It's nearly the season, at least in northern states, to put up the soft top for winter.
I struggled with this chore after I bought my TJ, especially when it had been folded down for weeks or months.
Best practices are different than they were for my old CJ5 and CJ7.
Key with TJ is the order in which you deal with the side curtain zipper and plastics.
—-
Choose a warm day and park in bright sun. The hotter the better, so the fabric is flexible.
Install the door surrounds.
Loosely attach the windshield clips, but don't yet flip them down.
Attach the rear corners to the body.
Flip the windshield clips into locked position.
Make sure the straps that run along and under the back half of the top aren't twisted. Make sure the front end of the side curtain zipper isn't twisted under the metal bows.
Roll down the rear window, lock it in place and zip it up.
Flip a side curtain up beside the Jeep and start the zipper at the front corner 12-15 inches.
Starting at the top front corner, work the stiff plastic molding of the side curtain into the groove in the door surround. Get that into place all the way to the bottom.
Close the zipper at least to the corner, or all the way.
Starting at the door, work the stiff plastic molding along the bottom of the side curtain into the groove along the body edge.
Push the hook-and-loop tapes along the top and rear edges into place.
Repeat with the other side curtain.
—-
Once that's done each fall, we continue to drive without doors as long as comfortable, reassured that if it remains cold, the difficult part (when it's cold) of erecting the top is done.
In the north, if you miss that last day over 70 degrees, forcing on a stiff top and side curtains can be frustrating and time consuming.
But putting on the doors is easy — no matter what the temperature.
Hope this can help some newbies get their tops on without aggravation before snow arrives.
I struggled with this chore after I bought my TJ, especially when it had been folded down for weeks or months.
Best practices are different than they were for my old CJ5 and CJ7.
Key with TJ is the order in which you deal with the side curtain zipper and plastics.
—-
Choose a warm day and park in bright sun. The hotter the better, so the fabric is flexible.
Install the door surrounds.
Loosely attach the windshield clips, but don't yet flip them down.
Attach the rear corners to the body.
Flip the windshield clips into locked position.
Make sure the straps that run along and under the back half of the top aren't twisted. Make sure the front end of the side curtain zipper isn't twisted under the metal bows.
Roll down the rear window, lock it in place and zip it up.
Flip a side curtain up beside the Jeep and start the zipper at the front corner 12-15 inches.
Starting at the top front corner, work the stiff plastic molding of the side curtain into the groove in the door surround. Get that into place all the way to the bottom.
Close the zipper at least to the corner, or all the way.
Starting at the door, work the stiff plastic molding along the bottom of the side curtain into the groove along the body edge.
Push the hook-and-loop tapes along the top and rear edges into place.
Repeat with the other side curtain.
—-
Once that's done each fall, we continue to drive without doors as long as comfortable, reassured that if it remains cold, the difficult part (when it's cold) of erecting the top is done.
In the north, if you miss that last day over 70 degrees, forcing on a stiff top and side curtains can be frustrating and time consuming.
But putting on the doors is easy — no matter what the temperature.
Hope this can help some newbies get their tops on without aggravation before snow arrives.
