Roof Waterproofing

[1988SCWaggy]

I replaced all the roof rack grommets and roof slats. I took the truck through the car wash and while going the drying stage, a couple drops came through the slat screws. Should I try for no leaks, or is that acceptable? The grommets seems fine. But the slat system seems flawed.

[SJTD]

I wouldn't consider it acceptable but I din't know the fix. What did you seal the slat holes with? I can't believe the original plastic combo plastic insulator/insert didn't leak from day one.

Maybe a blob of sillycone?

[1988SCWaggy]

Used silicone with slat screws. Maybe need to screw them down tighter (pulling rubber luggage strip down tighter)?

[devildog80]

Any leak is not acceptable, and sure you can seal your roof to shed off all the water, as it does not belong inside the truck!

Let us know what worked.

[tgreese]

There is a special part to secure those slats, called a "sealed screw." They have a Jeep Corp part number, so they are not generic hardware. My book does not cover 1988; you could look them up in the parts catalog that covers 1988 on the Tom Collins site. Extraordinarily unlikely you will find them today under their Jeep PN.

I remember the dealership installing a very few of these racks for customers whose Jeeps did not come with them. I don't see any "kit" of the rack complete; they could have ordered all the pieces separately. If a customer had a complaint about leaking, likely they would have ordered the well nuts and screws and replaced them all. I know we stocked the well nuts, but I don't recall the screws.

Possible you could put an o-ring under each screw head, along with some sealant on the hole. WIthout the sealed screw, I expect water could enter around the screw head and down the threads.
https://www.digikey.com/en/product-high ... ing-screws

[Mopar_guy]

You're better off using a good caulk rather than silicone and wrap the screws with teflon tape to mimic the sealed screws. Those screws had some sort of sealer on them and they worked good.