jophish

Added a roof rack off of a newer cherokee today, all went well. As part of the swap i decided to take the metal pieces off the roof and paint them to match the rack. I have a '96 so these pieces are screwed into the roof of the jeep, rather than adhered like the newer ones. No problem taking them off, but the issue arises when I go to put them back on. They screw in fine, but i'm having a devil of a time getting the rubber inserts back into the metal pieces!! Right now i'm setting one side in the groove, and then working my way down pressing the other side in...it's obnoxiously difficult and i feel like there's another, easier way.

Somebody please enlighten me.


Thanks in advance,
Joe

Cherokee

any pics?

rweaver138

x2

jophish

gotta wait til tomo for pics...too dark!

jophish

Here's some pictures to help clarify the situation.

These are the rubber inserts:



These are the metal runners which the rubber inserts need to go into:



Due to the closed ends on the runners, it's a beach to get the inserts in...any way around this? the ends come off and they slide in?

gpXJ

I actually think the ends do come off. Not because I've ever intentionally taken one off in order to do this, but I did have a 95 cherokee and it was missing a couple.

notsmall

the ends come off and they slide in although I'm not sure they are secure at the very end. If you still need to know, I'll check mine.
NotSmall