Vito roof rails question

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Denz

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Apr 15, 2015
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6
Car
Vito
Hi, I am a newbie to this forum, I am trying to fit some roof rails to my 2005 long wheel base vito, the roof rail uses 4 attachment points for each rail, the front two are fine, threaded attachment points there nice and ready but the middle and rear points have a plastic cover and then a hexagonal hole under it?
No threaded attachment point just the hole?
Can anyone help me as I do not have a clue!
 
Mine had plastic caps on , but when removed had the inserts there to fix to.Can you put a picture up of what you have and will see if someone can help you out.

Nick


Oh yes and welcome to the forum
 
When you say roof rails, do you mean rails that run along the length of the vehicle or across it?
 
The roof rails are the ones that run the length of the van, I call the ones that run across roof bars!

Here is a image of the middle attachment points, one with the cap on and the other with it off and a nice hole

IMG_20150416_085400.jpg


Here is the front attachment points which have the threaded points (roof rail rubber around it which I put on ready for installation)
IMG_20150416_084911.jpg
 
Looking at roof racks (two bar), it appears that the recommended fitting points use the middle and rear only. I think the front is a fixing point for the rails that go along the length of the roof. Looking at your picture, it is almost like there should be a plate (holed or a thick, large diameter washer) with a bolt welded to it that that goes inside. It might be worth finding an MB commercial dealer and have the parts department check their system - unfortunately, several people on here have access to EPC & WIS but MB don't allow access for Vito/Viano, mad as it sounds. Either that or make some up- a metal plate with a couple of holes with nuts welded to it, all decent grade, of course.
 
I am trying to fit some roof rails to my 2005 long wheel base vito, the roof rail uses 4 attachment points for each rail, the front two are fine, threaded attachment points there nice and ready but the middle and rear points have a plastic cover and then a hexagonal hole under it?

Do you mean a Vito Long (which is standard wheelbase), or Extra Long (long wheelbase)?

I've checked my 2007 Long and all 8 attachment points (4 pairs) on each side are exactly the same i.e. a threaded hole (approx. M4) with a black plastic screw-in cover.

I would hazard a guess your van had something non-standard mounted to the roof before, and the fixing points were modified. It's not ex-Police is it? Alternatively there might have been a refrigeration unit or something like that? As GVM said it shouldn't be difficult to make up some small threaded plates to weld on.
 
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As an aside, without roof bars a Vito just fits under height barriers at car parks etc. which is why I never had them on ours (although they do look good). But if you need them to carry stuff you obviously have no choice!
 
It's a extra long wheel base, the front two holes had the plastic screw covers on them but then the middle two and rear two have these plastic covers with the hole underneath.
I think they have been in place since the van is new because they are sprayed the same colour as the vehicle.
 
Is that paint missing around the middle fixing points .. what's going on there? Looks like bare metal under the rubber strip in the other pic. too ?
 
its all primered around the fixing points, the long white strip in the middle points photo is where the paint has come off what I hazard to guess as waterproof strips along weld points?
So the best thing to do so far is get some welding done which sounds a bit annoying as I have never had any issues before with roof rails.
 
Bill they don't go missing, its MB saving money and not fitting them!
 
Thanks for the heads on the missing insert, where is the best place to get vito parts from can people recommend, I have tried a couple of websites but the part number does not produce any results!
Also, would the insert just push into place I wonder?
 
MB parts? just go to your local dealer, most of the time cheaper than ebay inc used, Some parts are cheap enough, these will be a couple of pounds.
Find a local commercial dealer with a trade counter.
 
Excellent, thanks for your help everyone. I will get on the case
 
Bill they don't go missing, its MB saving money and not fitting them!

That's bizarre ... cost price must be pennies? Yet they have special caps to cover the hole where the insert would have gone :dk:

Out of interest I'll ask some of my friends who have Vitos to check theirs.
 
I know this is an old post, but am surprised more people haven't also had the same problem.
This post is too save anyone, anymore trouble
The fitments were not fitted as standard on some models, including mine.
Many thanks to Sparkydude for pointing me in the right direction.
A639 992 00 07 is the threaded bush insert that goes into the roof from the out side (it has a rubber seal on underside)
A639 992 05 01
Is the tubular spacer bush that fits inside the van.
A639 990 03 04
Is the Torq pan head screw which clamps the other two components to the roof. You have to lower the roof lining to be able to fix the parts securely.
Not cheap, but it's the only way to do it properly.
All I wanted to do was fit a Keder rail to one side of my van, the cost of 6 of each part came to just under £30.00.
So if you want to fit a roof rack £60+ some hassle.
I hope this helps anyone in future.
ArryzedIMG_20200611_124027594.jpgIMG_20200611_124055914.jpgIMG_20200611_124042498.jpgIMG_20200611_124416022.jpg
 
The fitments were not fitted as standard on some models, including mine.

The OP did have threaded inserts in half of the fixing points on his though (the front two each side)!

PS there must be another part no. for the screw-in black plastic blanking plugs for those inserts.
 

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