What a nightmare. Sorry for your problem.

 

Do you have any pics to show exactly what you have? Without seeing pics it's kind of hard to recommend something. I'm surprised the easy-out broke. They usually work great, or from my experience anyways. Can you get away with just leaving it alone since you have all the other bolts in with no issues?

 

Yea I can take pictures later to show what everything looks like. I think the easy-out broke because part of the bolt was broken off at an angle. I would like to get it fix so everything is secure. If I have one that isn't then the rack may just bounce around if anything is on the roof rack. Plus I would like to prevent any water getting in there and form rust.

 

Any chance to drill out the broken bolt? start small and work your way up? I don't know how small they are, so just asking. If you decide to leave it I would fill it with clear silicone to resist water from getting in.

 

I believe we tried to drill the bolt and it snapped the small drill bit. The hole is really narrow so there isn't much room to drill around the easy-out. I thought about trying to chisel it out but I think it would just put a dent in my roof. Here are some pictures. Let me know if this helps. It was hard to see inside. The one that is scratched around the edge is the one with the bolt inside. The one that is clean, you can kinda see how small the hole is. If more pictures are needed then I can do a couple more.

 

I hate to say, but I think the only way you are going to get that out is to use a big enough drill for the center and drill it, but the downside you probably won't be able to get the inside piece out since it has been mushroomed inside to hold against the roof. If the easy-out didn't work, it seems that is the only way. Then get a new nutsert/rivnut and tool and put new one in. I wonder if there is access to it from the inside by removing the roof liner?

 

We tried drilling through the easy out but its to strong of a metal to grind it away. I'm going to try and drill around the bolt to see what happens. Might be the only way. I thought of going inside and removing the roof liner, but would need to do research to see if its too much work to do. I think when I emailed someone at Offroad Animal, they said that some guy went to Chrysler and got billed $3000 to replace the nutsert/rivnut. So I'm looking at all options but not the expensive route.

 

$3k? He got ripped bad!! Parts are only maybe $3 for the nutsert, oh wait it's Mopar so maybe $10 haha. You're going to need a bigger diameter drill bit, like the diameter of the actual nutsert itself. Not the part sticking above the roof, just wanted to make that clear. The internal size.

As mentioned since it is at the end, just pull the rear plastic pillar pieces and it should drop down enough to see inside OR maybe hit a local junkyard that has the newer Grand Cherokee and see if they already have the roof liner pulled so you can visually see what's under without the hassle first.

 

Jimntempe - I would try that but I don't want to risk breaking something since I have already had trouble with this roof rack. The only thing if I did do it, is if I would be able to get my hand through the back roof headliner without pulling anymore pieces out.

Cheyenne - Yea I think you're right, getting it from Mopar would cost that much haha Maybe I'll check out a junkyard and see if there is one I can check out. Who knows, maybe there are some hidden gems on it and can use for my GC.

This weekend, I'm going to try something out and will keep you all updated on whether or not it worked.

 

Sounds good! G'Luck and hope you can get fixed soon.

 

Here’s an update. A couple weeks ago I finally got the rack installed properly. Ended up leaving the broken bolt inside the rig it and created a new thread In the button. Just had to find the right hex bolt to go in it. Since the hex bolt was a little long, I bought a couple washers to fill the gap. I already needed washers so I was able to find a couple to help keep it secure. I put a washer on top of the button then put two more on the other side. So button, thin washer, rack mount, thin washer, then a lock washer. I’ll attach a picture to show what was done. If more pictures are needed then I can take more but this is pretty straight forward.

 

Glad you got it fixed!