Hey all,

I have the headliner out and going to take it to a shop to get it fixed up.

What else should I do? I hear a lot of talk about sunroofs and sunroof drains. Is this worth messing with If I am not experiencing issues?

Also the sunroofs rattle when they are open, is there anything I can do to address this?

Anything else why I am in there? Thanks!

 

Radiant barrier on top of the headliner board.

 

If you do the radiant barrier, make sure you have expose the key fob receiver. Ever since I installed the radiant barrier I have to get right up on the truck to use the remote. I must have buried it in there somewhere.

 

I paint the top of the headliner board with stainblocking oil base paint - any future leaks will not get through to the fabric. I then seal the edges of the fabric with clear silicone. I recommend removing the sunroof pans and resealing the drain cups to the pan. While out, remove the sunroof cable assembly and seal the bottom of the assembly to the pan. Then cover the hole in the top of the cable assembly with tape and seal over the top of it with silicone. Disassemble the sunroof motors, clean them out, and then reassemble with a liberal coating of grease to prevent future seizure. One of the key leak areas is around the sunroof motor


Remove this and seal it to the pan

Then cover the hole with tape

Then seal the entire thing with silicone all over it.

Seal the drain cups with silicone top and bottom

Once the pans are back in seal all the gaps/slots, holes in the pan.

I seal all the screw holes too.

Motors typical seize due to water instrusion and rust.

Pull the motor apart, grease the armature, put it back together. Make sure to move the brush springs up to the loading position and push the brushes to the retracted position when loading the armature through the brush housing. Order of assembly is armature to brush housing, then assembly that subassembly to motor housing, than that to gearbox. Lube worm gear before going in to gearbox. You may have to use allen wrench to help fully seat worm gear by turning center of main gear.


I agree on the thermal barrier if it is a dark color truck - I like to put the thermal barrier on the roof and paint the headline white - minimal radiated heat with maximum reflection of what gets through.

Finally, be sure to seal the windshield inside and out at the top front seal. Many leak there also.

 

Check and re-check the area around the windshield and the roof rails to ensure that there are places where water can go through.

 

I stripped my own headliner and brushed the foam backing off it then painted it with truck bedliner. My Disco is black and the black tectured headliner with the beige accents looks really nice. I also resealed and replaced the the sunroof drain tubes while everything was out.

 

It's pretty simple to install wires along the passenger side with the headliner in place, and you will know specifically what wires you need when you do so. A central antenna might be a little more difficult, but not really extraordinary.

 

In my case I have some specific plans already. I want to install some pretty thick coaxial cables for an LTE antenna on the roof. How can I install them with the headliner in place?

 

You said it yourself -- you have a specific plan. You probably have a better than general idea of where the cables will need to go. That's very different from running wires "just in case" as you suggested.

 

I put in rock wool type insulation in all the voids in the roof, it made a sizable difference in noise and temp. much quieter.