I've seen a few thread about removing the cross bars, but I haven't come across too much information concerning the removal of the plastic trim pieces which seem quite fragile.

My issue is the cross beams: they are loose in their footings and causing a rattle to be heard in the cabin. I can feel some torx bolts on the bottom of the footings, but without removing the cross bars they would be difficult to get to.... Any advice for removing that trim?

 

FYI - my quick fix, following another member's advice, is to position the cross rails at a bit of an angle, which holds the cross beam in the footings a bit tighter. Probably not the best for the rack, but its best for my peace of mind.

 

Ok I got one side of the rack taken apart, but dealing with plastic is always a fear of mine, and I'm kinda worried I broke the tab which clips onto the top of the rack. Has anyone taken their plastic rack caps off, who can check out this pict and let me know if that clip looks ok? I don't want to take the other one off if I've damaged one already. Is the end supposed to be just a flat tab like that?

 

I can't help you with the pic. just yet, but I have the same rattle and will be looking into fixing it sometime this week. The noise is pretty annoying but I had 2 2nd gens before my 04 and the noise could be from something way worse than it is.

 

No, that looks fine. becareful though, I cracked my caps getting them off.