Hi All,
New owner here. Picked up the '96 white 7.3 that was listed here over the last weekend.

Drove it out to Joshua Tree after pickup and loving it!

One thing tho'. The PO had removed the Arb rack to get it powder coated and when he had it re-installed it was not screwed down tight tightly on multiple bolts. Looks like some bolts were longer than the others and the shorter ones weren't not put back in teh correct mount and would have hit the PH metal frame, so they just left it untightened.

Has been raining pretty good last night and I was checking the inside and saw a little water coming into and dripping between the front and rear panels inside. Not a lot but enough to worry me.

I covered the rack with a tarp last night and when I checked this morning, no additional water.

First should I pull the internal wood panels and wipe down any water between the roof and the panel before fixing and remounting the rac?

Also, trying to figure out the best method for sealing. Silicone or butyl between the asket and the roof? Or just tighten everything down?

I did order some butyl sheets last night but it will be a few days before arriving and it's supposed to start raining again. Liked to get it taken care of asap so I can sleep better at night?

How hard is it to remove the internal panels to take peak? there doesn;t seem to be any leaks from teh other washer/bolts that are on the roof so don't want to disturb those if don't have to.

Did a lot of reading last night on the leaky roof issues with these.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Silicone should work fine. I had a tonneau cover that had tracks installed and it would leak when it rained or got washed. I took the mounting screws out and injected some clear silicone then put the mounting bolts back in. Didn't leak after that.

Not sure what to do about taking the panels out and wiping them down.

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2005 E350 Chateau - V10 - Agile Offroad 4x4
2012 CTS-V Wagon - For the baby...

I think I'm mostly concerned about mold build up if I don't dry out the space between the panel and roof inside. May be a good reason to go in a do the other factory mounting bolts with butyl rubber gasket as well to ensure the entire roof leak proof since I do live in a wet area in the winter(Oakland).

If you are talking about the PH headliner, removing the panels also disconnects the canvas from the top. I re-worked mine with thin strips to mount the canvas so that the headliner can be removed without too much stress. If you do one headliner panel at a time it should be manageable. Having the entire canvas removed could potentially be a PITA by yourself; this is probably an understatement...

See this page for the strip mod:

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=11764&start=15

I would use butyl sealant wherever possible.

Re-doing the old butyl sealant is a good idea as you'll have most of the bolts out anyway to access the headliner panels.....and if you are doing the sealant, you may as well change the fasteners to stainless as they are cheap enough....

FWIW, Mcmaster also sells butyl sealant in rolls

http://www.mcmaster.com/#butyl-rubber-tape/=uu60om

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2008 E350 RB passenger 4WD SMB penthouse
2013 KTM 350 EXC
2008 KTM 250 XCF-W
2003 Honda Element

Uggh thanks for the info. Maybe I'll just seal everything up and then get a couple of space heaters and run them for a good bit inside the van to get it nice and toasty to dry things up as best I can.

butyl

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Len & Joanne

The Green TARDIS