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Removing roof rails from BP ('07) Legacy (JDM) wagon


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This is a bit of a hail Mary request but I thought I'd give it a shot in case, as I know the US cars are quite different to ours in this respect, but hoped there were some similarities with the Aus (JDM) and USDM cars enough to get an idea of how to move forward.

 

My car is the JDM (Australian shipped) Legacy (Liberty) '07 (US '08), and I've had some issues with one of the roof rails, that did have some repairs many years ago, and the clear has completely failed on it, so I wanted to get the rail off to reduce costs and take it somewhere to be resprayed.

 

Note: I think this is somewhat different to the US cars, as my rails are the low profile type, and they are set into the roof, not on top of a raised section

as I believe the US Legacies are.

 

The problem is I'm having all sorts of difficulty removing the rail to get it repaired. There are two "hatches" that contain a bolt in each, which I've removed. Otherwise, the rail seems to be attached by a number of fastening clips.. the front and rear sections came away without any real effort, as I think originally they were possibly damaged by the first removal, and largely attached by some adhesive, not any sort of clip into the rail.

 

However the middle of the rail (between the bolt locations) is really well held into position, and I'm worried about cracking the plastic if I put too much pressure on.

 

I've not been able to find any information or good photos on how to release these remaining (I think 3 or 4) clips, the rail doesn't slide back or forward , and I'm worried about cracking if I prise them up.

 

Any idea how I remove the these pearl silver painted rails from the roof?. I guess one option is to use heat and then prise but thought before I go any further I'd see if some more learned individuals than me might have an idea

 

Photos attached showing the rails and the clips that I can get access to (by gently lifting the front and rear parts of the rail that are free of their clips.

 

Any assistance would be really appreciated.

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Edited by geoffwoz
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Thanks so much for sending that through, that diagram doesn't appear in the Aus service manual, so might be the difference with the US car, but certainly gives me enough motivation to get in and have another look under the liner (properly this time!).

 

Thanks so much for taking the time out to investigate for me. I'll let you know how I go.

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Attached is the bit that I got out of the Australian service manual... it seems to say you just lift it up (the rail moulding)... but I think the glue that was used by the bad repair doesn't allow that now... so hopefully there is a way to get the clip loose from the bottom... even if the Australian service manual doesn't show it.. Time to get onto the roof lining and see what I can see :-)

 

Thanks again.

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  • 10 months later...

Like someone else said don't you have to take out your interior headliner and remove the nuts of the through the roof bolts that attach?

Welcome to Legacy Wagon Ownership..

Where no one makes aftermarket crossbars anymore and if they did to begin with they were $$$$.

Our rails suck honestly.

Outback rails all day long you can get aftermarket cross bars because of the raised from the roof design..the gap..etc..

At least that's what I've seen.

I've considered if you were to remove our stockers and replace with outback ones and make some sort of spacer for our stock rails to raise them so aftermarket crossbars would work.

You can also get a drill..maybe a dremel..possibly a grinder and goto town and straight redneck it.

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Thule square crossbars and their adapter “fit kit” work quite well on LGT rails, and can be found (possibly used)with minimal effort. If not mistaken, the SR2 kit is the small rubber

rail-grabber that makes em work with the factory foot. Have a set on my bars and bought a backup set in case I want to add a third bar for stability. Hope that helps.

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