Where is the leak coming from?

Well, I think that you may not have tightened it enough to seal the holes. I have to be honest, it's a bit difficult to tell, but follow the torque specs that you were provided.

I had a similar problem when I changed out my roof rack. It seemed as though I had tightened all of the bolts enough, except for the driver rear. Went through the car wash and it caused a little leak through the headliner. Went back home, got out the torque wrench and tightened them to spec, and found out how off I was. (Still had a little way to go). Hadn't leaked since.

Cheers,

Sean

 

He's a poet
and his feet show it.
They're Longfellows...

 

Holes from the below and drip loops are good practice in that industry (e.g. NID). Even rubber grommets, though they usually get jettisoned.

 

You do know that all 4Rs come with at least 8 holes in the roof from the factory, right...?

 

My water intrusion prevention method has been to not touch the factory installed rails. YMMV.

 

Yes, I know about the factory holes. I'm talking about holes that shade tree mechanics try to put in.

Did you even read my post? Do you know what "in the field" means? You must be an accountant...

 

Yes I read your post. My point is the "shade tree mechanics" are merely reusing the existing holes for aftermarket racks, not making new ones while installing said rack in the field.

There's a couple of racks that require new holes for the front feet, but the Sherpa Crestone is not one of those. The front feet sit on top of a rubber pad in the trim channel.

 

I have a Crestone and tightening most likely is not the cure because the most common cause of a leak would be over tightening the M8 Bonded washers. If memory serves me it was 22 inch pounds on those M8 bolts w/ M8 bonded washer. Just enough to see the marshmallow washers start to flatten. Since my install I occasionally look over my headliner just to make sure there are no leaks and to date there have not been any. And correct no silicone is needed. I wish I could get a better grasp of your situation to help diagnose but if it is the roof rack install call Sherpa. Describe the situation and see what they say as I’m sure they would know immediately if this sounds like an overtightened/ under-tightened M8 bolt.

Also, as stated by someone else, double check sunroof for debris, etc. All sunroofs are controlled leaks. I was going to open mine the other day and saw how much debris was on it so I decided to pass until I had a chance to clean it real good. The install guys may have added preasure some where they weren’t supposed to (there were lots of hand smudges on the interior front windshield where some tech had been using it for leverage). My guys didn’t even have the passenger side front foot in the channel, it was up riding on the paint. I’d definitely call Sherpa and describe your situation. They would probably know from experience what the problem is and even send some replacement washers for free because once flattened/ concave you need new ones. Hope that helps.

 

After writing my response not to over tighten, I re-looked at the photo and agree. The bolt pictured at the top doesn’t appear to be tightened enough. It could just be the camera angle but the one below appears to have the Marshmellow effect you get with 22inch pounds of torque.

* As a wild card, I’m gonna throw this out there, especially if you remove and re-install verify that the a metal sleeves inside those rubber blocks are there. These metal sleeves go over the white plastic factory tubes before installing the rubber blocks. Half of mine were missing and Sherpa overnighted them to me. If I hadn’t inventoried the parts before handing it over to the installation guys, I’d probably have leak that I just couldn’t figure out.

 

Mine look much more flattened. I’d say you need to tighten to spec.

 

Things like this are one reason I added a 1/4" torque wrench not long after I brought home the 4R.

 

^ Agreed. And in this unique case, the goal of proper torquing appears to be achieving proper washer deflection? So if true, then the visual deflection criteria is a solid method as well. Bulge the washer, but not to the point of cupping it (concavity).

 

Another thing to check that is noted in the instructions above is to make sure the thin side of the rubber spacer is "positioned toward the center of the vehicle". I assume this would be to match the angle of the mount to help get a flush seal.

Something else to note from the instructions. The torque spec says 22 INCH lbs.

 

INCH Pounds is definitely something to make note of. I also noticed my rubber blocks are also under quite a bit of tension as well. When a Sherpa rack is installed properly, you can grab a hold of the rack and vigorously rock the 4Runner from sided to side. I did this mainly to ensure the front feet were under proper tension since they are not actually bolted down.

I look fwd to OP’s update…. I think we have this one solved.