2006 Fleetwood Utah roof racks

[BILL-N-LORIH]

Are the racks holding the roof down, or can I remove them? They are starting to get loose and starting to leak.

 

[jmkay1]

Under the roof racks is a seam. I personally removed my roof racks all together and covered the seam with eternabond tape. I refused to put the tracks back on again foo fear of continued leaking. This is a common issue unfortunately with the alumitite roofs of our years. Good luck.

 

[BILL-N-LORIH]

Under the roof racks is a seam. I personally removed my roof racks all together and covered the seam with eternabond tape. I refused to put the tracks back on again foo fear of continued leaking. This is a common issue unfortunately with the alumitite roofs of our years. Good luck.

Okay, Thanks.
I was thinking about doing the same thing. But wasn’t sure if the racks were holding the aluminum down or not. Was they hard to get off?

 

[jmkay1]

Okay, Thanks.
I was thinking about doing the same thing. But wasn’t sure if the racks were holding the aluminum down or not. Was they hard to get off?

Just what felt like a thousand screws.. My tracks had a tad bit of caulk under them so had to pry it up a bit. The hardest part was to hammer down/sand down some of the screws holes and scrub everything clean so the tape would stay down. Now if you have considerable delamination you may find the aluminum to popup up away from the styrofoam under it .

 

[BILL-N-LORIH]

Just pulled up one of the racks, took off some of the paint underneath it. Did you repaint any or just leave it? Will the aluminum oxide if I don’t repaint it? Mine didn’t have any screws, they are just glued down. What did you use to get the old silicone off with?
Thanks Bill

 

[jmkay1]

Just pulled up one of the racks, took off some of the paint underneath it. Did you repaint any or just leave it? Will the aluminum oxide if I don’t repaint it? Mine didn’t have any screws, they are just glued down. What did you use to get the old silicone off with?
Thanks Bill

1). I would repaint as the aluminum will oxiode over time if you have spots where paint peeled. I'm Finding that out the hard way now.
2) I had a double cleaning issue in that I also had to clean up multiple bandaid fixes in addition. So I used a combination of a heat gun, a plastic razor blade scraper, goo b gone spray and good ol fashioned elbow grease, and water and later rubbing alcohol. Goo b gone leaves a film so a good scrubbing afterwards was required. It's a very time consuming process but required to ensure a good seal.

 

[Haikinn]

Are the racks holding the roof down, or can I remove them? They are starting to get loose and starting to leak.

Ours came with the racks removed and eternabond tape in place; the original owner said it was a "known-issue" with this model and to stave off leaks she pre-emptively removed it.