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Side Roof Rack Rails - NEED HELP PLEASE..

251K views 258 replies 84 participants last post by  jmags 
#1 ·
Hello all, im tring to add the factory roof side rails to my JGC which did not come with them from the factory. I have attached photos of the top of my jeep and the rails that i got. I was at the Jeep dealer today to see if they could put them on but they had no luck saying that the side airbags are in the way for them to be screwed inplace. The front and back of the side rails have slots on bottom of them for something to hold it down while the middle of the rails have the holes that i can screw down from the outside top of the veh when the old rails are removed. I have tried everyway possible to get them mounted and had no luck... has anyone gone through this or know of a solution??? Please help... thanks!!!
 

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#44 ·
#45 ·
moose thanks for the advice those rack attack rails are so sweet

but just like this other user here above, I don't live anywhere close to that store

I'm not too concerned with total weight capacity as I only plan on carrying 4 snowboards max. I am just looking for more precise/clear installation instruction on the OEM rails. I kind of have an understanding on this process but without pictures or anyone doing a write up it is difficult to understand truely what needs to take place on the roof

I called the dealer I bought my car from and they would not do this for me...

I am just frustrated because I have the OEM cross bars ready to install...
 
#46 · (Edited)
tuned, i share your frustration about the roof rails and rack, it should have been a much better execution on an suv.

your challenge is compounded as you apparently still need to get a roof rail onto the vehicle - if this is correct, obviously you or someone will have to drill holes into the roof.

it comes with pucker factor, but both individuals and third party installers have done so without breaching the airbag electronics. you cannot rely on my BS opinion, but with a shallow drill effort it should not be an issue, same for the compression hardware. plus the roof channels should have some care involved in placing the airbag harness away from those locations. use another vehicle with rails on your dealer's lot as a go-by.

both in this thread and in others on this site you'll find examples of others taking the leap. another person in your situation ordered the rack attack rails online and did the drilling/install himself. if neither you, your dealer, nor a rack store in the area are willing to give it a go, perhaps you can find a body shop that will do so properly?
 
#47 ·
Yes I saw his Rack Attack install process but even that was a little vague - he basically took out the stock base rail points, drilled new holes and plugged the originals. I think what I need to do here is simply get the OEM functional rails in my hands and go from there. That body shop may be a good idea - I have to do some searching there has to be a place here in Chicago that can do this for me.

Now, when you state 'pucker factor' are we referencing the physical act of puncturing the air bag assembly or having the roof pucker ? (metal puckering?) 2 separate things here?
 
#48 · (Edited)
^uh, i meant pucker factor, as in you can whistle from below the waist, or make diamonds, or hold a rose with no hands....

Urban Dictionary: pucker factor

hope you get it figured out, we use the roof rack weekly. also hope ullr starts bringing us some snow. lots of it. please. pretty please. like yesterday.

Note: tuned, you are welcome to have my stock roof rails, pm me your address and they are yours. i unfortunately do not have the mounting bolts and compression nuts.
 
#51 ·
^uh, i meant pucker factor, as in you can whistle from below the waist, or make diamonds, or hold a rose with no hands....
ha, wow I'm slow

Note: tuned, you are welcome to have my stock roof rails, pm me your address and they are yours. i unfortunately do not have the mounting bolts and compression nuts.
PM'd dude thanks
 
#50 ·
Just a guess but probably because the roof panels are all the same across models so they used the 'decorative' rails to fill holes on models that don't come with functional rails.
 
#52 ·
Just in from Moose!!

Thank you!!

Hopefully I can tackle this mounting job now... will keep the forum posted

 
#57 ·
hey guys haven't had a chance to tackle this project yet - just from first glance though I honestly do not know why getting longer M6 bolts , say, the M6x1.00 which the OEM functional rails call for couldn't be used here - I held up the functional next to the base rails and they appear to use the same points.
 
#58 ·
Has anyone just bolted the Thule 51" rails on?

Surely the current mounting points are strong enough. I'd expect they are into the cant rail. Does anyone know this?

I'm thinking some high tensile bolts and use the same mounting points with the Thule rails. This has been done by Rack Attack, but they put in new holes right next to the old ones. They did this is to get the rail to sit more flush. I'm not following this reasoning, but I haven't pulled off my decorative rails to check out what is underneath. It looks like it should be flat and that there would be no need to make more holes. Maybe it was because Rack Attack removed the "functional" rails. Can anyone shed some light this?

Thanks,
Mike
 
#59 · (Edited)
^Myke, RA's rails are quite a bit longer than stock and the RA rails had pre drilled holes for mounting, both seemed to dictate the need for new holes to be drilled IIRC.

I cannot speak to Thule's rails but if you are up for it, seems plausible, and any metal rail would be an upgrade over stock IME. Proper tension bolts and waterproofing are obviously critical. Good luck.
 
#61 ·
Well let me being with - moosehead - thank you again here.

Guys - I just got the factory rails mounted , I did it myself with a buddy, didn't drill anything, used factory bolts, used factory holes. Didn't even need silicone.

Let's see here.









Ok so , take off your stockers with an allen wrench



Look at those threaded holes... wow!



Now we realize the underside of the functional rails are locked into place with these two components on each side:





With that taken into consideration, I used the stock bolts and torque'd them down on each side almost all the way, then i slid the plastic oem rail "housings" over those to lock them into place. Here is how high I had the bolts from the roof




Then, I slid the actual stainless rails into position where all the rest of the bolts lined literally right up. I torqued those down - not even too hard. They are ROCK SOLID. I repeat, Rock SOLID. I could mount a box up there with no hesitation. So each side has I believe 6 of these bolts, just remember the outter most 2 are used to position these rails then the ones on the inside go through the actual rail. You need to have them side by side to really see this.

Am I concerned about water leaking into my car? No, not at all. Not even the slightest bit. There is NO WAY water is getting beyond any of these bolts - they are all down most if not all of the way. If you are paranoid, get silicone.

Am I concerned about weight limit? NOPE. Not at all.

Conclusion: get the OEM rails and bolt them up. At least that is what worked for me. The whole thing is rock solid. Anyone near Chicago want to see this in person feel free to reach out to me. Again, Moosehead - thanks for making this happen.
 
#63 ·
Probably should of recorded markings down on those functional ones before mounting up eh?

I would say go off the part numbers I posted previously which are:
55079172AI (Right)
5079173AI (Left)

Those should be the full assembly. When I say assembly I mean the black plastic rail "housing" then the stainless "rail" that goes within that piece. When you hold these items in your hand you are going to laugh because there is nothing to them
 
#64 ·
thanks for the info. did you use your existing bolts that were with the black deco rails or the factory stainless rails hardware? Also for thought here, is on the Altitude package we have the Laredo E package which as part of that package that has a list of 2K they note bright silver side rails. So i am arguing that we have been duped.
 
#65 ·
1) Same bolts from base rails used - literally took my stock rails off and used all same bolts and bolt holes

2) Regarding why we have the non-functional rails - I think the altitude styling package overrides much of that - who knows
 
#68 ·
no problem if any of you guys have further questions let me know.

2 last things here

1) When I was going to buy the functional rails, searching online parts sites I found them as cheap as 90 a side - forget where, google those part numbers

2) I got my crossbars on ebay, the listing was "JEEP Grand Cherokee/DODGE Caravan/CHRYSLER Town&Country OE Black Cross Bars" the buy it now was like $130 but I put in an offer of $80 and the seller took it. intrigued was the seller. (This is not me) hopefully the moderator here doesn't get mad about this info
 
#70 ·
Also will note - we have had some pretty low temps in Chicago this week. I took my jeep to the local quarter wash to de-ice. Sprayed the whole car - soaked the roof , no leaks that I can see via headliner, etc.
 
#74 ·
No problem, and you know - we all know this isn't the factory way this rail setup would have been installed but does it work? Yep.
 
#77 ·
Yep - did this on first and last bolt so that housing could "lock" into position

 
#80 ·
I'll tell you why - it's because the way I just did this isn't how it is supposed to be mounted. They don't want to be liable for half-assing it and have something go wrong.

Does it work the way I did it? Seems to be just fine
Would I put a lot of weight up there? Ehh - I don't know , it would be for you to decide. I am only going to have 4 snowboards up there max at any time.

I took my car through an automated car wash today (yes I know those washes can scratch your paint) and I don't see any leaks still via headliner or anything like that. Racks are on strong.
 
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