Nissan Frontier: How I deleted my rack & plugged the holes
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- Опубліковано 26 сер 2024
- In order for my new Topo Toppers pop-up wedge camper to fit on my Nissan Frontier Pro-4x, I had to remove my roof rack and (attempt to) weatherproof the bolt holes in the roof. What I've done is FAR from an ideal solution and won't work for you if you're concerned about everything looking perfect. :-) I did manage to stop the rain that was getting in.
Topo Toppers Mesa wedge camper:
www.topotopper...
Alldogs Offroad/Koni 2" lift kit:
www.alldogsoff...
Alldogs Offroad wheels for Frontier/Xterra:
www.alldogsoff...
ASFIR 4x4 skid plates:
www.asfir.com/...
Yankum Ropes:
yankum.com/?af...
(use code SOFTROADINGTHEWEST for a discount off your purchase)
I would have put the silicone in the holes BEFORE the screws. That way it is sealed internally and so are the threads. You can clean up the stuff that squishes out as soon as the screws are torqued. You most likely won't see the silicone at all.
I'd use black 3M 4200 marine sealant. It's a semi permanent sealer we use below the waterline on boats for through hull fittings. Stay away from the permanent 5200 stuff as you'll never be able to get it off again.
Put some in the hole and on the threads. Leave a bit around the screws when you wipe off what squishes out around them. If you want to try and fill the inset hole, I'd see if you could find an o ring that fits tight on the threads of the screw but the outside diameter fits the inset hole. So 4200 in the hole and on treads and under the screw head, then slide a stainless flat washer on, then slide on the slightly oversized o ring, reapply 4200 to threads and o ring where it came off after sliding the washer and o ring on, then snug up the screw to squish the o ring. Then wipe around the screw leaving some of the excess sealant around the base of the screw...
I drew up and 3D printed some spacers for a guy who did the same on his Pro4X, it allowed him to retrofit his lightbar between his cab over camper and the roof. Under the spacer he used some rubber and then clamped the spacers with the light bar mount and the original bolts. It was a simple way of repurposing the holes! At the back he pretty much did exactly what you did, bolts soft washers and silicone.
Interesting! Another commenter suggested some kind of 3D-printed solution. I have not gone down that road at all yet, though from a DIY perspective, perhaps it is something I should eventually start to explore. Yeah, I was thinking to maybe use the front bolt holes to come up with some kind of light mount (at some point down the road when I don't have other pressing projects).
Should put a nice light bar on the roof now 👍🏾
If I can find a way to cleanly fab & mount something to those front mounting points, that is definitely something I'd like to do!
I really enjoy your effective "bare bones" solutions. I hope your neighbors cat is still coming by to visit.
We only see him rarely these days. He knows we got our own cat and he's not happy about it at all. He does occasionally stop by to say Hi when I'm working in the garage, but maybe once a month at most, whereas I used to see him almost daily.
If you wanted to revisit the low profile rack idea later, you could probably use a piece of sheet metal to bend to the shape of the roof, drill four holes in it, and weld a tube to the plate to create some base points to build off of.
Good idea. At this point I don't really need a full rack going back to the rear mounting points, as the cabover is very close to the cab and comes out across most of it...there's almost no room to mount anything on my roof anyway. I'd still like to maybe use the front mounting points to mount some lights if I can manage to fit something to those curves. It curves down both from back to front and from center out towards the sides, so it's a complex surface to fit to. I wouldn't have thought of the sheet metal idea...thank you!
This is why holes through the roof are a pain. I don't put roof vents in my trailers because water always has a way in. That is why your bolts get hard to take out. Water... Then there is the slow leak that no one ever notices till it is too late. Thanks for sharing! George.
Having had to deal with a similar situation on my travel trailer, I would recommend Eternabond tape. RV'ers use a lot of Dicor, but that is ugly, messy and breaks down over time. You could cut small shapes - squares, circles, stars - from the Eternabond tape and cover over the silicone and bolt heads. Eternabond will still be stuck long after the rest of the truck has rusted away a thousand years from now.
As another Portland-area, Frontier-driving, budget-conscious overlander, I could make use of those OEM roof rack parts if you're looking to get rid of them/sell them off! Particularly the crossbar; I haven't had any luck finding a used one around.
Anyway, great video as always. Keep up the good work!
I've been going back and forth whether or not to sell it. I was leaning towards selling it but in the process of working on this video, discovered that I've misplaced the 16 original bolts - weird, because I'm generally religious about keeping that stuff all together. If I do decide to sell it, it will definitely be the whole thing, rack and crossbars. I'll certainly post about it if I do put it up for sale.
Remove the bolts and clean all the silicon. Use alcohol to clean the areas in and around the bolt holes. Use black RTV in the bolt hole, threads of the bolt and in the pocket. Seat the bolt until you have some squeeze out and clean surface. The RTV should give a good seal and temperature won't affect it. This is how we use to fix water leaks on the xm shark fin on GM sport utilities and trucks. Was a technician for 16 years and did my fair share of water leaks.
Thank you, that sounds like an excellent course of action.
@@softroadingthewest rubber hole plugs is all you need it do to cover the holes
Hey Donald, great editing as always!
I will give a simple tip next time you're in a pinch to undo a stubborn bolt.
It's completely counter intuitive and requires no additional products.
Tighten it. Not a lot. Do not over torque of course. But 1/8 or even 1/16 of a turn.
I've had luck with that method if I don't have heat/power/penetrate available.
The idea is that was the last direction the threads went so they want to keep going that way.
And once moving should be much easier to undo. I've used it probably a hundred times now with success and it's the only way I remove ABS sensors from knuckles these days.
Oh man, I never ever would have thought of that, but I can see how it makes sense! I will absolutely give it a try next time (and I'm certain there will be a next time 😆). Thanks Bruce!
Hey Donald! Hadn’t seen your most recent build until I was walking along Amazon Parkway and saw you drive by!
After I explained to my girlfriend what you do on your channel I realized how much of a fanboy moment I had lol. Truck looks great!
Haha, I saw you! Beautiful afternoon to be out for a walk! I went on a bike ride myself. :-)
Shop for pocket washers with appropriate outside and inside diameter - adequate to cover the entire opening of each of the 16 holes in the roof panel.
I'm not familiar with pocket washers. I Googled, and also searched directly on Grainger and McMaster-Carr but didn't find anything called a pocket washer. Would you have a link to what you're referring to?
@@softroadingthewest
Black RTV is what I went with on my roof rack install in those bolt wells in the roof. It handles high temps very well.
Good to know. I think I will certainly end up re-doing this in some capacity. RTV has been suggested by numerous commenters. Thanks!
Maybe the small neoprene washer in the whole, then a larger washer over the whole with a small amount of roof wet/dry roof sealant that comes out of the caulking tube. That stuff does not leak and the two washers should create a very tight seal.
Donald, you did very very well. By the time these holes will let water in, either you would have sold the car or you would no ....longer care...!
I wish my truck had this factory rack, it looks so cool 😢
What I did on similar problem is unscrewed the bolt, put automotive sealant and screwed them back with the poly washer.
I agree with the black RTV... used it to seal off a sun roof on a junker car in college, worked really well
RTV is definitely getting the most votes in the comments! Thank you!
I'm here for the exact same reasons you mention, about trying to DIY low profile.
Another solution would be to use plastidip spray paint as you could make it uniform and also seal everything with a color that matches close to the factory color as well
Oh that's an interesting idea, I would not have thought of that. It did occur to me to just vinyl wrap the entire roof down to the door jams so everything was covered by a single membrane, but ultimately I didn't have time for that anyway between when I took off the rack and when I needed to leave for California. I would have got onto the rack delete sooner if I'd known the bolt holes weren't just simple bolt holes. 😆
@@softroadingthewest when I was at Lowe's earlier I saw another alternative, spray flex seal
Silicone is great but if it does fail in the future backing the screws out and putting some vulkem in there and putting the screws back in might be effective! Also I like the DIY videos quite a bit!
Black RTV sealant - the same recommended by Prinsu Rack and Rhino Rack for when installing their racks where you have to drill - I'd dob a GENEROUS amount in the holes and up top about the same diameter as the screw heads, then put the stainless washers and use stainless torx or hex head type button head screws. To me, the plastic washers under the metal screw head may flex or crack and who knows if they are UV resistant.
beehn using dicor on rv's for over 20 years. including a 1995 alpenlite 5th wheel I gave to my son. Have never experienced a leak. easy to use, self leveling.
Awesome. I didn't have time to research or order anything - I needed an immediate fix and had silicone in the garage from some previous usage years ago - but when I redo this, I will definitely use a better product like this. I have heard of Dicor before. Several other people in the comments have also mentioned "RTV." Do you know, is that more or less the same thing or is there a difference?
I would use fender washers with matching sized rubber washers and stainless screws. With silicone or black RTV to seal it up. But it looks like you have a workable solution there.
That seems like a good idea. I think what I have will end up being a temporary solution, it's holding for now but I feel like silicone always ends up degrading. It's just what I had on hand in the garage when I needed to do something immediately. Fender washers is a great idea.
Donald, my virtual east coast friend, I would watch you do your taxes. Cheers from western North Carolina!
UA-cam doesn't permit the kind of language that comes out of my mouth when I do my taxes. 😆 I love being self-employed, except when it comes to dealing with tax time. 😂
Great video, thanks for posting. That Topo Topper looks great on the truck, didn't even notice your roof rack was gone!
I have a similar issue with cab marker lights on my truck leaking. A dab of silicone grease on the screws seems to have helped the rubber seals do their thing and stopped the leaks, while not impeding future removal.I know it's not a great solution, nor likely a permanent one. Curious to see the suggestions come in, and what ultimately works for you.
I did something similar. Put in the shorter bolts with normal washers, then filled with silicone. Has been fine so far.
Well that's good to hear! It's been mostly doom & gloom in the comments regarding my use of silicone. 😄 I'll certainly let this ride until it starts leaking again.
@@softroadingthewest It has been holding fine for 2yrs and ~40k miles now. Removed it for a GFC.
granted all the good ideas come when you see somebody else go first, but another way could have been remove the screws and apply the silicone with a Q-tip around the inner edge. then put the screws in before it drys.
I think what you did was fine. I would have used ProflexRV over the bolts though. I had a leak on my truck cap. It’s similar to your old one. The dealer used silicone to fix it. It still leaked! I put the ProflexRV on the seam and it worked. I went around my entire truck camper with the stuff. I have no evidence of any leaks.
Someone else mentioned that too. I'm not really happy with my rushed silicone solution - it's just what I had in the garage. I think I will likely re-do this with a better product eventually. Thanks!
Take the screws back out let it dry and fill the holes with decor and then put the screws back in
The silicone sealant will work - but will look rather ratty over time. For metal on metal I prefer Geocel GC28100 Pro Flex, which a polyethylene sealant and I believe it is paintable.
Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of silicone for a number of reasons, but it's what I had on hand in the garage when I needed to do *something* right away. I will check out that product. I'm certain I will need to redo this at some point. Thanks!
Sometimes there's something to be said for brevity.
Yep
I tried using bolts on my X, but they stood out too much. I ended up using auto plastic push pins. I found them at lowes, GM pins. Sits flush and keeps water out... so far
What if you just ran two pieces of flat steel across the roof. Use a piece of Unistrut as a spacer block on each bolt hole, then bolt the flat bar across. Then you'd be able to mount a light bar or at least have a little more storage space, maybe mount the traction boards?
The main problem that I see trying to mount anything at all is that there are no flat surfaces between any two bolts. The roof curves downward from back to front, and curves downward from center towards the doors. So it's a highly complex curved surface. I am thinking like you, spacers are needed, though it would need to be four separate spacers of varied height at every corner to accommodate the varying curve. Not impossible I think. I was just way too busy at the time to devote enough mental energy to this, but it's something I'd like to revisit when I don't have other pressing projects. 👍
@@softroadingthewest Oh I get it! I thought it was just the one slope going from the roof down. I wish you luck on this.
I personally have not had any good experience with that Dab brand silicone.
I also think applying silicine or urethane before/below the washers would have been better. But, better than not trying anything
Interesting. The tube says 100% silicone...I have to admit, I thought silicone was silicone. It's the brand my (generally trusted, locally-owned) hardware store carries. I didn't buy it for this purpose - it's what I had on hand from some other use years ago - I was just seriously rushed to do something, anything. 😆 I suspect this is going to get redone at some point.😏
hi,
thx for the clip!!
may i ask what kind of crossbar you had on it before ?
thx for help!
I removed the original crossbars and built a DIY rack using unistrut. I have a video about it:
ua-cam.com/video/vyfX-HKxjK8/v-deo.html
@@softroadingthewest thx, thats a big help!!!!!! 🙂
Just use a big washer under the bolt with its own neoprene gasket and then the existing neoprene gasket on top of the washer?
That's a good idea!
Dont they make an expanding rubber bolt, something like a molly bolt? Anyway, that just this girl’s thoughts 😂. Looks good in my opinion (although im not a fan of silicone) but, If it works, it works 😉
I don't know, maybe they do. Actually I'm not a fan of silicone either, I had this tube from some other usage years ago and needed a quick fix without time to research or order something or wait for delivery. I imagine I will probably re-do this at some point (though I suspect I won't get around to re-doing it until the current solution starts leaking on me 🤣)
It's always something. Or something extra when we work on our trucks. Oh, I'll just do this and several hours later with some expletives thrown in your still not done. Such is life but we soldier on.
LOLOL so so true
my welds broke what can i do?
Do you mean the weld-nuts under the roof that the bolts go into broke off and are now free-spinning? I think the only thing you can do if that happens is drop the headliner in order to remove them from the inside, and seal/secure your new bolts from the inside with new washers, nuts, and some kind of sealing product. Not gonna be fun...it happened to a friend of mine and he just had to bite the bullet and drop the headliner, and was able to get things re-assembled and sealed. Good luck!
FlexSeal? FlexTape? I haven't used either but I hear good things. Silicone is a good call for a quick fix. Plastidip might be a good longer term solution as well.
3m 5200 hole then reinstall screw
That definitely seems like a better product. I was rushed and short on time and couldn't research, order, wait for shipment. The silicone was in the garage from some previous usage years ago and I was desperate to stop the water incursion immediately. I'm sure I'll have to redo it eventually 😄 next time with a better sealant.
Silicone is not the answer as it traps moisture and will promote rust
The silicone is a bad idea. It will promote rust both by its chemical makeup and by trapping water against your roof and more critically, the bare metal treads. Go to a local marine supply store and grad some Sika 295UV.. then repeat your tape and seal process.
Yeah, I'm not a fan of silicone for a number of reasons. In a rushed moment of desperation, without time to research and order and wait, it's what I happened to have in the garage from some previous usage years ago. I suspect this will get redone someday. I used Sikaflex on a previous project and was impressed.
I think someone with 3D printing experience could make some "mushroom" shaped cap screws to fully fill the holes.
That's an interesting idea I never would have thought of!
Nice camper
Can you tell me what size of screws you bought?
Oooh, I'm so sorry, I don't remember. I should have made a note of that. I took one of the original screws into the hardware store as a sample. To find the right metric threads, in stainless steel, and the length I needed, I had to get help from an employee and they were buried in obscure drawer. Good luck.
I just did this, found some auto push pins at Lowe's. Perfect find and sits flush on roof. I used GM plastic push pins
M6 1.0MM X 20MM
Should use penetrating oil to loosen those bolts.
I decided not to go into it in the video, but I did hit one of the stubborn bolts with PB Blaster. I'm not convinced it made any difference. The bolts had multiple waterproofing defenses, I'm not sure the Blaster even made its way in there. Ultimately gentle but persistent persuasion got them all out. 😄
The rack makes the truck look like crap
This sounds like a very inappropriate video covering current controversial political subjects... Too funny!
Click Baity Titles are the best! ;-p
Ok. Back to the video!