Going to be moving my daughter's college stuff (again) so I wanted to ensure the MX4 (this could also apply to other models using similar rails) was more waterproof than the original install. Now in no way do I think this is fully waterproof, just water resistant as the lawyers would say.
I installed the RamBox MX4 back in early Jan and it was fairly watertight except near the tailgate. I also had wondered about the BUG rails so this answered that question as well.
1. I removed everything including the BUG rails. Dang it was hot today but a dad's gotta do what a dad's gotta do. I noticed there was no weatherstripping behind the BUG rails other than the spray in bedliner which kind of acted like a seal at the bottom. I cleaned everything up (quite dirty behind them telling me that water and crud has gotten behind them. I then put a line of Parabond (amazing RV sealant) along the top and reinstalled the rails. I also scootched them down slightly so the MX4 would sit even lower. Aerodynamics and all.
Here is what the bed behind the rails looks like. You can see the intentions in the bedliner. There are also two locating plastic pins that are used to hold it in place while you bolt it in. Very handy.
2. I had also noticed that there was a small rubber weatherstrip section on the outside of the MX4 rails that did nothing on my truck except make one RamBox door squeak when opening. After removing the MX4 rail and eyeballing everything, the only conclusion I have is that it sealed against something on a prior model. It does nothing on our trucks so I removed it. It just peeled off and then I cleaned it up with brake cleaner (that's the weatherstripping to the right):
3. After I bolted the BUG rails back on and reinstalled the MX4 rails, I plugged the factory gaps at the rear by using some of the MX4 front of bed weatherstripping left over. They provided enough and my packrat ways won't let me throw things like that out. I think this makes a serious difference in waterproofing the RamBox bed. Here's before the rail:
and after (the plastic end cap covered up the exposed part):
I also put some weatherstripping just above this between the MX4 rail and the same plastic rear cap but it was so hot my phone camera said nope. I'm off tomorrow so between these upgrades and the heat I'm hoping any water evaporates before it hits her treasures.
I installed the RamBox MX4 back in early Jan and it was fairly watertight except near the tailgate. I also had wondered about the BUG rails so this answered that question as well.
1. I removed everything including the BUG rails. Dang it was hot today but a dad's gotta do what a dad's gotta do. I noticed there was no weatherstripping behind the BUG rails other than the spray in bedliner which kind of acted like a seal at the bottom. I cleaned everything up (quite dirty behind them telling me that water and crud has gotten behind them. I then put a line of Parabond (amazing RV sealant) along the top and reinstalled the rails. I also scootched them down slightly so the MX4 would sit even lower. Aerodynamics and all.
Here is what the bed behind the rails looks like. You can see the intentions in the bedliner. There are also two locating plastic pins that are used to hold it in place while you bolt it in. Very handy.
2. I had also noticed that there was a small rubber weatherstrip section on the outside of the MX4 rails that did nothing on my truck except make one RamBox door squeak when opening. After removing the MX4 rail and eyeballing everything, the only conclusion I have is that it sealed against something on a prior model. It does nothing on our trucks so I removed it. It just peeled off and then I cleaned it up with brake cleaner (that's the weatherstripping to the right):
3. After I bolted the BUG rails back on and reinstalled the MX4 rails, I plugged the factory gaps at the rear by using some of the MX4 front of bed weatherstripping left over. They provided enough and my packrat ways won't let me throw things like that out. I think this makes a serious difference in waterproofing the RamBox bed. Here's before the rail:
and after (the plastic end cap covered up the exposed part):
I also put some weatherstripping just above this between the MX4 rail and the same plastic rear cap but it was so hot my phone camera said nope. I'm off tomorrow so between these upgrades and the heat I'm hoping any water evaporates before it hits her treasures.
