Installing OEM roof racks on ZZE122 Corolla?

[Sick Puppy]

Hi everyone, just wondering if anyone has had any experiences with fitting an OEM roof rack on to a ZZE122 Corolla or the like that hasn’t had them fitted before? They are similar to the ST215 Caldina ones:

Looking at sourcing parts from wreckers, wondering if it was worth my while adding them to the list. Likelihood is I will be taking out the roof lining to work on my aerial and stuff, thought why not

It looks like they run along a rubber strip on the roof regardless of whether it has racks or not. I will likely have to at least partially remove the roof lining to get at the aerial socket as it's raised from the roof and potentially letting water in.

From this:


To this (well, almost lol):

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Not worth it in my opinion. The factory roof racks actually mount to the roof skin (which means you have to drill holes) and have factory brackets spot welded underneath that they screw into. We sell a bunch of them at work, despite telling customers what they're in for, and most of them end up returning them because it's not worth the effort. Easier just to buy a set of removable aftermarket racks that go the width of the roof.

To change the aerial on the back you just have to drop the roof lining a little bit by removing the rear clips. The plug/connector is behind the RH C-pillar trim and the aerial base is held on with a nut (17mm or 19mm from memory).

[Sick Puppy]

Ah. thanks for that, you've saved me a lot of hassle then!

I was looking at the appearance (Yup, I miss my Caldina, although I miss the Curren more lol) more than the practicality, just wanted to break up the very large flat space on the top.

Meh, more money for servicing and other parts!