Small propane torch about 1-2 inches away and directly pointed down on to the top of the bolt head for about 4 to 5 seconds (for each bolt) will heat the bolt and loosen up the red locktite very quickly. Doing this one bolt at a time and immediately ratcheting out the bolt after removing the torch works nearly flawlessly. From start to finish takes about 5-7 minutes for all bolts. Most of the time spent is moving the step ladder and tools from one point to the next. 👍

Great video and excellent comments! Big thank you for posting this.

Thank you for this video. I ordered a TRD Pro and want to remove the rack. Thinking twice about it now!

Thanks for the vid, I'm in your exact same situation!!! Today I'll be drilling off the top of the stripped bolt... wish me luck :)

I went the opposite route. I removed a Frontrunner slimline 2 - 3/4 rack to put on a TRD Pro roof rack on my 2020 ORP. I wasn't happy with the amount of silicone needed to feel like the mounts were watertight when the Frontrunner rack was on.

I want to thank you for your mess up and most importantly your fix. 😏 Good job

I removed mine when I had my 2020 AG Pro. I used a heat gun. No issues with removing it. Plan on doing the same when my Solar Octane comes in.

For those wondering How to do this more effectively.... Using a soldering iron - Heat the bolt head thus transferring the heat (conduction) down the shaft and that will loosen the LokTite. Ez-Pz.

Westcott design KZfaq video was very informative for removal of the Pro rack. If I was you I'd watch a few successful videos before I attempt to create a major malfunction. I didn't order mine with a rack as I knew I'd be modifying my Runner for my overland build.

I bought a used 4Runner with an aftermarket rack installed, and it looks like they had some trouble keeping the roof water-tight after they put the new rack on. Various layers of silicone and spray sealant around the anchor points, so now I'm trying to reseal the anchor points to be water tight. It's such a bad design of anchoring the rack to the roof, it is just such a "magnet" for causing leaks or to be difficult to seal so it's water tight. You can't see what it looks like under the leg of the rack and there are two bolts at each leg that could be potential leaking points so you can't easily tell which of the two are leaking or if both points are leaking...

I swapped my 2021 TRD Pro rack out for a Sherpa Crestone, went REALLY slow on evenly unscrewing the sets of bolts and the anchors held.. would recommend the Sherpa rack because it has a rubber boots that fully seal the holes so you don’t need to silicone or worry about water getting down into your headliner.

Had a good time with mine this weekend. 7 came out perfectly without too many issues from the red Locktite. I used some of the suggestions here in the comments by using a propane torch as well as a soldering iron on the last one... That last one will not budge. I also tried using some penetrating oil and some brake cleaner as it can help break down red Locktite. It's still on there and will not budge and of course at this point it stripped. I'm going to cut off the head, drop the head liner and heat up with the soldering iron and then use some vice grips on top to see if I can get it to come out. I've already ordered a new bracket but won't be there until the weekend. Hopefully I can get it all taken care of without needing to take into a shop.

Hi ThwOverlandEd, Thanks for the video, were you able to park your 4runner TRD Pro with the original roof rack in your garage, is your garage opening tall enough? If so what is the height of your garage opening? Thinking to get either the Pro or the Off-road.

So, I was removing my Pro Roof rack and switching it out with a FrontRunner.. The very last clip the anchor dropped and now it is somewhere in the rear headliner. I'm just wondering if you could walk me through how you removed the head liner...it would the be the passenger side rear.. thanks

Need heat on those bolts to zap them out. I get a lot of these repairs in my garage. A lot of DIY’ers are worried that the torch will hurt the plastic. Truth is it does. I use a butane torch from a cigar shop.

Red = heat, Blue = cold. Don't try to remove a bolt that was secured with red Locktite without first applying heat. That's purpose of the color-coded thread lock.

This same thing happened to me!...by chance do u know the part number of that bracket you got from the dealer?

How hard was it to remove the head liner? I need to replace all 4 of my roof rack brackets because the white pieces are smashed down.

It'd be sweet if these fit old 3rd gen 4runners...!

Heating up those bolt heads by a propane torch will do the trick. I have a video on how to do it, please check it out.

Takes some pictures please and show your truck without the rack on. I own a 2021 (black like yours) and I've always been curious to see the clean look of it without a rack on.

Did you sell the pro rack?

Did you sell your old rack yet? I need one.

At the bare minimum use a breaker bar for less strenuous and still use the same technique and a little heat goes a long way. Great video though

I have all bolts removed but one, stripped. Toyota quoting $1400 to remove it. Tried to extract it and the extractor but broke. Can someone tell me why I can just destroy the last bit with a drill??

Thanks for sharing.

Easy to install but hard to remove

Need heat to melt the lock tight

Do you know the part number?? I broke mine lol

Torch it!!!!

PB Blaster let it soak overnight

After 5 years of awning 2016 4runner trail I'm sick of these "knew"features Looking for off road cars from '90 ties.

For anybody watching this video, stick an extension with the proper torques fitting on, heat it with a torch for a bit. That way you don’t get near your car or rack, then back it out…… This video made me cringe