So tried to remove the hardtop today and can't. There are 4 extra bolts, to either to lock the top on or hold it down better, because 8 wasn't enough.... wtf are these and how can I get them off. The bottom bolt going through these is a star bit but where they are I can't get a tool to them.

 

Are they quick release ones - i.e. if you loosen a little the nut can be spun to lift through the lip?

 

One spins but it spins with the rivet. I don't get why these are here. Isn't the whole point of a removable top to remove it?

 

what the heck is going on there? is the top portion kinda like a nutsert? Someone must have indeed been very paranoid about their hard top being stolen. Is the head of the bolt a torx bit? They make 90* attachments for a drill –



Could you use something like that with a small torx bit inserted to get under the lip to unscrew it?

 

I'll have to go look at my Jeep in a minute, but I'm Pretty sure those are just guide pins to align the top with the body. No need to remove. After you remove the torques bolts, it should just lift off. It is heavy as hell, and if it has never been removed it might be stuck, but those guide pins don't come out.

 

So I feel like an idiot..... They were just the guide pins... They had some foam tape seal inbetween the hardtop and the body, I'm assuming this top has never been off because the top was glued to the body so much so that I could lift the Jeep with the bolts out. The 07 wasn't like this so I figured someone must have done it because on one of the rivets is burried in the fiberglass and looks unprofessional.

 

No worries. Glad it worked out. Mine was a little stuck like that the first time I took it off. I haven't had it off again since we had the baby, it's been 14 months now. Really getting the itch to take it off again. Can't wait till she is big enough.

 

i dont mess with my top much....it's typically just off. i was in the garage today and noticed the same on my jeep....the guide pins. Feel like a dufus now.

 

Looking at mine just now, I would have sworn up and down they were riv-nuts with bolts threaded in from underneath.