Roof Rack Fun

[dsm02c]

Got my shiny new Front Runner roof rack all built and ready to go, went to put the tracks on tonight and that's where the install progress stopped.

About six months ago the roof glass developed a crack and we needed to have it replaced. We took it to a local auto glass shop and their turn around time and price was far better than Land Rover Dallas, the dealer quoted $2,600 the glass shop said $1,400 using genuine Land Rover glass.

We dropped it off on a work day and by the end of work my wife was able to pick it up. We were happy, the wallet was a little lighter but better than the dealer and upon inspection it had the Pilkington Land Rover logo on the glass. All the black plastic caps were in the tracks and things looked great. I should mention we use the factory roof rails for our Thule Sonic box and have for quite a few trips.

Fast forward to tonight, I start the install process for the Front Runner rack which requires the removal of the factory roof tracks, passenger side came off easy as pie. Started at the rear of the drivers side, fine, middle, fine, front "oh, hey, there is a little black Philips screw, no big deal" walked over to the toolbox and grabbed a Philips and backed it out. I figured when looking at it they must have lost the fastener that came with it and found another one with the correct thread pitch and used that. WRONG! I then tried to simply pick up the factory track as I had on the passenger side, it wouldn't come up, checked the screws at the front, middle, back, all loose, hmm, gave it a tug and realized it was stuck at the front, (insert sinking feeling here) Pulled again and it came loose, noticed there was a lot of black silicone through the track and onto the factory mounting post. Upon further inspection the glass shop broke off the factory torx bolt in the hole and drilled it out and then proceeded to use a small self tapping screw in its place.

Solution? Tried a screw extractor, no joy, drilled and tapped the location, SLOWLY. Saying I was paranoid about drilling through the roof of the truck is an understatement. Here's the facts:

You can drill 16.4mm down into the factory mounting post (as far as I needed to go based on new fastener length and hardware to be installed)
Threads are M6x1.00

It was well after their hours of operation when I began my little adventure, I'm unsure of what to do, any thoughts? I've never seen this type of carelessness before, and, frankly, am at a loss. I fixed my truck and I am thankful for that, but I want to communicate to the shop in a way that might help them perform a higher quality of work in the future.

 

[krick3tt]

Maybe the LR dealer would have been the way to go. The part that bothers me is that the shop you took it to did not bother to tell you that they had done this minor repair. I have had shops do things like that and there is virtually no recourse left but to not go back to them.
I just installed a full length FR roof rack and did not have to deal with your issues. The install went smoothly but the rack really whistles in the wind over about 40 MPH. I contacted FR to see about some sort of a wind dam or foil but they do not make such a thing.
I will eagerly follow your repair and hope that your issue has a good end.

 

[Cleand]

I am not surprised, the lack of honesty these days is overwhelming. I feel like almost every time I pay someone else to do the work, I end up doing it again only with a few extra steps because it was done incorrectly. Just the other day I went to torque the front axle shaft flange and one bolt kept spinning. Turns out the bolt was broken and they had used RTV to glue it back on so it looked right. You would think you could trust a big box shop to do a simple brake job. Long story short I feel your anger.

 

[Kgh]

I had a torn break off when I removed my LR4 rails. The pice it screws into is a piece that screws into the roof. Try cleaning all the factory body putty awy from the area, gab the whole thing with a vise-grips, and carefully unscrew it. Contact Voyager Racks (formerly Rover Racks), Andrew there knows about this issue, and had a spare one there that saved my day. As for an LR P/N, you are on your own there.

 

[Derel1cte]

I am not surprised, the lack of honesty these days is overwhelming. I feel like almost every time I pay someone else to do the work, I end up doing it again only with a few extra steps because it was done incorrectly. Just the other day I went to torque the front axle shaft flange and one bolt kept spinning. Turns out the bolt was broken and they had used RTV to glue it back on so it looked right. You would think you could trust a big box shop to do a simple brake job. Long story short I feel your anger.

Yep. Every time I get an oil change it seems like they they shear off another bolt from the engine skid plate. I'd do it myself if I actually had a garage to do it, but instead I have to trust local shops.

 

[jymmiejamz]

I can't believe that you guys are surprised that you get ****ty work when you pay for something that is half the cost of the dealer. I'm not saying the dealership is the only (or even best) option, but any good independent shop is probably going to be close in price to the dealer if they are using Genuine parts.

 

[M35A2]

Don't waste your time bitching to the shop.

First of all, they won't care.

Second, they will simultaneously take the following paradoxical positions:

- We didn't do it.

- It was like that.

You found it, you fixed it; move on.

 

[dsm02c]

I had a torn break off when I removed my LR4 rails. The pice it screws into is a piece that screws into the roof. Try cleaning all the factory body putty awy from the area, gab the whole thing with a vise-grips, and carefully unscrew it. Contact Voyager Racks (formerly Rover Racks), Andrew there knows about this issue, and had a spare one there that saved my day. As for an LR P/N, you are on your own there.

I had no idea they were removeable... The repair seems to be holding fine and I installed the rack yesterday and was able to get it tight and compress the lock washer. I did clean out all the mounting locations and use a small amount of blue loctite on them.

Maybe the LR dealer would have been the way to go. The part that bothers me is that the shop you took it to did not bother to tell you that they had done this minor repair. I have had shops do things like that and there is virtually no recourse left but to not go back to them.
I just installed a full length FR roof rack and did not have to deal with your issues. The install went smoothly but the rack really whistles in the wind over about 40 MPH. I contacted FR to see about some sort of a wind dam or foil but they do not make such a thing.
I will eagerly follow your repair and hope that your issue has a good end.

I actually had a whistling noise from 25-40 MPH, the sound was coming from the split wind deflector where the two sides of it meet up in the center. I painted the foil side of some dynamat black and then put in place to bridge the gap and used a heat gun to make sure I got a good bond, whistling noise is gone now... Might be worth a try... Was also thinking of using some black sugru I had laying around the house but I think the dynamat will hold better.

 

[jymmiejamz]

- It was like that.

You found it, you fixed it; move on.

That's actually a good point, it could have very well been damaged when the roof rails were installed originally.

I would advise anyone who needs glass work or body work done to call their dealership or trusted Land Rover specific independent shop who they recommend.

 

[Silmarillion]

I also found that using the very front edge railing made the sunroof useable at high speeds! To access this, you have to remove the corner piece - literally the forward most slot. This took me quite a while to figure out...moving the airdam back or removing it makes air flow and vibration much worse.

 

[dsm02c]

That's actually a good point, it could have very well been damaged when the roof rails were installed originally.

I would advise anyone who needs glass work or body work done to call their dealership or trusted Land Rover specific independent shop who they recommend.

I wish that was the case, the amount fresh RTV securing the rail to the truck pretty much ruled that out (I have never had the rails off before but I did look at the fasteners in the past and it was the silver land rover torx flange bolt in this location) and from the times I've seen it done you have to remove the rails to get under the glass... I don't agree that it's about the "quality" of the shop, I've seen terrible work come out of places with good reputations, I think it's all about the technician who ends up working your vehicle and how busy they are on the day your vehicle is in there...

 

[DiscoDavis]

Sorry to hear this happened, but yeah. Stories like yours remind me why I spent a good amount of time and money building a good dealer relationship. For some indy work I know the guy personally who does the work on my truck, and completely trust him.

Dealer rates suck but they get it done, and if they mess it up they will make right.

 

[jymmiejamz]

I don't agree that it's about the "quality" of the shop, I've seen terrible work come out of places with good reputations, I think it's all about the technician who ends up working your vehicle and how busy they are on the day your vehicle is in there...

I definitely agree that its about the technician doing the work, but as a general rule, you get what you pay for. Would you trust Jiffy Lube to change your oil?

 

[krick3tt]

Not to end the bitching about errant shops but I did fix the whistling noise on my FR roof rack by fabricating a wild deflector. No noise even at above 70 MPH.
It was sort of design build and went through a few mods to get the supports the correct length and keep the angle close to the angle of the front glass.

 

[dsm02c]

Not to end the bitching about errant shops but I did fix the whistling noise on my FR roof rack by fabricating a wild deflector. No noise even at above 70 MPH.
It was sort of design build and went through a few mods to get the supports the correct length and keep the angle close to the angle of the front glass.

You mind posting a picture of that setup? Would love to have zero wind noise...