I really enjoy your effective "bare bones" solutions. I hope your neighbors cat is still coming by to visit.

I'd use black 3M 4200 marine sealant. It's a semi permanent sealer we use below the waterline on boats for through hull fittings. Stay away from the permanent 5200 stuff as you'll never be able to get it off again. Put some in the hole and on the threads. Leave a bit around the screws when you wipe off what squishes out around them. If you want to try and fill the inset hole, I'd see if you could find an o ring that fits tight on the threads of the screw but the outside diameter fits the inset hole. So 4200 in the hole and on treads and under the screw head, then slide a stainless flat washer on, then slide on the slightly oversized o ring, reapply 4200 to threads and o ring where it came off after sliding the washer and o ring on, then snug up the screw to squish the o ring. Then wipe around the screw leaving some of the excess sealant around the base of the screw...

I would have put the silicone in the holes BEFORE the screws. That way it is sealed internally and so are the threads. You can clean up the stuff that squishes out as soon as the screws are torqued. You most likely won't see the silicone at all.

I drew up and 3D printed some spacers for a guy who did the same on his Pro4X, it allowed him to retrofit his lightbar between his cab over camper and the roof. Under the spacer he used some rubber and then clamped the spacers with the light bar mount and the original bolts. It was a simple way of repurposing the holes! At the back he pretty much did exactly what you did, bolts soft washers and silicone.

This is why holes through the roof are a pain. I don't put roof vents in my trailers because water always has a way in. That is why your bolts get hard to take out. Water... Then there is the slow leak that no one ever notices till it is too late. Thanks for sharing! George.

Hey Donald! Hadn’t seen your most recent build until I was walking along Amazon Parkway and saw you drive by! After I explained to my girlfriend what you do on your channel I realized how much of a fanboy moment I had lol. Truck looks great!

Hey Donald, great editing as always! I will give a simple tip next time you're in a pinch to undo a stubborn bolt. It's completely counter intuitive and requires no additional products. Tighten it. Not a lot. Do not over torque of course. But 1/8 or even 1/16 of a turn. I've had luck with that method if I don't have heat/power/penetrate available. The idea is that was the last direction the threads went so they want to keep going that way. And once moving should be much easier to undo. I've used it probably a hundred times now with success and it's the only way I remove ABS sensors from knuckles these days.

If you wanted to revisit the low profile rack idea later, you could probably use a piece of sheet metal to bend to the shape of the roof, drill four holes in it, and weld a tube to the plate to create some base points to build off of.

Should put a nice light bar on the roof now 👍🏾

Having had to deal with a similar situation on my travel trailer, I would recommend Eternabond tape. RV'ers use a lot of Dicor, but that is ugly, messy and breaks down over time. You could cut small shapes - squares, circles, stars - from the Eternabond tape and cover over the silicone and bolt heads. Eternabond will still be stuck long after the rest of the truck has rusted away a thousand years from now.

As another Portland-area, Frontier-driving, budget-conscious overlander, I could make use of those OEM roof rack parts if you're looking to get rid of them/sell them off! Particularly the crossbar; I haven't had any luck finding a used one around. Anyway, great video as always. Keep up the good work!

Remove the bolts and clean all the silicon. Use alcohol to clean the areas in and around the bolt holes. Use black RTV in the bolt hole, threads of the bolt and in the pocket. Seat the bolt until you have some squeeze out and clean surface. The RTV should give a good seal and temperature won't affect it. This is how we use to fix water leaks on the xm shark fin on GM sport utilities and trucks. Was a technician for 16 years and did my fair share of water leaks.

Shop for pocket washers with appropriate outside and inside diameter - adequate to cover the entire opening of each of the 16 holes in the roof panel.

I wish my truck had this factory rack, it looks so cool 😢

Black RTV is what I went with on my roof rack install in those bolt wells in the roof. It handles high temps very well.

Donald, you did very very well. By the time these holes will let water in, either you would have sold the car or you would no ....longer care...!

Maybe the small neoprene washer in the whole, then a larger washer over the whole with a small amount of roof wet/dry roof sealant that comes out of the caulking tube. That stuff does not leak and the two washers should create a very tight seal.

Silicone is great but if it does fail in the future backing the screws out and putting some vulkem in there and putting the screws back in might be effective! Also I like the DIY videos quite a bit!

Donald, my virtual east coast friend, I would watch you do your taxes. Cheers from western North Carolina!

Another solution would be to use plastidip spray paint as you could make it uniform and also seal everything with a color that matches close to the factory color as well

I'm here for the exact same reasons you mention, about trying to DIY low profile.

What I did on similar problem is unscrewed the bolt, put automotive sealant and screwed them back with the poly washer.

Great video, thanks for posting. That Topo Topper looks great on the truck, didn't even notice your roof rack was gone! I have a similar issue with cab marker lights on my truck leaking. A dab of silicone grease on the screws seems to have helped the rubber seals do their thing and stopped the leaks, while not impeding future removal.I know it's not a great solution, nor likely a permanent one. Curious to see the suggestions come in, and what ultimately works for you.

I agree with the black RTV... used it to seal off a sun roof on a junker car in college, worked really well

Black RTV sealant - the same recommended by Prinsu Rack and Rhino Rack for when installing their racks where you have to drill - I'd dob a GENEROUS amount in the holes and up top about the same diameter as the screw heads, then put the stainless washers and use stainless torx or hex head type button head screws. To me, the plastic washers under the metal screw head may flex or crack and who knows if they are UV resistant.

I would use fender washers with matching sized rubber washers and stainless screws. With silicone or black RTV to seal it up. But it looks like you have a workable solution there.

Take the screws back out let it dry and fill the holes with decor and then put the screws back in

granted all the good ideas come when you see somebody else go first, but another way could have been remove the screws and apply the silicone with a Q-tip around the inner edge. then put the screws in before it drys.

beehn using dicor on rv's for over 20 years. including a 1995 alpenlite 5th wheel I gave to my son. Have never experienced a leak. easy to use, self leveling.

I did something similar. Put in the shorter bolts with normal washers, then filled with silicone. Has been fine so far.

I think what you did was fine. I would have used ProflexRV over the bolts though. I had a leak on my truck cap. It’s similar to your old one. The dealer used silicone to fix it. It still leaked! I put the ProflexRV on the seam and it worked. I went around my entire truck camper with the stuff. I have no evidence of any leaks.

The silicone sealant will work - but will look rather ratty over time. For metal on metal I prefer Geocel GC28100 Pro Flex, which a polyethylene sealant and I believe it is paintable.

Sometimes there's something to be said for brevity.

I tried using bolts on my X, but they stood out too much. I ended up using auto plastic push pins. I found them at lowes, GM pins. Sits flush and keeps water out... so far

hi, thx for the clip!! may i ask what kind of crossbar you had on it before ? thx for help!

What if you just ran two pieces of flat steel across the roof. Use a piece of Unistrut as a spacer block on each bolt hole, then bolt the flat bar across. Then you'd be able to mount a light bar or at least have a little more storage space, maybe mount the traction boards?

Silicone is not the answer as it traps moisture and will promote rust

I personally have not had any good experience with that Dab brand silicone. I also think applying silicine or urethane before/below the washers would have been better. But, better than not trying anything

Just use a big washer under the bolt with its own neoprene gasket and then the existing neoprene gasket on top of the washer?

Dont they make an expanding rubber bolt, something like a molly bolt? Anyway, that just this girl’s thoughts 😂. Looks good in my opinion (although im not a fan of silicone) but, If it works, it works 😉

my welds broke what can i do?

The silicone is a bad idea. It will promote rust both by its chemical makeup and by trapping water against your roof and more critically, the bare metal treads. Go to a local marine supply store and grad some Sika 295UV.. then repeat your tape and seal process.

FlexSeal? FlexTape? I haven't used either but I hear good things. Silicone is a good call for a quick fix. Plastidip might be a good longer term solution as well.

It's always something. Or something extra when we work on our trucks. Oh, I'll just do this and several hours later with some expletives thrown in your still not done. Such is life but we soldier on.

3m 5200 hole then reinstall screw

Nice camper

I think someone with 3D printing experience could make some "mushroom" shaped cap screws to fully fill the holes.

Can you tell me what size of screws you bought?

The rack makes the truck look like crap

Should use penetrating oil to loosen those bolts.

This sounds like a very inappropriate video covering current controversial political subjects... Too funny! Click Baity Titles are the best! ;-p Ok. Back to the video!