Hey guys going on vacation tomorrow and need to get a quick fix. The rear xm fin in the middle of the roof racks caught the garage opener cable and pulled it up. There is not about a 1cm gap in between the roof and the seal on the fin. Is there anyway to tighten this back down of any quick fixes you guys can think of. This looks like it will leak if it rains since the seal isnt sitting flush anymore.
XM Roof Fin Damaged HELP
- Thread starter Envy
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gm350reratliff
New member
Did you try just pushing it back down? A bead of silicone around the antenna would be a quick fix and you can always remove it later.
Ryan1975
New member
This.
Okay I have the shark off and the metal around where it tightens down on the roof is bent upwards causing the shark fin not to sit flush and ideas would be awesome I want to bend the metal back down but don't want to mess up my roof. I don't want to use XM anymore so I don't care about actually having the fin back on.
Tengu
New member
Duct tape ; P
Sorry, I couldn't resist.
The silicone option is probably your best bet for a band-aid.
You can pull down the roof liner in the rear but it is dicey. You have to pop some pins and untuck the liner. There are some hanger hooks back there that need to be removed. just pop them open and un bolt them. The rear pillars pop out fairly easily. You don't need to untuck too far forward to get enough access to get to it to inspect the inside or get your hands in there. Obviously be gentle. Hopefully you can pull it back into place and seal it up.
As far as repair repair. It will be costly. Toyota is going to remove the entire headliner, which entails removing the interior basically. (seats and all) They have to have a crew in to do it, so it is a by appointment only thing.
Sorry, I couldn't resist.
The silicone option is probably your best bet for a band-aid.
You can pull down the roof liner in the rear but it is dicey. You have to pop some pins and untuck the liner. There are some hanger hooks back there that need to be removed. just pop them open and un bolt them. The rear pillars pop out fairly easily. You don't need to untuck too far forward to get enough access to get to it to inspect the inside or get your hands in there. Obviously be gentle. Hopefully you can pull it back into place and seal it up.
As far as repair repair. It will be costly. Toyota is going to remove the entire headliner, which entails removing the interior basically. (seats and all) They have to have a crew in to do it, so it is a by appointment only thing.
Antman
Elite Member
The key to getting the metal flat again is to use a backing plate- something flat and heavy like a piece of steel. Hold that against the roof really tight (on the inside) and then you can hammer the bent metal back into shape (from the outside). Use a metal hammer that is flat. The metal is thin and will bend back into shape easily!
You can put some painters tape on the roof if you want, but light taps won't cause the paint to chip- it's pretty darn flexible.
Last edited:
gm350reratliff
New member
How big is the hole? Any pics of the roof and bottom antenna?
Well I got it to sit flush again after hammering the metal flat again. The wife got up there and put cardboard over the pieces of metal that were bent up and hammered them down while I applied pressure on the inside. I thought about your idea Antman but it was to difficult to get a piece of metal up there due to the room restrictions. Thanks for everyones help.
Heres some tips for someone running into this similar issue:
1. Open rear hatch and take off the 3 tabs on the roof liner near the hatch. I found it easy to pull down the liner and apply some pressure to pop the out.
2. Before you start pulling trim pieces you might want to know the tabs break and come off easy, so dont be to aggresive. Start by pulling left and right trim pieces out closest to the hatch. I put my flat head at the top and pulled down until I could get my fingers in and gently pull the tabs out. (There are about 4 in all)
3. Next pull the trim on the corner where the roof and window meet (3 tabs in all). Also you want to take off the coat hanger hooks with a 10m socket. Just pop down the tab and screw them out.
4. I now pulled trim pieces closest to the rear seats. I only pulled the tabs on the parts next to the window to give us a little more play room.
5. Its about time for a fresh beer by this point.
6. Now pull down the roof liner gently but only enough to get your hand in, since it will crease otherwise. Disconnect the wiring going to the fin at the blue connector. There is a tab you can push to release the wiring and disconnect it.
7. Loosen the nut going to the fin, mine was only hand tight so it was easy to loosen.
8. Pull the shark fin up and be careful when you get to the blue wiring connector it barely fits through the hole.
9. Flatten back out the metal at the top of the roof. We simply put some card board over the paint and hammered down the parts of the metal that are raised. I used a socket extension because it applied pressure to a small area.
10. Test fit the fin until you can get a good seal applying simple pressure because the nut holding it only gets so tight.
11. After fixing the metal put the fin back on. Be sure to get a hose and apply a good amount of water around the fin to check for any leaks while pulling the roof liner down to verify.
12. Put your trim pieces back on and be sure not to break any tabs.
Heres some tips for someone running into this similar issue:
1. Open rear hatch and take off the 3 tabs on the roof liner near the hatch. I found it easy to pull down the liner and apply some pressure to pop the out.
2. Before you start pulling trim pieces you might want to know the tabs break and come off easy, so dont be to aggresive. Start by pulling left and right trim pieces out closest to the hatch. I put my flat head at the top and pulled down until I could get my fingers in and gently pull the tabs out. (There are about 4 in all)
3. Next pull the trim on the corner where the roof and window meet (3 tabs in all). Also you want to take off the coat hanger hooks with a 10m socket. Just pop down the tab and screw them out.
4. I now pulled trim pieces closest to the rear seats. I only pulled the tabs on the parts next to the window to give us a little more play room.
5. Its about time for a fresh beer by this point.
6. Now pull down the roof liner gently but only enough to get your hand in, since it will crease otherwise. Disconnect the wiring going to the fin at the blue connector. There is a tab you can push to release the wiring and disconnect it.
7. Loosen the nut going to the fin, mine was only hand tight so it was easy to loosen.
8. Pull the shark fin up and be careful when you get to the blue wiring connector it barely fits through the hole.
9. Flatten back out the metal at the top of the roof. We simply put some card board over the paint and hammered down the parts of the metal that are raised. I used a socket extension because it applied pressure to a small area.
10. Test fit the fin until you can get a good seal applying simple pressure because the nut holding it only gets so tight.
11. After fixing the metal put the fin back on. Be sure to get a hose and apply a good amount of water around the fin to check for any leaks while pulling the roof liner down to verify.
12. Put your trim pieces back on and be sure not to break any tabs.
