Gen3 factory rack broken

[tj90]

So I overloaded my factory rack with a basket and thule crossbars. Now my factory rail separated from my roof. Do any of you guys know how the factory rail is removed?

If I lift up on rail I see a bolt and nut going into the roof. I think the plastic foot is cracked. The pic below is the center foot that's broken. The front and back feet dont look like they have removable covers or anything

 

[ChrisCosta416]

You need to drop the headliner to be able unbolt and access the screw holding the factory rack.

 

[tj90]

Ok thanks for confirmation. I had headliner out a few months ago and didn't look in that area. I guess I need to go to junkyard and look for replacement feet as well.... thank you

 

[Inyo_man]

As ChrisCosta stated...the headliner must be dropped to access the assembly.

Below is a post on replacing the factory rails...
https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/gen-iii-roof-rails-rack.113873/

I wouldn't recommend replacing the rails with oem.

 

[tj90]

Wow that looks like a nice system. The factory rack isn't designed for a ton if abuse. I probably had 300 lbs up there over the mojave trail. Beginner mistake....

 

[ChrisCosta416]

Wow that looks like a nice system. The factory rack isn't designed for a ton if abuse. I probably had 300 lbs up there over the mojave trail. Beginner mistake....

It all depends of how you disperse the weight as well.

A RTT on the Mojave trail mounted correctly probably wouldn’t do any harm to the rack. Disperse your weight evenly across the rack

 

[tj90]

I got another factory rack from scrap yard today for $20. Actually having factory rack off vehicle makes you realize how flimsy they are. The feet are all plastic and there is a ton of slop between the feet and sheet metal bar. I took pics of nuts under headliner below). There are a total of 5 nuts (12 mm?) per side with the center only having one nut. Buying aftermarket or fabbing your own if you have a welder would be much better. I'll install what I got but use the original as template to build a metal welded foot rack.

 

[tj90]

Finally got the broken rail off. It was a partial headliner removal. Unfortunately my limited has an hvac duct right over the passenger rail. (The price you pay for comfort...) That was a few more screws to drop the duct and expose the rack mounts. Here is the broken center foot. Nothing but plastic....

 

[SONICMASD]

Yep, I think the factory plastic rack is only rated for 150lbs. Mitsu doesn't say if that is static or dynamic but I'd bet it's dynamic because I've seen guys mount hilifts and roof top tents up there without issue.



If you've got the factory rack off and want to upgrade to something slick. Check out the Rhino Rack RTS track system. You bolt in their tracks and then you can use the tracks to mount their various racks to it or pretty much any roof rack to it with some creativity.

 

[ChrisCosta416]

Front Runner also makes a track and feet kit you can buy from South Africa