So I recently tackled the inevitable problem of water in the boot. It's crazy that even newer generations are still having this problem (different causes but still)

Traced it back to cracks under the rear of the roof rails. Sealed them up and also sealed up all grommets under the taillights to be sure.

Its been dry back there for a week now so want to stick my roof rails back down. I lifted the rear of them with a heat gun and patience so they are still in re-useable order. I tried some double sided foam tape that I've used for trim in the past but its isn't strong enough. Lifting the rails must have put a slight upwards bend in them. Not enough to see but enough to lift them up.

Is there a product or a brand that is equal in strength to the OEM tape? From the residue it looks like it was double sided foam tape too but I guess much stronger.

Thanks.

I've been sticking things on cars for years, but always use proper branded, '3M' tape, other non branded stuff never give good results. It's a bit more expensive, but worth it...

3M double sided black tape

I am sure the above advice will work well but it is not what I did with my roof rails.

I lifted the rails and found out, as you have done, that the act of detaching them induces a bend which prevents them sitting down flat.

My solution to this was this.

After removing all traces of the original Ford tape and giving the groove a through clean up, I liberally filled the groove with silicone sealer then pressed the plastic rail into the filled groove.

It didn't sit flat as expected, so I found some heavy items from my garage, put some old rags on the roof paintwork for protection, then set the heavy things so that the weight bore down on the plastic. Thinking about it now, 2 or 3 buckets filled with water were amongst the things used.

The next morning on examination it all looked as if it had never been stripped out at all.

It's been over a year now since the job was done, no more leaks and the rail is as firm as ever.

Reading back over you original post I see you used a heat gun. This may have resulted in permanent distortion of the rail making it difficult to replace back in the groove at all.

My removal method was to 'saw' through the double sided Ford tape with heavy duty button thread looped underneath. Even with this cold method the rail would not sit flat properly without some external encouragement.

Best of luck,

ScaniaPBman.