Bull Bar and SWB Roof Rails

[cncfabs]

Ok then, so today I bit the bullet fetched a Bosch angle grinder from Argos this morning which was reasonably priced and even got another pack of 5 cutting discs for half price with it.

Got back and trimmed the rails down from 1470mm to 1350mm as recommended by makeitfit, placed them back on the roof to measure up again and bingo , they were going to come through where I expected.

Here was a pic of the roof lining out;

Here was me mid way through lol;

There's a view of one of the back ones from the top and bottom;

The front was a little trickier as there is so little room up front because of the position of the sunroof;

Here was my sealant job on one of the rear ones, from this I learned that I could be an excellent Ice Cream man haha;

Now I need some more advice, when I attached the roof rails on the roof I noticed that the legs have a sort of tensioning system with a loop of rubber that gets tighter when the hex head is tightened. But when the rails are attached how do I gain access to these hex heads to tighten them, or do they have to be tightened before they are attached and is there a technique as to how they have to be magically bent on lol, it looks physically impossible to me I'm confused.

I tried to tighten the hex heads as tight as I could but when doing that I couldn't attach them as they were solid to the car but yet when they are looseish I can attach them but they are really loose and rattle to the touch if all that makes sense :S

Can anyone advise as to how they attach? I've got the feet firmly attached as you can see and am itching to attach the rails and bars

Cheers guys

Normally you tighten them with ball end allen key trough square hole that is covered by gromet but if youve cut them off short you have also cut off the hole.

 

[makeitfit]

Just drill a new hole using the off cut as a guide :thumbs

 

[cncfabs]

Just drill a new hole using the off cut as a guide :thumbs

Think i would have just fitted swb ones:lol

 

[Banshee]

Just drill a new hole using the off cut as a guide :thumbs

Ah right, that's what that was for!!!!, looks like I'm going to have to drill some new holes tomorrow to get the allen key in, what is meant by a ball end allen keys :S

Think i would have just fitted swb ones:lol

I'm beginning to regret it lol

 

[makeitfit]

like these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/9-Piece-M...t=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item2a1335f615

 

[96terrano]

like these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/9-Piece-M...t=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item2a1335f615

ive got those!!!!

 

[Banshee]

like these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/9-Piece-M...t=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item2a1335f615

Can I not just use a right angled allen key? through a hole that I've drilled?

I don't understand what benefit the ball end has over a standard allen key

 

[solarman216]

Can I not just use a right angled allen key? through a hole that I've drilled?

I don't understand what benefit the ball end has over a standard allen key

it allows you to turn when not quite straight in the bolt but not as strong, its benefit comes into pay after you have used a good fitting key to crack the bolt then use a ball end to unscrew the rest of the thread, Rick

 

[makeitfit]

Can I not just use a right angled allen key? through a hole that I've drilled?

I don't understand what benefit the ball end has over a standard allen key

You'll find out when you try n tighten up the rails :lol

 

[96terrano]

Ok then, so today I bit the bullet fetched a Bosch angle grinder from Argos this morning which was reasonably priced and even got another pack of 5 cutting discs for half price with it.

Got back and trimmed the rails down from 1470mm to 1350mm as recommended by makeitfit, placed them back on the roof to measure up again and bingo , they were going to come through where I expected.

Here was a pic of the roof lining out;

Here was me mid way through lol;

There's a view of one of the back ones from the top and bottom;

The front was a little trickier as there is so little room up front because of the position of the sunroof;

Here was my sealant job on one of the rear ones, from this I learned that I could be an excellent Ice Cream man haha;

Now I need some more advice, when I attached the roof rails on the roof I noticed that the legs have a sort of tensioning system with a loop of rubber that gets tighter when the hex head is tightened. But when the rails are attached how do I gain access to these hex heads to tighten them, or do they have to be tightened before they are attached and is there a technique as to how they have to be magically bent on lol, it looks physically impossible to me I'm confused.

I tried to tighten the hex heads as tight as I could but when doing that I couldn't attach them as they were solid to the car but yet when they are looseish I can attach them but they are really loose and rattle to the touch if all that makes sense :S

Can anyone advise as to how they attach? I've got the feet firmly attached as you can see and am itching to attach the rails and bars

Cheers guys

You've done a good job, that's the same way I done it, saves messing about with rivnuts or whatever you call them

 

[Banshee]

You'll find out when you try n tighten up the rails :lol

I'll have a go with my keys first failing that I'll pop to either Halfords or anywhere else that I can get them from cheaper

 

[Banshee]

You'll find out when you try n tighten up the rails :lol

I now fully understand why I needed the ball end allen keys and my god what a good invention they are, they were fantastic , I've seen them before and never quite understood what they were for but they worked an absolute treat

It was sunday and I was desperate so I ended up forking out £8 for a set from Halford's which aren't bad quality to be fair
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_715071_langId_-1_categoryId_242558

Then after a little bit of fiddling and messing around I finally got them attached tighter than a nuns....... we won't go there

Here's then end result anyways

What do you think?, I just can't wait to get the spotlights on now

 

[96terrano]

Looks really good mate, affords tools are as good as anything :thumb2

Also when you're linings out I'd take off the sunroof drainage hoses and blast some compressed air down them, as they can block and cause the water to not run off the sunroof after the rain, I cleaned my pipes after opening the sunroof and getting a wet head :doh:

This can also be done without disconnecting the pipes.

 

[Fez_uk]

well worth the effort, I bet your glad you done it now.

 

[Banshee]

Looks really good mate, affords tools are as good as anything :thumb2

Also when you're linings out I'd take off the sunroof drainage hoses and blast some compressed air down them, as they can block and cause the water to not run off the sunroof after the rain, I cleaned my pipes after opening the sunroof and getting a wet head :doh:

This can also be done without disconnecting the pipes.

Thanks mate, yeah I've been told to give that a good clean out, headlining will be out for a while anyways until 1) The spotlights are fitted and 2) When I find a clean one lol

well worth the effort, I bet your glad you done it now.

Really pleased with it

 

[Banshee]

Just been trawling through makeitfits photobucket album and had a little mess around in GIMP and edited his lights onto my picture and now I'm wondering whether I actually want round spots or not :/

What do you lot think?

 

[Banshee]

I think I prefer these :/, what do you guys think?

 

[96terrano]

Or if you like em both, have 2 round ones to the side and 2 square in the middle:nenau

 

[makeitfit]

If you want round ones get small ones or suffer the wrath of low branches :augie

 

[Fez_uk]

the round ones are too in your face and will get in the way of branches. I hate them on roofs.