Unsuccessful attempt to fit roof rails.

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Joseph Corrigan

Joseph Corrigan

Member
Posts
12
Location
Washington
Hi everyone,
I'm hoping someone can help.
I bought and started to fit a pair of roof rails to my 2006 Freelander 1 Td4 (5 door).
I removed the two bolts from the offside rear fitting point and the threaded plate under the roof fell away into the roof space. I tried the offside front fitting point removing one bolt and when releasing the second I could see the threaded plate moving under the roof so replaced the bolts until I could seek advice.
Is this normal and do I have to remove the roof lining to fit the rails?
Hoping someone has tried this and can offer some help.
Thanks,
Joe
 
I put some on a couple of months ago and the same thing almost happened to me. The "block" on the RH rear came loose but didn't go far and I managed to poke a screwdriver through and slide it back so the bolts would go in. I was a lot more careful and delicate removing the 'dummy' bolts for the remaining ones. IIRC I had another come loose as well but stayed in position.

I presumed there was some kind of channel where the block is that it slid along a bit, it didn't drop or go very far, and I got the impression (maybe wrongly) that it sat on another layer of metal - ie not on the roof lining.
 
Hi Grumpy, Like you it feels as though there is another layer of metal above the roof lining. I'm going to have a poke around to see if I can find the plate. I'm not too hopeful and may well just give up on it. Thanks.
PS I may have a pair of roof rails for sale shortly ;)
 
Joseph Corrigan said:
Hi Grumpy, Like you it feels as though there is another layer of metal above the roof lining. I'm going to have a poke around to see if I can find the plate. I'm not too hopeful and may well just give up on it. Thanks.
PS I may have a pair of roof rails for sale shortly ;)
Click to expand...
If you can't get it back, you might have a problem with water getting in. When I took the cover plates off I was surprised to see bolts in there. Unless they are there to hold those plates in place, I couldn't think of any other reason than to stop water getting in.
 
I have taken one of the bolts that hold the roof rails on out because this is where my wire goes for my lights on the roof rack but before I could thread the wire through it persistently rained so I waited until it stopped only to find all the roofing felt wet, the rain had come in through that little hole .
 
Get some threaded rod the right thread, and make some dowels 75 mm long, so when you remove first bolt in each corner replace with dowel, remove the other bolts and place roof rails over dowels, then replace bolts and everything is in place
 
I was going to replay the wiring today to my spots on the roof rack I do not know why but the old wiring has gone brittle any way I had to get behind the head lining to pull at the wire and I looked and saw the nuts that the bolts go into they are on a plate and it just clips over a small section of extra metal and a small piece of plastic should hold it in place I was able to undo my other bolt and it kept in position so that might be your problem the clip might not be keeping it in position.
 
Roof Rails Are On
Thanks for all the advice everyone.
I bought a small Endoscope from the net. I passed the camera section through the bolt hole on the outer roof and couldn't find the metal threaded plate in the roof void. After lots of thought I decided to pull part of the head lining away to see if I could find the plate that Teddywood was talking about. I removed the grab rail then eased the head lining from the rubber surround of the door. Lo and behold I found the threaded plate which had slipped down from the area below where it should have been. I took a photo of the plate. It has a centre "tongue" that slides into a fixing on the roof. All I can think is after taking one bolt out as I unscrewed the second bolt in a counter clockwise motion it must have slid the plate from the fixing hence it fell down the side of the head lining. I also had to ease the lining from further to the rear of the car to gain better access. I replaced the plate then was able to fix the rail to the rear fixing point. When I removed the other bolts I took Freelances advice but instead of using threaded rod I just used a Phillips screwdriver pushed through one of the holes knowing then how the plate slid from its fixing. I took great care removing the bolt "feeling" as I went to make sure the plate didn't move.
Once I had fitted the first fixing point it took about half an hour to fit the rest.
Needless to say I'm very happy with the result.
Many thanks,
Joe
IMG_0333.jpgIMG_0334.jpg
 
I have thought about this and from inside my little brain if you undo the left one first it will not move because the right one is holding it in place then undo the right one and it will still hold in place because the plate will not be able to move because it touches the side of the roof , but if you undid the right one first ,when you undo the left one then if it is a bit stiff it will pull it off the part it is slotted into if this make sense.
 
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well if you undo the right one first and do not put anything back in the hole then when you undo the left one it may come off the piece of metal and then fall down .
 
Joseph Corrigan said:
Roof Rails Are On
Thanks for all the advice everyone.
I bought a small Endoscope from the net. I passed the camera section through the bolt hole on the outer roof and couldn't find the metal threaded plate in the roof void. After lots of thought I decided to pull part of the head lining away to see if I could find the plate that Teddywood was talking about. I removed the grab rail then eased the head lining from the rubber surround of the door. Lo and behold I found the threaded plate which had slipped down from the area below where it should have been. I took a photo of the plate. It has a centre "tongue" that slides into a fixing on the roof. All I can think is after taking one bolt out as I unscrewed the second bolt in a counter clockwise motion it must have slid the plate from the fixing hence it fell down the side of the head lining. I also had to ease the lining from further to the rear of the car to gain better access. I replaced the plate then was able to fix the rail to the rear fixing point. When I removed the other bolts I took Freelances advice but instead of using threaded rod I just used a Phillips screwdriver pushed through one of the holes knowing then how the plate slid from its fixing. I took great care removing the bolt "feeling" as I went to make sure the plate didn't move.
Once I had fitted the first fixing point it took about half an hour to fit the rest.
Needless to say I'm very happy with the result.
Many thanks,
Joe
View attachment 107346View attachment 107347
Click to expand...
Nice one Joseph, thanks for reporting back and explaining what the problem was and how to resolve it. The issue is bound to crop up again
 
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Any chance of using a magnet to hold or retrieve them? I was thinking of noedymium magnets which are really powerful.
 
Hi Helijohn, Your idea of using neodymium magnets would certainly be possible however the design of the plate if it is fitted correctly into the fixing position on the roof should be all that is needed. The added protection a couple of magnets placed above the plate near or next to the "dummy" bolts you have to remove to fit the roof rails would certainly be of help to keep the plate in it's fixed position and stop it slipping out if it were loose - like mine :(
 
Like all of these jobs on Freelanders, it's the unexpected that catches me out.

Glad you sorted yours out.

I had a door catch striker plate on a car years ago that I tried to adjust and when I removed the two cross head screws the plate behind just fell down inside the frame. So whenever I remove things like door hinges I am very careful.
 
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