Soft top window issues
 

Hello,

Recently I picked up a used jku soft top and went to install it for the first time last night. Everything went fine, but I have a slight issue with the side windows. I have the 90° channel in the door surround and channeled across the bottom, zipped, but the Velcro at the top left corner of the window near door surround simply isn't tall enough to Velcro together. I tried removing the window completely, zipping velcroing and then Channeling along door and bottom last but as soon as I channel the bottom, it pulls the window downwards and the Velcro disconnects again. I have posted a few pictures below. I have tried stretching the window upwards or putt the top down more at the frame but it will not budge.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jk-...95e58861a.jpeg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jk-...71369c6ef.jpeg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jk-...ff459b06f.jpeg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jk-...52baf3beb.jpeg

That is a huge gap. Possible that the frame is a bit damaged there at the last crossbar.....which is pulling the actual top higher than it should be? That looks like more of a frame issue than a window issue to me, but might be a bit of optical illusion. I am definitely no soft top expert, but most of them I mess with are older/cheap units that I just use as trail tops.

I don't think I'm seeing it right- is it an acrylic top with the premium windows? I have seen where the rear sail panels will be incredibly short until they warm up but that piece you've got there is pretty well a fixed piece.

The other thing I might try being in the predicament you are is to open the sunrider and attach the windows, then try to close the sunrider and see what happens.

honestly I'm not sure what top it is or the material types. This is my first jku and first jku soft top. I had a TJ before this but never had soft top problems. I'll give that a try this evening when I get off work to release the sunrider and reattach windows. This is a full picture of the top
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jk-...866f2886a.jpeg

So on your TJ, you had the standard top, right? It's almost plasticy, that's the standard sailcloth (which was much better than the other option on the TJ, I don't recall what it was called). The JK/U in 2013 introduced us to the luxury of a premium top. It's got a fabric feel to it and it'll look closer to your luxury car convertibles. Looking at the pictures again, maybe you do have the standard material because 'usually' the premiums don't stain. The standard is easy to stain by looking at it the wrong way.

That is definitely the basic (non-premium) twill. I wish I had my pos soft top on for comparison rather than it hanging from the garage ceiling. I've had 3 old pos tops now, and none of them have had a gap like this. On the pic below, everything I've had runs fairly close to the red line as you'd expect. That makes me think the top is being pulled in direction of the blue arrow and is what made me question that frame support there. Also, and this could just be the picture, the top's seam shown by the green dots, kinda looks like it's a bit c0ckeyed compared to the frame there.....but that might just be an illusion. The gap there at the door (orange arrow), looks larger than normal too....which again makes me think it's def the top/frame and nothing to do with the window. No velcro is gonna hold a gap that large....so something is def not right. From the inside of the jeep, does everything look correct with the rear most (above the tailgate) frame and the way the top attaches to it, and then also the next frame support over the roll cage cross member?

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jk-...b364ef428.jpeg

**working with this material sux royally as it is. If I ever go to a soft top for anything more than just a junky "in case of rain" cover while wheelin, it would have to be the premium twill.

ill have to check on the frame after work. This is the first time I've ever even attempted to install a soft top on a jku. Hell I probably installed it wrong lol. The back window fit fine and is tight. I installed the 2 screws on each side of the frame under the roll cage padding and flipped it all forward.

So, long story short, we have extreme weather moving in tonight. My jeep was elected (since it has full coverage insurance), to risk the night outside so we can protect 3 cars (liability only) in the garage. I through my POS soft top on figuring if it got shredded, I'd come out on top. You benefit by seeing some comparison shots. This is an old black diamond top, and I'd figure very comparable to what you're dealing with -

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jk-...dc22abf1cf.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jk-...751dd2cb33.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jk-...d327aaa2ce.jpg

Mine does peak up there a bit more than I recalled rather than being more of a straight line, but there's a huge difference compared to yours.


******Pay close attention to where the stitching on my window is compared to yours. My stitching is about level with the top of the door. Yours is much lower.

Karl - could that be a mismatch of older window with newer top? Mine is a spring assist top.....but probably an earlier model of when they started those....I'd guess circa '13/14??

mine is also spring assisted. I'm not sure if the windows were replaced or came with this top from factory. Is there a way to tel exactly what top I have?

I don't know that I can differentiate the top piece but a picture of the rear window down by the tailgate bar will at least tell us if the rear window is 07-10 or 11+. Also, your soft top should have little spring loaded buttons on the sides to open up the sunrider portion. Do you have those or does the soft top need to be manually clipped into the drip rail over the door? I'm not 100% familiar with the 4dr soft top but it should have some of the same features of the 2dr. In regards to spring assist- we've all got springs right there where the pictures are focused. Do you also have an odd oval shape box at the rear, upper attachment point? This is the easy open/ spring assist that came in later models. I'm just looking for pieces to help identify what year it is or isn't.

Russ- you're on track with what I'm thinking, maybe someone cobbled it together from leftover pieces.

I don't have the spring assisted top, but when I look at the pics it seems that cross member by the window is sitting up too high. I've run into this problem before where the cross member was not properly seated. It has 2 plastic ends where those ends need to fit around the side rail pipes. I've had it where those ends pop up and unseat themselves from the side rails and it cause the cross member to rest on top of the side pipe rails and then it sits up too high and you get a bad fit like shown.

Snap a pic from the inside of how that cross member by the window is seated. I'm willing to bet it's not properly seated where it should be. It's easy to do, I've done it multiple times when I've been in a hurry to put my soft top back up.

I thought this originally as well. It was just dumb coincidence I dug my nasty top out last night and immediately changed my opinion.

For OP, here's direct comparison highlighting the window's seam with a yellow line. First pic is OP, second pic is mine -

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jk-...4b3091113.jpeg


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jk-...db5d2a80e2.jpg


Also, reviewing the original pictures, I just noticed this -

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jk-...e876aee74.jpeg

That window should clip in to the door surround all the way to the top of that groove. It's easily an inch short, which again now leads me to believe that is not the proper window for that year of top. I think the top is an '11+, and the side windows are '07 - '10. I've had an '07 top before (what a piece of crap those were), but I can't recall at all if the actual tops came down a little further (off the frame) to mate up with a shorter window. I tend to think they did, cuz those tops had to clip around the entire length of the door surrounds.

If this is indeed the case, it's not the end of the world. Maybe just set some Craigslist alerts or eBay and pick up some cheap used windows if it's problematic. I see them float around my area from time to time. You could then in turn list the current windows out to recoup that cost. If you want, I can take actual measurements of my windows for comparison. I probably should have anyhow, but I typically have sporadic thinking and hadn't considered that until just now (and I'm at work).

^Good points. When looking at the comparison pics, I still think his cross member bar is sitting on top of the side pipe rails. Where I'm thinking a combo of just sliding that window up further as you pointed out and properly seating that cross member may do the trick. That should close that gap at least 2inches.

See how this section I have circled looks different from yours? That end of the cross member looks like it is slightly protruding under the material in that area and the top is pulled up further in that area than yours. I'm willing to make a bet his cross member is sitting on top of the side rails.
https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1Gaxv...2l3jjwj9JQxwqZ

I have a feeling you may be trying to over analyze the problem due to knowing the top came from someone on Craigslist where there's always that chance there could be some mix and match of parts going on. I think there's a much simpler explanation going on where if someone with my experience has made that cross member mistake many times, a 1st time installer could easily overlook it.

I'll also add one of the tricks of the trades we all use from experience which the OP likely hasn't done and that is to make sure you secure the velcro at the top of the window with the roof before securing the bottom. You need to secure the top 1st then you pull the bottom of the window downwards and secure the bottom. It works much better that way since you are now stretching and pulling the top down with the window AND the top of the window is at the proper height within that front of the window grove. It seems to me that he secured that bottom plastic piece 1st then is trying to get that top pulled together, which is much more difficult and will lead to this type of problem.

Here's the order of steps which need to be performed for those windows.
1. Make sure those cross members are seated properly with the side rails on both sides.
2. Zip the window in, (I recommend leaving 10-12 inches unzipped at the bottom this will make step 6 simpler)
3. Tuck the front side into the groove near the door jam.
4. Secure the window at the top with the velcro (This will slide the front side up to the proper height in the side groove, ie the problem Resharp pointed out).
5. Pull the bottom of the window down, stretching and pulling the top with it, and bend the plastic piece at the bottom so the edge is facing towards the Jeep.
6. Push that plastic piece straight on into the bottom metal groove, once you have the edge of the plastic caught on the edge of the metal groove, then push the plastic piece towards the Jeep, so it slides upwards into the metal groove.
7. Re-adjust the front side in the groove if necessary.
8. Re-adjust the top velcro if necessary
9. Finish zipping the (10-12in )rest of the zipper
10. Secure the velcro at the back of the window of the flap that covers the zipper

*And one more tip, make sure you have not secured those front latches near the sun visors before doing any of this. Securing those front latches should always be the last step.

I highly doubt the OP followed those steps in that sequence, since if you've never done it before, you initially realize inserting that plastic piece at the bottom is much easier to do before securing the velcro at the top. If he did any of the steps 1-4 after steps 5&6...that is where the problem is likely occurring. Those cross members will easily pop out if you do step 6, then try to secure the top of the window afterwards since you're having to pull more on that top section which easily knocks that cross member out of place.

If he is able to understand and follows those steps in that order, I'm positive this problem goes away. Of course I'm speaking from personal experience after having witnessed and made the same mistakes to cause this same problem. ;)