Problem Removing OEM Rack

F

FourT6and2

New member
Just a heads up for anybody about to remove their stock rack. Here's an issue I ran into yesterday when trying to remove the stock TRD Pro rack/basket.

The bolts are in there tight with red thread locker. Both bolts go through a metal bracket that sits on top of the roof, through the roof itself, and thread into another metal bracket with plastic tubes that floats inside the roof liner itself. Loosen both bolts FIRST and really make sure they are completely broken free from the thread locker and can almost be removed by hand BEFORE you actually remove either bolt. Why?

If you remove one bolt and then go to break the other one free, you risk breaking that floating bracket and it will just spin inside the roof. And you're screwed at that point. This happened on one of my brackets. I was able to stick a screw driver down into the hole and capture the floating bracket again. But by that point the bracket was FUBAR. Plastic tubes sheared off and the bracket had bent.

Toyota was NOT helpful. The service department didn't even want to look at it. I'm going to have to drop the headliner inside the SUV in order to get the bracket out and replace it with a new one.

The part in question is #12:

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Has anyone tried applying heat via a 1 gallon propane torch briefly to the bolts? Just saw a YouTube video on this. Apparently applying heat to the Torx bolts will soften the crazy Red Loctite they use, making it very easy to remove bolts. Or is this just stupid, guy in video applied it for what looked like just three seconds. Anyways just thought I would throw it out there. Thanks for any input, appreciated.
 
tls3601 said:
Has anyone tried applying heat via a 1 gallon propane torch briefly to the bolts? Just saw a YouTube video on this. Apparently applying heat to the Torx bolts will soften the crazy Red Loctite they use, making it very easy to remove bolts. Or is this just stupid, guy in video applied it for what looked like just three seconds. Anyways just thought I would throw it out there. Thanks for any input, appreciated.
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I saw that on Westcott's video, and I can only tell you from my personal experience my 2021 rack's bolts were not hard at all to break free.

Give it a go with a breaker bar, and you should be OK.
 
cbaty08 said:
I saw that on Westcott's video, and I can only tell you from my personal experience my 2021 rack's bolts were not hard at all to break free.

Give it a go with a breaker bar, and you should be OK.
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Good to know, mine is a 2019 Pro. Also as there may be a little time between when I remove rack and mount RTT, what can I do to protect that area temporarily? Painters tape to keep junk out of that area? Thanks
 
Mine snapped free no problem. I personally wouldn’t use heat but definitely loosen equally back and forth until they’re hand loose


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I don't think the red stuff is loctite. When I took mine off it appears to just be red silicone sealant just to keep water out of the threads and it broke free easily.
 
I made the same mistake too. I could never get the threaded clip to snap back on the tab, so I had to pull the headliner partially. (passenger side rear) I was able to then access the area and slip the threaded part onto the metal tab.

The red stuff on mine was definitely hard like loctite and not pliable.
 
Just pop off the interior panel by the pillar and you can gain access to the retaining bracket from the inside of the vehicle. You’re not screwed at all, and the panel just pops back in.
 
I know that a few of you had a good experience removing the factory bolts, but my experience was more like the Westcott’s video. All of the bolts came out OK but one. And that particular bolt was damn near welded in. I am VERY mechanical and very sensitive to pressures and torque. I can assure you I did not just grab a wrench and crank the bolt. I took my time and it still spun and twisted the piece/bracket that’s below the roof and above the headliner. I didn’t get the chance to watch the other video, so I will do that as I may need to go through the drill again on a different 4Runner, but Toyota was ABSOLUTELY helpful of me. They took care of it and it was a pretty cheap repair. Just sharing my story as I personally went through this as well.
 
tls3601 said:
Good to know, mine is a 2019 Pro. Also as there may be a little time between when I remove rack and mount RTT, what can I do to protect that area temporarily? Painters tape to keep junk out of that area? Thanks
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Keep it indoors!

The way it is designed is that anything that gets on the roof will get in the channels, and the channels funnel to the holes for the bolts, and the holes for the bolts will allow water both in the bolt hole and outside the plastic white piece that projects up through the roof. It will be hard to keep water out of all of that.
 
tls3601 said:
Good to know, mine is a 2019 Pro. Also as there may be a little time between when I remove rack and mount RTT, what can I do to protect that area temporarily? Painters tape to keep junk out of that area? Thanks
Click to expand...

I would use butyl tape/putty. That is what i used on mine on top of the spacers and below the bolt head ( i used silicon washers between the spacers and top of the 4runner).
 
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