The OCD side of me has had it with the rust on the expedition roof rack hardware so planning to take them off to properly clean and paint them. For those that have the rack, does it look the same, better or worse?

 

You may want to check with your dealer to see if this can be fixed under warranty. It should not be rusting that way.

 

The only hardware that rusted on mine was an aftermarket bolt I added to replace one I snapped during install. (Nm not Ft lbs !)

The LR stuff on mine is notably mint compared to the one I swapped. Perhaps it's that #SaltLyfe in FL that's doing it. This is very surprising to see on an OEM rack.