Roof Rack Riv Nuts Completely Rusted Away - Ideas On How to Patch?

I'm working on chasing a leak, found these two bad spots where the riv nuts holding for the roof rack have completely deteriorated.

I'm trying to game plan a way to patch these two spots so I can reinstall new riv nuts - without welding metal patch piece. Any thoughts or suggestions on how I should tackle this?

Moving from SoCal to Washington with no guarantee of having a garage, gotta get it patched up for now!

'93 RMW - 220,000 miles

well if not too much of the steel has rusted out from the hole I would say just try to use a mig welder to weld around the hole then drill them back out to the proper size, as if it's just rusted out the area around the riv nut but the rest of the steel is still good that would probably be the best bet.

You can use a slightly larger rivnut. There is an SAE size that will almost fit in the hole if you did not drill it out too big. You need hex or Torx head bolts to fit between the rails. You may need to shorten them to allow the rack to pass over them. I forget exactly what size they are. If you use a Phillips head screw, you will need to turn the outside diameter to fit between the rails. The OEM rivnuts had a thin gasket under them. A little window urethane, or gasket maker would work in place of the washers. You also need a tool to set the rivnuts. The OEM rivnuts are no longer available. This procedure was done on my 92 OCC a number of years ago. When you assemble them, put some anti-seize on the threads before assembly.

Just did this a few weeks back. As Fred said, a larger riv nut and some good sealant. Just make sure, before you set the riv nut, that the bolt will go through the a slot in the rack - though I guess you could drill out the slot a wee bit if needed.

Squarebacks I have taken apart used wellnuts (http://downstarinc.com/Shop/well-nuts.html) and they rarely leaked.

You might be able to drill out the existing holes to good metal and use them to replace the bad rivnuts.

They are available in multiple sizes from places ranging from Ace to Grainger.

On the Hurse, when I redid the roof rails, I removed all the rivnuts and replaced them with wellnuts (without sealant) with no issues to date, but my roof was not compromised when I redid it.

DO NOT USE WELL NUTS for holding the roof rack on. They are not structural, and will not perform the function of the rivnuts. If you load your roof rack with well nuts holding it on, it will fail.

Fred Kiehl wrote:

DO NOT USE WELL NUTS for holding the roof rack on. They are not structural, and will not perform the function of the rivnuts. If you load your roof rack with well nuts holding it on, it will fail.

Was wondering about that Fred. I guess if the rack stays decorative only, well nuts should be fine - but it you strap a sack of feathers up there I’d be nervous to drive behind you on the freeway!

Note that in the pics from the link, the well nuts are used to hold down a plastic fairing that the hood then drops on and additionally shields from the wind.

Before you reinstall the rack side pieces, refresh the sealer that is in the channel under the edge of the roof rack.