Hard top identification: where do I find the weatherstrip seal?

[TheYonderGod]

Had inches of water in my Jeep after a storm. Checked the cowl drain, it's clear.


Found this leak from my drivers door


Hard top and possibly the windshield header seals look bad


I don't think the door seal is bad? But maybe ill just do all of them if they aren't too expensive.


But I have no idea what this hard top is. No rear wiper so I'm assuming not OEM? I can't find any kind of letters or numbers anywhere on it. The 3rd brake light looking thing at the top has nothing it and no wiring going to it. Also has no struts on the hatch and missing a front latch, so I'd like to know where to buy those too.


Does anyone know what this is? Or let me know if am I wrong to assume OEM weatherstripping won't fit an aftermarket hard top?

 

[JMT]

Had inches of water in my Jeep after a storm. Checked the cowl drain, it's clear.
View attachment 575180View attachment 575181

Found this leak from my drivers door
View attachment 575182

Hard top and possibly the windshield header seals look bad
View attachment 575184

I don't think the door seal is bad? But maybe ill just do all of them if they aren't too expensive.
View attachment 575183

But I have no idea what this hard top is. No rear wiper so I'm assuming not OEM? I can't find any kind of letters or numbers anywhere on it. The 3rd brake light looking thing at the top has nothing it and no wiring going to it. Also has no struts on the hatch and missing a front latch, so I'd like to know where to buy those too.
View attachment 575185View attachment 575186View attachment 575187

Does anyone know what this is? Or let me know if am I wrong to assume OEM weatherstripping won't fit an aftermarket hard top?

It’s a very expensive piece of crap Smittybilt Hardtop. My son has one and it leaks on the driver front corner and the latch doesn’t lock it tight enough to the OEM seal. I’m convinced it’s the hardtop rather than OEM door or windshield header seals

 

[ChadH]

You could go get some generic seal strip at your local hardware or automotive store and add some to filll in the gaps. Not the 'right' way to fix it, but it might get you buy until you sort out another solution.

 

[cwilson]

Below are the struts you need for the back glass. Pretty sure I have the exact same top and leaks in the same spot.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Y3H0YIY?tag=wranglerorg-20

I am not sure that these are smittybuilt tops either. DV8 offroad shows a very similar one on their site. I reached out to them a couple weeks ago to see and just haven't had time to follow back up.

These leaks are the reason I will be Monstalining the floor this winter or spring.

 

[TheYonderGod]

It’s a very expensive piece of crap Smittybilt Hardtop. My son has one and it leaks on the driver front corner and the latch doesn’t lock it tight enough to the OEM seal. I’m convinced it’s the hardtop rather than OEM door or windshield header seals

Below are the struts you need for the back glass. Pretty sure I have the exact same top and leaks in the same spot.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Y3H0YIY?tag=wranglerorg-20

I am not sure that these are smittybuilt tops either. DV8 offroad shows a very similar one on their site. I reached out to them a couple weeks ago to see and just haven't had time to follow back up.

These leaks are the reason I will be Monstalining the floor this winter or spring.

I looked at a ton of pictures from both Smittybilt and DV8, none of them look like the one I have. The defining characteristic I don't see on any of the pictures I've looked at are the side handles between the door and the back window. I guess a previous owner could have put those on it, in which case it does look like the smitybilt. The DV8 looks like a 2-piece.

Also I need the brackets for the struts too
Previous owner did give me a bag of seemingly incomplete pieces and 1 strut, maybe if I could figure out how it's supposed to go I could make another bracket.

You could go get some generic seal strip at your local hardware or automotive store and add some to filll in the gaps. Not the 'right' way to fix it, but it might get you buy until you sort out another solution.

I guess that's probably what I'll have to do, it sucks, I'm trying to do everything the right way on this if I can without killing my wallet.

 

[JMT]

I looked at a ton of pictures from both Smittybilt and DV8, none of them look like the one I have. The defining characteristic I don't see on any of the pictures I've looked at are the side handles between the door and the back window. I guess a previous owner could have put those on it, in which case it does look like the smitybilt. The DV8 looks like a 2-piece.

Also I need the brackets for the struts too
Previous owner did give me a bag of seemingly incomplete pieces and 1 strut, maybe if I could figure out how it's supposed to go I could make another bracket.


I guess that's probably what I'll have to do, it sucks, I'm trying to do everything the right way on this if I can without killing my wallet.

Honestly, the best thing to do is find an OEM Hardtop or gather all the hardware and a soft top. Neither is cheap, but the soft top route is probably cheaper unless you find a really good deal on a hardtop.

 

[TheYonderGod]

Honestly, the best thing to do is find an OEM Hardtop or gather all the hardware and a soft top. Neither is cheap, but the soft top route is probably cheaper unless you find a really good deal on a hardtop.

How do soft tops do in the snow?

 

[JMT]

How do soft tops do in the snow?

I don’t have experience with that. I’m currently gathering pieces myself. I just need the tailgate bar and the soft top itself. I plan to run it in Speing and Fall to take advantage of nice afternoons. The summer is topless. Winter is hardtop. I know soft tops are colder and louder. Sierra Off-road is now offering a 45gm weight soft top, which is the way I’m going to go..

 

[Mike_H]

I don’t have experience with that. I’m currently gathering pieces myself. I just need the tailgate bar and the soft top itself. I plan to run it in Speing and Fall to take advantage of nice afternoons. The summer is topless. Winter is hardtop. I know soft tops are colder and louder. Sierra Off-road is now offering a 45gm weight soft top, which is the way I’m going to go..

I'm kinda out on the Sierra Offroad tops. Mine is a couple years old, and two zippers have given up the ghost.

 

[JMT]

I'm kinda out on the Sierra Offroad tops. Mine is a couple years old, and two zippers have given up the ghost.

That’s too bad, but good to know. Bestop hasn’t been getting rave reviews either. It’s a lot of money to drop for a questionable product.

 

[Rickyd]

How do soft tops do in the snow?

You're going to hate working the zippers in any kind of cold weather.

is the foam missing at the mating surface here?

Can you unbolt the top and shoved it forward to get a better seal? Mine is missing some gasket material there. When I put the hard top on a piece of electrical tape over that joint keeps it from leaking like yours does

 

[TheYonderGod]

You're going to hate working the zippers in any kind of cold weather.

is the foam missing at the mating surface here?



Can you unbolt the top and shoved it forward to get a better seal? Mine is missing some gasket material there. When I put the hard top on a piece of electrical tape over that joint keeps it from leaking like yours does

Yeah I just found this thread talking about that (https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/smittybilt-hardtop-leaks.17727/post-361401)
I didn't know if I was missing anything, this is all new to me.
So hopefully doing that along with gluing those loose flaps will help a lot.

I also saw some tops have a rain channel above the door so I'll try that next.

 

[kookadala]

Honestly, the best thing to do is find an OEM Hardtop or gather all the hardware and a soft top. Neither is cheap, but the soft top route is probably cheaper unless you find a really good deal on a hardtop.

How do you tell if you have a factory hardtop? I just bought my first jeep and the previous owner said it leaks a bit by the passenger side of the windshield, so I will have to some weather sealing too.

 

[JMT]

How do you tell if you have a factory hardtop? I just bought my first jeep and the previous owner said it leaks a bit by the passenger side of the windshield, so I will have to some weather sealing too.

You have to know the characteristics.

1997-2002 Hardtop (Note the vents on the rear corner).

I don't know about the 2005-2006, but they don't have the vents on that rear corner. If you post up a pic of yours someone will be able to tell. I have a 2005 but the hardtop is from the earlier years.

 

[kookadala]

Well I finally got the jeep back from my fiancé and its obviously not a factory hard top.