subysouth Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I stole an idea from SublimeJoe and swapped the stock roof rack on my 07 OBXT Ltd for the Legacy roof rails painted body color. I figured I would do a quick write-up to ease the process for the next person. I used the 2005 service manual for guidance. The main instructions are on page EI-66 with references to pages LI-29, LI-30, LI-31, EI-64, EI-65, EI-61, and EI-62. I followed that procedure fairly closely except Upper Inner Trim removal on EI-61. Rather than completely removing the B and C pillar upper trim I just unbolted each and pulled the top edges away enough to slide the headliner rearward and out. The above portions are fairly straightforward but when you get to instruction 10 on page EI-66 I ran into a bit of a problem. You are near the end of the removal process and at this point the only things holding the headliner in are the wiring harnesses attached to the headliner either by clips or running under batting or sound deadening. They all will come loose or unclip with the exception of one of the 2 cables exiting the drivers side A-pillar. This particular cable is routed under numerous feet of batting attached to the top of the headliner. It routes front to back and has a connector near the driver's side D-pillar at the rear but none near the A-pillar at the front. After weighing my options and considering my time allotted I finally decided to cut and repair it figuring it was a standard cable. It turns out it is the antenna lead that terminates at the rear hatch. Its front connector it turns out is behind the dash near the accelerator pedal. Had I known that at the time I still would have cut it as fishing it and the satellite antenna pre-wire(which terminates behind the radio) its bundled with in and out of the dash and A-pillar IMO just wasn't worth it. The only viable options IMO are cutting it or cutting it out of the batting attached to the headliner and it is very difficult to get at the top of the headliner with this cable attached for trying to cut it away from the batting so let your judgment be your guide. There is no great option here just lesser of evils. So I had a cut cable and it turns out being the antenna cable it not a conventional cable but a coax cable. You have to strip back the inner and outer elements separately and solder them back together. I also used some aluminum tape to shield the union from interference. It seems to be working fine. Once you have the headliner out the swap of the rack over to the Legacy rails is fairly easy. Leaving the inner brackets in place(they are the same for either application) just remove the 6 self-locking nuts per side and remove the rack and replace it with the rails. The bolts that hold the rack and rails are keyed into slots that are supposed to prevent them from spinning as they are loosened and tightened. I had three of them spin on me trying to break the self-locking nuts loose. Luckily the bolts have a nice un-threaded tip you can grab with a set of locking pliers while getting the nuts moving. Those are the odd bits I ran into. I really like the results of the swap. It looks cleaner IMO and I think my mpg will prolly go up a shade and the wind noise seems to be down a bit too. Bonus its easier washing the roof. Before: http://imageshack.com/a/img546/1498/iix1.jpg After: http://imageshack.com/a/img196/633/0if0.jpg ss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sublimejoe Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Looks super good! Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subakook Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Looks so much better with the legacy rails. I'm actually planning on doing the same in the near future but cutting that cord sounds a little scary to me. How long did the job take you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subysouth Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 All told about 6 hours of actual work - there was additional time figuring out the different wtfs. I think I hit on all the weird things to prepare yourself for. I got to the installed rails on one day and then washed the car to check for leaks. I think it rained that night too for good measure. I put it back together on a second day of work a few days later after figuring out what it was and weighing the options for that cable. ss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danteneon Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Good write-up! I will add that there is no need to cut any cords. While the antenna and light harness cords are stuck to the headliner, they pull right off it. Simply re-tape them in place if need be. Since the headliner doesn't have to come completely out of the car to swap the rails, you can save yourself a lot of headache that way. I like to cook my pets and my family. Use commas. Don't be a psycho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subakook Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 So it looks like I will finally get rid of these hideous outback roof rails. Found a set on the forum for a good price. I can't decide whether or not to paint them because I do plan on actually mounting crossbars on them from time to time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subysouth Posted February 14, 2014 Author Share Posted February 14, 2014 Good write-up! I will add that there is no need to cut any cords. While the antenna and light harness cords are stuck to the headliner, they pull right off it. Simply re-tape them in place if need be. Since the headliner doesn't have to come completely out of the car to swap the rails, you can save yourself a lot of headache that way. Well I agree some of the cables can be pulled loose from tape but the cable I mention above is under about 7' of about 1/4" thick batting that is attached to the headliner. The entire surface of this batting is adhesive and the cable is largely routed down the center of the panels of batting. So the cable is generally about 8" or more from the edge of this adhered batting so unless you are committed to attempting to detach a number of square feet of batting to wrestle this cable free I think cutting is the only option. Bearing in mind this is all going on in the space afforded between the headliner and roof as it barely dropped. The antenna cable comes out of the A-pillar and kinda s-curves over towards the center light(for no reason I can see) mount and then points back towards the drivers D-pillar. I wish I had snapped a pic of the upper side of the headliner - this would make a lot more sense. This cable is not just taped down, several are but not this one. You could gingerly cut down through the batting to the cable and lift it out but that procedure is really only possible after the headliner is out of the car. Catch22. You might be able to shift the headliner far enough left and right while still in the car to get to most of the mounts for the rails but it would be very very difficult and where the rear center seat belt mount needs to be removed from the roof to get to the passenger side rear rail mounts are approaching impossible IMO. ss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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