Hi all.

My satin aluminum roof rails are stained/oxidized on my 2008 V6. I'd like to remove the rails but I've heard of people getting leaks in the C/B pillars from corroded rubber gaskets beneath the rail tracks. My sunroof drains recently flooded my front carpets and fuse boxes and that was a total nightmare to deal with (but its resolved now. The entire carpet came out and everything is dry). As you can imagine, I'm a bit paranoid of creating more leaks.


1. Is this issue common enough to be worried about?

2. By the looks of it, my rails haven't been removed in 11 years. Will removing them disrupt any sort of natural sealing dirt/grime could have created?


I'm having no leaks now and I'd like to keep it that way. Any tips on how to remove them properly (or whether I should leave them alone) will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Charlie

 

I have no rails and just the tracks. No leaks so far. 05 CS w/65k.

 

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No rails, just tracks
No water in footwell so far but did need to replace the liftgate shocks and did see some rust on those 3 years ago when I replaced.
I'm not sure how the hood shocks rust (but I have heard it is common) but roof tracks are the only think I know higher.

I have been planning to remove the tracks and use a clear wrap up top because I expect leaks are only a matter of time

 

I pulled one of mine just to see what was underneath. I would not recommend doing that if they are not leaking. I decided to just put 3M black vinyl over mine to seal them up as a just in case measure. I am debating doing the same with the sunroof and pulling the fuse... I never use it.

 

 

Thanks for your reply guys! From what I've been hearing most people I talk to say they haven't experienced any leaks. I called the P dealer I bought it from and they said I'd be fine, however my local dealer here in Atlanta said there was a 100% chance they'd leak. Weird! Really can't figure out which way to go on this one.

 

I can tell you that when I removed one of mine it had these little rectangular rubber gaskets around each bolt to keep water out. The bolts fasten down into recessed threads in a channel which will collect and hold water. All three of the gaskets came out in pieices... years of baking in direct sun and being black did not help them age. I used gasket sealer around the bolts when replacing the track and that was the point when I decided to cover the whole shebang with 3M vinyl. I will never use the tracks and my car has aged way too nicely otherwise to risk water ingress at this point. If these are not 100% sealed, then water will seep. Maybe not a lot, but any is too much in my opinion and I didn't like the odds.

 

How did you seal it with vinyl? Did you run vinyl across the track to form a "roof," and if so how did you reinstall it?

Thanks!

 

Yes, I just vinyled over the whole track! No more worries of leaks.

 

Interested to learn more. Do you have any pics?

Thanks