2001 Tahoe roof rust rot under roof rack

[Kman]

Detailed the Tahoe the other day and noticed some rust and paint bubbling on the roof near where the screws go in to the roof for the roof rack. It’s only on the driver side front roof rack. This has been a California car so I am not well versed on dealing with rust. Is this something I should deal with now or would you consider this minimal and not to worry about it? If so what is the best approach? I just don’t want it to get worse.

 

[B-train]

The rails come off pretty easy with a bunch of Allen bolts. If you live in a road salt area, then I'd address it with a light sand, prime, paint, and clear. Being on the roof it doesn't have to be perfect.......only semi drivers will be able to critique your rattle can skills.

If you don't live in a road salt area, it'll probably be fine for quite a while. It probably has a rub mark that salt air settled on and caused a little surface rust. Or, maybe salt covered surfboards were up there a lot?

Either way, it should be a simple fix.

 

[BatsTDK]

My Yukon has the exact same rust spot under one of my roof rails and it's always been a SoCal truck. Noticed it awhile ago and it doesn't seem to have grown, but probably should address it at some point.

Were you able to tackle it?

 

[Kman]

Haven’t pulled the rail yet.

 

[Kman]

My Yukon has the exact same rust spot under one of my roof rails and it's always been a SoCal truck. Noticed it awhile ago and it doesn't seem to have grown, but probably should address it at some point.

Were you able to tackle it?

I’m going to pull the driver side rail next time I wash the Tahoe.

 

[OR VietVet]

Some how, some way, that same spot lacks factory primer, paint and sealer on like vehicles. Salt air does it. No salt on roads around here but coast vehicles show the salt corrosion.

 

[Kman]

Ended up taking the roof rack off the Tahoe yesterday and the rusted worse than I was expecting. I took off the passenger side too and there was no rust on that side. Only area there was rust was the driver side front.

I sanded out the rust. Filled in the thin areas with JB Weld. Primer, and then used Dupli-Color white as the final step. If I was to do it over I wouldn’t have painted with the tape masked off so I could blend it better but I do like being able to see the area I painted so I can monitor the rust.

 

[strutaeng]

Great job! I'm getting ready to paint the roof of my 04 project Suburban. I didn't know how the roof rack mounted. Hopefully I don't have (much) rust to deal with... fingers crossed.