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Has anyone removed the roof racks before? I am looking to wrap the roof due to some minor paint damage and want to make life as easy as I can by taking that and the antenna off.
Roof rack removal.
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665 Posts
No professional wrap company would go through the labor to remove the roof rails, imo. They would mould the wrap around the parts and cut with the body lines.
Removing the roof rails would require several hours of labor.
The roof rails are held in by nuts that go through the roof itself. You must remove the headliner and unscrew three nuts to remove the roof rail and the roof side moulding. The moulding is "single use only" and must be replaced after every disassembly. It is held in by a pawl at the front, and four clips along the length of the strip.
To remove the headliner, you must first remove the light & rain sensor cover (black box on windshield in front of rear view mirror.
The service manual states you must remove the Instrument Panel Mask (the padded panel the runs along the length of the dash. Then you must remove the kick plates from both sides, front and rear, of the vehicle. Remove side welt plates from both sides of the vehicle, as well.
Then remove front A-pillar garnish, B-pillar garnish, and C-pillar garnish. Disconnect pillar wiring harnesses. Remove all assist groups. Remove sun visors.
Pull headliner down from rear of vehicle and detach headlining fixing magnets and remove headliner through rear hatch. Two people are necessary to prevent damaging the headliner. Do not bend the headliner!
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21 Posts
Wow that is not what I had hoped to hear. Lol! I am doing the wrap myself so I wanted to make it as easy on myself as I can. I will have to get creative on this one or take it to a shop and it can be their problem. Thanks for the heads up
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58 Posts
I agree with p07r0457, no professional wrap company will take on the removal and re-install of those bars. I had my roof professionally wrapped and they just laid vinyl up to the bars, then wrapped the bars them selves.
As for the antenna, that is not difficult, you can remove some of the rubber moldings, rear pillar trim panels, rear grab handles, rear seat overhead lighting, and the headliner will drop down a few inches. The you can remove the antenna. I replaced my copper antenna with an OEM black antenna that I purchased, just so it would not have to be wrapped.
I want to remove my roof bars and replace them with the flat black plastic trim that comes on some base models and the QX30 S models. Sadly the dealer want around $900 for each, so I regularly check eBay for part-out vehicles.
Anyone living in Phoenix or even Tucson areas wanting OEM roof bars, I'd love to do a straight swap.
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21 Posts
I may just take it in to get it done! The hood I am sure I can do but the roof..... it is going to be tough for a novice! Lol
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