Thread: D4 roof rail fixing ripped off internal mounting

I suggest putting the nut back in, weld each end, unscrew the nut and replace it with a temporary bolt, then finish the weld including cracks before refitting the nut.

Originally Posted by DieselLSE

Thanks for that. Is the roof platform mounted to just four of the six available captive nuts? If so, that may explain the failure. The roof dynamic load is 95Kg and that assumes all six mounting points are used to spread the load. Your load of 70Kg (wheel alone is close to 60Kg I think) would only have been distributed across four mounts I suspect.

six mounts

Clean the area & remove paint so you have perfectly clean steel.
Drill holes at the end of the cracks to stop them progressing.
Tig weld your piece back in.
For it to be done properly, the head lining needs to come out (PITA) & tig welded on the inside also.
I doubt you'd get to the underneath due to the 3rd & 4th inner steel skins.

Thanks everyone for your contributions much appreciated - We have removed the roof liner (workshop manual very helpful) to permit inspection of all six fixings - rear pair 'appear' fine - middle pair most effected and front pair moderately effected. (see photos)

Have done the rounds of panel beaters in Broome where there seems to be a good experience dealing with fatigue damage from overloading on corrigations and rough tracks across the Kimberly.

Have settled on a panel beater with experience mainly with Pajeros and they are proposing a solution they have used before of shaped plates fitted internally to spread the load fixed with panel bond with spot welds externally to stop existing cracks and plus they emphasise to reduce the load especially on rough roads/tracks and invest in a better roof rack system.
They also pointed out aspects of poor design and implementation of the OEM internal mounts.

Reducing the load we can do and for space reasons we only need to carry one wheel with tyre fitted on the roof. (wheel 12.3kg, Tyre 22kg?, = 35kg plus wheel platform and aero cross bars)

Re a better roof rack system, we don't want to compromise the repair but uncertain about what to do regards a better roof rack system such as a rhino pioneer because of the significant cost - any suggestions most welcome thanks

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I'm very wary of rigid racks - flexible ones move with the roof.

Originally Posted by Graeme

I'm very wary of rigid racks - flexible ones move with the roof.

thanks Graeme can you give an example of rigid versus flexible please? Cheers thanks

Not a specific brand but one that bolts together rather than one that is fully-welded.

I like the idea of the reinforcement pad in the area that has cracked. Having just fitted a roof rack myself, I was surprised at how easy it is to flex the roof around the stud.