luck]

So I don't know if any of you guys are aware yet... But Toyota has discontinued the bolts that hold the roof rack rails to the roof. Uh oh... Knowing that if I remove them there is a chance that they could snap or something, or so I've been told, I'm very hesitant to actually touch them now if there's nothing to replace them with...

Do we have any idea of a viable alternative bolt?

That's a very rare occurrence and usually only with rust belt trucks. Spray a little penetrant a few days before and you'll be fine.

 

[FD7683]

Mine didn't snap off and its a rustbelt truck. Just be careful when removing them.

 

[Thepedigree13]

I cannot remember what bolts I got that work, but I got them at Home Depot.

I took one of the threaded slot type nuts put of the rail, and found a bolt that worked.

I did this when I built my own roof rack out of unistrut. It has held up very well.

I've strapped my kayak to it several times, and I carry a pelican case with tools in it everyday mounted to the roof rack.

The bolts I found are good to go. I'm sorry I cannot remember size or thread pitch, but they exist.

 

[jross20]

That's a very rare occurrence and usually only with rust belt trucks. Spray a little penetrant a few days before and you'll be fine.

Well I know that it would be my luck that one of them would break just because there are no replacements... Haha

Mine didn't snap off and its a rustbelt truck. Just be careful when removing them.

Oh yes I will super gentle... Did yours have a little rust stain around them?

I cannot remember what bolts I got that work, but I got them at Home Depot.

I took one of the threaded slot type nuts put of the rail, and found a bolt that worked.

I did this when I built my own roof rack out of unistrut. It has held up very well.

I've strapped my kayak to it several times, and I carry a pelican case with tools in it everyday mounted to the roof rack.

The bolts I found are good to go. I'm sorry I cannot remember size or thread pitch, but they exist.

Okay that's good to know. :tea:

 

[Pyral]

I didn't have any problem removing the OEM torx screws, apart from the one screw that the previous owner had filled in for some reason. If it gives you trouble, push your weight down on the screwdriver with one hand, and use your other hand to turn the screwdriver with the help of a wrench.

If it weren't for the previous owner filling in the screw head with a metal plug, I wouldn't have needed to replace the OEM screws. I got replacement screws from an ace hardware, they were stainless and had a hex head. I prefer torx, but a hex bit is still better than a Philips screw.

 

[jross20]

I didn't have any problem removing the OEM torx screws, apart from the one screw that the previous owner had filled in for some reason. If it gives you trouble, push your weight down on the screwdriver with one hand, and use your other hand to turn the screwdriver with the help of a wrench.

If it weren't for the previous owner filling in the screw head with a metal plug, I wouldn't have needed to replace the OEM screws. I got replacement screws from an ace hardware, they were stainless and had a hex head. I prefer torx, but a hex bit is still better than a Philips screw.

Shoot I forgot to ask, what is the torx size for the oem bolts?

And man that's crazy, what did he feel it in with? Like JB weld or something?

 

[Pyral]

Shoot I forgot to ask, what is the torx size for the oem bolts?

And man that's crazy, what did he feel it in with? Like JB weld or something?

I don't remember the torx size, I just had a set of bits and used the largest size that fit.

What I think the previous owner did was take a torx bit and cut off the end so it filled the screw head and sat flush, and then glued it in place.Whatever they used was extremely hard to drill out. They only did one side though, I've never seen anything like it.

 

[GhostRing]

T20 Torx

eta: below post is correct: T25
Somehow I checked with both and promptly typed the wrong one!

 

[ZSW99]

All the ones I’ve removed were T25 torx. I’ve taken them in and out several times on multiple 4Runners using an impact and never had any issues