Removing the Stock PRO Roof rack

feelingstoned

feelingstoned

New member
I dont even know where to begin. A couple days ago I picked up a full roof Prinsu rack at a local shop, the none drill version of course. I built the rack in about 30 minutes. Seems easy right? Well I have the 2020 PRO and it came with the stock basket that you find on some FJs as well. I took off my roof top tent and went to unbolt the 8 hex bolts that hold the rack down. I tried with my impact, nothing. After 2 hours of messing with a wrench and using the impact I got 3 of them out...3. The rest? Stripped too badly. My next step was to use a bolt extractor. After 2 days and 8 hours of messing with it i got the rack off at the cost of snapping 5 of the bolts in half (the bolt extractor snapped every single one). So now those 5 bolts need to be taken out from the inside of the vehicle. It turns out toyota use red loctite on the bolts and impacted them into the nylon inserts in the roof. Why the HELL would they do that?! I'm beyond pissed and taking it to Toyota to get them to extract the rest of the bolts and put new nylon inserts since half of them broke taking out the bolts. This is the laziest, worst design I've seen by Toyota.

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Using red loctite is a major mistake due to its high strength properties. And if the bolts are assembled into nylon insets that’s another mistake. Loctite is supposed to be used only on metal-to-metal surfaces. Not plastics.
I wonder if the racks are installed in Japan or in the US by incompetent dealers.
 
ElectroBoy said:
Using red loctite is a major mistake due to its high strength properties. And if the bolts are assembled into nylon insets that’s another mistake. Loctite is supposed to be used only on metal-to-metal surfaces. Not plastics.
I wonder if the racks are installed in Japan or in the US by incompetent dealers.
Click to expand...
From the pictures of newly arriving 4runners at the port looking bare, it looks like they install the racks here at the port.
 
I read somewhere to not use an impact gun so I didn't. No issues when I removed mine. I know that doesn't help the OP now, but maybe someone will read that later.
 
ElectroBoy said:
Using red loctite is a major mistake due to its high strength properties. And if the bolts are assembled into nylon insets that’s another mistake. Loctite is supposed to be used only on metal-to-metal surfaces. Not plastics.

I wonder if the racks are installed in Japan or in the US by incompetent dealers.
Click to expand...
Exactly. I dont know why they would do that. When I talked to the service guys he told me that "they put loctite to prevent leaking". Loctite doesn't prevent leaking ??

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DallasTRDPro said:
I read somewhere to not use an impact gun so I didn't. No issues when I removed mine. I know that doesn't help the OP now, but maybe someone will read that later.
Click to expand...

Interesting also as mine came out really easily. I had a relatively early build for the year (got it around November 1 last year). I did end up losing some of the nylon taps though and ultimately had to have the head liner pulled (had a shop that did the original rack install on my 2016 help me out cleaning this up).

I wonder if they started putting the red loctite up there recently at port?
 
CO-Cygnus said:
It's definitely added at the port* and I'd normally just have a dealer swap the rack before delivery but the dealers in CO are quite mad when it comes to prices.

*You can see the Lunar Rock TRDP without its rack installed yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcQs0cjmhNY&feature=youtu.be&t=23
Click to expand...


I’ve been in ports many times, due my work all over the US . As the matter of fact I was in port Elizabeth NJ couple days ago and Toyota lot was pretty packed with 4Runners , it comes without had racks and baggers, I’m taking about T4r pros . You can see it’s a Pro by the color


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CO-Cygnus said:
It's definitely added at the port* and I'd normally just have a dealer swap the rack before delivery but the dealers in CO are quite mad when it comes to prices.

*You can see the Lunar Rock TRDP without its rack installed yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcQs0cjmhNY&feature=youtu.be&t=23
Click to expand...

Yeah, I meant regardless of if it's port installed or not, it's not listed as an option (like predator pro step bars) at the dealer, so having them remove it would just be a manual effort. You can't "buy" a TRD Pro without one, but sure, you can pay for it then have them remove and keep it.
 
There's been some discussion on here that the red stuff on OEM bolts may not be loctite - but, of course, if a dealer installed it who knows.

FWIW I just (yesterday) pulled the stock rack off my 2010, using an impact gun, and every bolt came out easily. So sounds like the installing dealer screwed up somehow.
 
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