Roof Rack installs or Retrofit?

[Ducky's Dad]

I'm doing something similar on a Tundra CrewMax with a 5.5' bed, but I'm going with the Yakima tracks screwed through the top of the fiberglass shell and Yakima gutter mounts on the cab, so that I don't have to drill the sheet metal. I also have a Yakima DryDock that fits into the receiver hitch, and all components have 66" crossbars. This setup gives me four bearing points over a length of maybe twelve feet when necessary, and distributes the load over the shell, the cab, and the receiver hitch. I have the same tracks on my other truck shells and they have been real handy for everything from ladders and lumber to bass boats and decoys. One truck has a Con-Ferr basket mounted to the Yakima bars, and that basket/rail system is the base for an EZ-Awn Bat 270, an 18-gallon PVC water tank, four MaxTraxx, and whatever else won't fit inside the shell. Once you you are committed to a rack system like Yakima or Thule, it makes sense to stick with the system.

 

[RWB_F150]

I have also just bought a roof rack from a expedition that needs to be trimmed. I am going to just It on my f150 camper shell.
I saved the bolts from the rack and went to hard ware store found nuts to fit. I Orginally had bought rubber to but against the camper shell and stainless steel washers to go under that. My thinking was the rubber would help the washer from cracking the shell but now I think I am going to buy some flat stock aluminum and run a strip.

To seal it I bout a tube of 100 percent silicon.
Hope this helps

 

[Ducky's Dad]

Rubber will eventually crack and let water in. Substitute a strip of EPDM flashing from a good roofing supply. I siliconed the screw holes in one shell/rack combo about 17 years ago, still have that truck, still no leaks. Did another one about 9 years ago, still no leaks. Both racks get used hard with heavy loads.

 

[Wolvee]

Thanks for that Idea DD. I already got the roof rack installed but I will need to take it off within the next year or two when I pain the truck and I'll definitely use what you suggested then. I've used [FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Bitstream Charter, Times, serif]epdm flashing before with great luck but it didn't even cross my mind when I did this.

So far I have no leaks and it's been a few weeks since the install. We've had a few big storms and no leaks so far so I'm pretty happy with the install.

I did end up using Rivet Nuts which so far is holding very well in the thicker two piece roof panel.[/FONT]