Sunroof drains

[OVERKILL]

This actually somewhat ties into MalfunctionProne's (formerly GHT) thread about the leaking sunroof on their Expedition. Ours has never leaked, and the truck has very little rust (the frame is perfect) due to it being Krown'd every year.

HOWEVER

The sunroof drains run down the pillars and dump below the vehicle. The one on the drivers side of ours appears to have shifted, clogged or had something happen to it causing it to dump INSIDE the rocker. You can imagine the kind of fun the salt laden winter stuff has had here. We discovered this back in the summer when a chunk of the paint suddenly came off the rocker. Beneath it was rust that had originated from the inside of the rocker and I was able to achieve perforation by poking it with my finger. This was quite bothersome given the truck's annual treatment to prevent this. Over the course of the summer it got dramatically worse and now there is a gaping hole. Once the winter is over we are going to be looking at having the rocker replaced which will be a relatively significant expense to be done properly. My wife and I both think it is a worthwhile endeavour though given the service the vehicle has given us and the fact that mechanically it is perfect.

My question is has anybody ever re-tubed their sunroof drains? I'm thinking that may be necessary here (though have not investigated enough to determine if this is indeed the case) and if so, is it a huge undertaking? I'm thinking it isn't going to be fun given the route the tubes take.

 

[Bluestream]

Yes, you need to modify the drain tubing. Most sunroofs just dump the water into the rocker area to drain out. Of course that accelerates the rust by many times,

 

[Trav]

GM ran the drains on the 2000's W bodies right into the rockers by design, of course they rotted out badly under the drain hose location even on summer driven cars.
I rebuilt the inner and outer rockers and re routed the drains out the back. I cut the original rubber back and inserted a long piece of stiff 3/8 nylon tubing secured with silicone and a plastic squeeze clamp.

Drilled holes through the trunk right behind the rear bumper and inserted a rubber grommet, then ran the tubing though it and caulked around it with silicone.
They are invisible from outside but don't come anywhere near metal, the water goes straight on the ground.

 

[edwardh1]

where does Toyota put theirs?

 

[edwardh1]

Originally Posted By: Trav
GM ran the drains on the 2000's W bodies right into the rockers by design, of course they rotted out badly under the drain hose location even on summer driven cars.
I rebuilt the inner and outer rockers and re routed the drains out the back. I cut the original rubber back and inserted a long piece of stiff 3/8 nylon tubing secured with silicone and a plastic squeeze clamp.

Drilled holes through the trunk right behind the rear bumper and inserted a rubber grommet, then ran the tubing though it and caulked around it with silicone.
They are invisible from outside but don't come anywhere near metal, the water goes straight on the ground.


And GM had the rear windows of 65 -70 chevelles rust out and the Vegas melted away esp the cowl area behind the hood

 

[MalfunctionProne]

Reading...

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: edwardh1
where does Toyota put theirs?


They must dump into the frame

 

[Clevy]

Formerly ght.

I liked him even though I think he was too much sometimes.