Which Butyl Mastic for rack?

[nU7OuxIx]

OMG, thank you so much for sharing!

So you've just got this spacer/washer under the captive nut in the casting base, so that it rests on the roof and keeps the nut in the pocket in the casting base. Do I have it right?

Yup, you got it right. I forgot but I also ended up using a glue on the 3dprint just to keep it in place in the caster so that it doesn't fall out. I'm 80% sure I used a SMALL DAB of hot glue, just to hold it.

I also printed it on PLA. You can do ABS if you're worried PLA may melt in the sun. Honestly, the first year I had the rack, I had about 3 nuts drop and put this spacer in the ones that dropped. After that first year, I haven't used the rack since. At this point, maybe the prints melted and the nut dropped, who knows. Use at your own risk! I'm up in the Chicago area and not death valley so maybe that plays into it.

The concept is there though so hypothetically speaking it should work.

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[4a4c55]

The concept is there though so hypothetically speaking it should work.

Thanks again for the tips! I've yet to hold the Rhino parts in my hands (erm ...) but I'll see how it all looks. I can print 3D parts at the library, os we'll see what kind of filament they have. I'm on the west coast, so I go from the Arizona desert to the Alaskan wilderness, so something temperature tolerant is a requirement.

 

[4a4c55]

I wrote RhinoRack an email, and I asked for an escalation, to ensure the response is from someone in a qualified position, and not an intern or new call desk person Googling for an answer.

What answer did you receive?

 

[4a4c55]

On the casting that attack to the hard top, there is a luck nut glued inside of the casting. When you attack the crossbars, the feet bolt into the casting and use that nut. When the glue in the casting fails, the nut drops down and prevents you from bolting the feet on the roof. The fix? You have to remove the caster, remove all that RTV or mastic, glue the nut back in and then reapply the mastic and bolt it back down, praying it doesn't least again.

Sorry that I keep bugging you about this -- you've been so helpful.

I've finally received my parts, and now I think the rack system has been revised. My understanding is that you have six castings on the outside of your roof, up top. These have a bolt that goes through the rack's mounting foot, through the casting, and into a nut that's meant to be held captive under the casting, but still above the roof fiberglass. That nut can fall out of the casting and then be hard to recover without removing the casting from the roof. Removing the casting from the roof is problematic because it probably has some sealant on it for the holes that actually go through the roof.

Is that right?

My parts don't work that way. The six castings I have have a hole for the rack mounting feet that is threaded. There's no nut on the bottom of the casting above the roof. In fact, there can't be because there's no pocket -- the nut would prevent the casting from lying flush on the roof.

If these nuts have been eliminated from the design by threading the casting, then I don't need any solution to keep the nut from escaping the pocket and rendering the rack foot un-mountable.

On the other hand, I do have two roll bar castings, zig-zag shaped pieces that go on the front most castings, holding the roll bar to the inside of the roof and picking up some of the load. (The instruction sheet calls this a "rollbar casting".) But these nuts are inside of the Jeep. It would be annoying if they went loose, but I don't think it would involve removing any mastic.

What do you think? Does it sound like the parts I have were revised?

 

[Oncorhynchus]

I used butyl tape. Tear a small piece of it off the tape roll. About the size of a breath mint. Roll it back and forth between your palms until what started out as a lump of butyl now looks like a garden worm. Lay it down around the hole in the hardtop in a spiral like a snail shell. This will stay soft year round for years to come.

Although it will block water from reaching the bolt holes from underneath the mounting plate it will not stop water which falls on top of the bolt from leaking through the bolt hole. I smushed a little ball of butyl tape on top of each bolt head to block that pathway for water.

 

[nU7OuxIx]

Sorry that I keep bugging you about this -- you've been so helpful.

I've finally received my parts, and now I think the rack system has been revised. My understanding is that you have six castings on the outside of your roof, up top. These have a bolt that goes through the rack's mounting foot, through the casting, and into a nut that's meant to be held captive under the casting, but still above the roof fiberglass. That nut can fall out of the casting and then be hard to recover without removing the casting from the roof. Removing the casting from the roof is problematic because it probably has some sealant on it for the holes that actually go through the roof.

Is that right?

My parts don't work that way. The six castings I have have a hole for the rack mounting feet that is threaded. There's no nut on the bottom of the casting above the roof. In fact, there can't be because there's no pocket -- the nut would prevent the casting from lying flush on the roof.

If these nuts have been eliminated from the design by threading the casting, then I don't need any solution to keep the nut from escaping the pocket and rendering the rack foot un-mountable.

On the other hand, I do have two roll bar castings, zig-zag shaped pieces that go on the front most castings, holding the roll bar to the inside of the roof and picking up some of the load. (The instruction sheet calls this a "rollbar casting".) But these nuts are inside of the Jeep. It would be annoying if they went loose, but I don't think it would involve removing any mastic.

What do you think? Does it sound like the parts I have were revised?

I would call Rhino and verify before you mastic it down. It's removable but it's a pain and if I remember correctly, there's a foam pad thing you can destroy.

I hope they revised the casting.

As for the roll bar piece.... Are you talking step 56 of the instructions? If I remember, those nuts are easy to get to. I think I just used a bit of blue thread lock on them to make sure. If I'm thinking correctly, they're used to hold a casting down to the roll bar and they always stay fastened. If you take your top off, you only have to undo the one large bolt that bolts into this casting.

 

[4a4c55]

I hope they revised the casting.

As far as I can tell, they have. The instruction sheet has been revised, too. The old sheet has explosion drawings showing a nut underneath, and the new sheet doesn't show that nut. But the parts list hasn't changed, so ...

As for the roll bar piece.... Are you talking step 56 of the instructions? If I remember, those nuts are easy to get to. I think I just used a bit of blue thread lock on them to make sure. If I'm thinking correctly, they're used to hold a casting down to the roll bar and they always stay fastened. If you take your top off, you only have to undo the one large bolt that bolts into this casting.

Yep, that's the one! Indeed, it travels with the hard roof and LocTite would be enough, since that bolt is never removed.

Thanks again!!1!

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