How to plug holes in my truck's roof?

soonenough

Explorer
Or you could just get 16 different antennas and be able to operate on any frequency imaginable :D Where's a porcupine smiley when you need one...
 

adrenaline503

Explorer
Or 16 lights. Or a combination of lights and antennas.

soonenough said:
Or you could just get 16 different antennas and be able to operate on any frequency imaginable :D Where's a porcupine smiley when you need one...
 

Co-opski

Expedition Leader
Sorry,
No I did not put them on the Frontier. I used to dab in Volvo's and Beemers, and I remembered that they had a product for the purpose of plugging roof rack holes.
I do not see a size (mm) listed for that product to easily cross reference with the Frontier hole size. You may find a product at the hardware store for less money.
 

adrenaline503

Explorer
I havent found the hole size for the Frontier yet.

Co-opski said:
Sorry,
No I did not put them on the Frontier. I used to dab in Volvo's and Beemers, and I remembered that they had a product for the purpose of plugging roof rack holes.
I do not see a size (mm) listed for that product to easily cross reference with the Frontier hole size. You may find a product at the hardware store for less money.
 

IllianaXJ

Adventurer
I filled the rack holes on my old truck with black RTV, smoothed the surface flush with the roof and called it good. Never leaked and it wasn't visible unless you were looking down on the truck.
 

eugene

Explorer
I bought an suv rack and bolted to the cap on my truck. The bolts that came from the suv had a very flat head so they looked like a T rather than the deep angled head of a normal countersunk bolt. I noticed that on the suv's the rack came from the threads were countersunk in slightly so the head of the bolt would sink in and be flat with the rooftop. The bolts had a small hed bole in the center for a hex wrench. Look for something like that then just put some sealant on the threads.
 

MoGas

Central Scrutinizer
Go to Mcmaster.com and in the search box, type "metric button head screws"

Then select the material (I suggest the 18-8 stainless) and drill down for thread size and length. I used 8mm length and a metric flat washer on mine with a little clear silicone on the threads. No leaks and I did mine in December of 05. My buddy still hasn't put silicone on his, using only the screw and flat washer, and he has had no problems either. We get some pretty heavy rains and would know if they leaked.

:safari-rig:
 

MoGas

Central Scrutinizer
Oh, and you don't notice them unless you are looking for them. I don't really care about the looks of my junk, though.
101_1834.jpg
 

eugene

Explorer
Mcmaster also has sealing flat screws. When I put my rack on my cap I has leaks and went to ace and found faucet washers which fit and put them below the rack around the bolts to seal it up good.
 

ntsqd

Heretic Car Camper
HanzoSteel said:
I think if you use the inserts that expand you may get some funky creases or some warp on your roof, just something to think about.
Not enough force to do that. They'll mostly rubber and for the crew size you'd need something exotic and then tighten the snot out of them.
 

adrenaline503

Explorer
I ended up getting some black allen head bolts and putting them in with silicone. It looks decent enough and has stood up to 3 days of rain with no problems. Thank you all for the advice.
 

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