Factory Order Dual Top Group - Missing Soft Top Components

[Yardie]

I custom ordered a JLUR last year with the dual top group. The soft top comes largely unassembled, in many boxes and wraps, all packaged inside a very large box the size of two coffins and stuffed into the interior of the back of the Jeep. Taking delivery this way, there is no feasible way to verify contents. When I finally (one year after taking delivery of the Jeep) opened the boxes to install the soft top for the first time, I carefully laid out all the components on a moving blanket and immediately noticed 4 bolts, 4 washers and 2 foam/rubber/silicone seals were missing. The missing hardware is used to connect the upper and lower sections of each of the rear door surrounds (parts #68251546AF and #68251547AF). For visual reference, I am missing the parts circled and labeled "I" "L" "U" "V" (how ironic) on the attached picture.

I have spent countless hours this week with my local Jeep dealership (in person at Billion Auto Group in Bozeman), the purchasing dealership (Covert in Austin), talking directly to Mopar and numerous hours on the phone and online chat and via email with Jeep Customer Care and none of them are willing to help get the missing parts for me. Out of curiousity, I even spoke with Quadratec and they also informed me the only way to get the parts I need are to order the entire rear door surround (same answer the dealerships are telling me, at my cost). After having my issue escalated up the food chain with Jeep Customer Care, their final verdict is for me to call the salesperson I bought the Jeep from and ask if they can find the parts for me -- a ridiculous answer to the problem. First of all, I've already spoken with that dealership and all they will do is SELL me the two rear door surrounds for $600+, and secondly, I'm not going to ask the salesperson to go through the same rat chase I've been dealing with for the past 4 days. The last thing the salesperson wants to do is spend his Saturday tracking down bolts for a customer he sold a Jeep to a year ago -- Jeep Customer Care, that is absurd!

Unfortunately, the small, individual components I am missing (I estimate the material cost doesn't exceed $10) are not available for purchase, not from the dealer, nor anywhere else commercially, without paying $500+. The only way to get the bolts, washers and seals is to order the entire surround assembly, which is currently going for $260 (EACH SIDE) on the Quadratec Website, and more at the stealer.

**Since Jeep will not provide the $10 of missing components (for my $63,000 purchase), I guess I will be shopping the local hardware stores for 4 compatible bolts and washers, and also trying to find a piece of rubber or foam which I can cut to fit and attach the upper and lower door surrounds. Does anyone have any recommendations for material and a template for the seal, and does anyone know which size bolts (length & thread) I should search for at Home Depot? Or, any other recommendations for how to solve the issue?**

As I told the last Jeep Customer Care person I spoke with, the Jeep I just purchased has now become the last Jeep or Mopar or FCA purchase I will ever make. It has become very apparent to me how little Jeep actually cares!

@JeepCares

Sponsored

 

[Yardie]

I found some materials at Lowe's and Home Depot today and was able to complete the makeshift solution to my problem.

I purchased (4) M6 25mm bolts from Lowe's (the longest they had in stock), but they proved to be too short due to the fact that the "built-in" washers were too wide to fit into the plastic channel on the lower surround. I then purchased (4) M6 35mm bolts from Home Depot and they worked perfectly.

I also purchased a roll of 2" adhesive pipe wrap from Lowe's (a 30' roll, of which I have 29' left over) and used this to cut a makeshift seal. Because the pipe wrap was not very thick, I made a template for the top surround and another for the lower surround. After cutting the seals, I removed the adhesive backing and adhered the wrap to the surround and then bolted the upper and lower surrounds together. Because the wrap/seal was easily compressed, I only loosely tightened the bolts to prevent an angle at the seam. Because of this, I also added a dab of thread locker to the bolts to prevent them from backing out.

Although I believe you could do without bolting the upper and lower surround together (if you leave the soft top on and closed), you risk losing the lower surround when driving down the road if you ever lower or remove the soft top -- the lower surround is not physically attached to the Jeep's body (by design), it just rests on top of the body. So, without bolting the lower surround to the upper surround, there is nothing but friction and tension holding the lower surround in place.

Also, without the seal in place, and the soft top fully closed, there was a clear opening from the outside of the Jeep to the inside, an easy place for water intrusion. With my makeshift seals in place, I can no longer see daylight when looking out from the point of the upper/lower junction -- should prevent water from coming in.

I also realize that there will be folks who say it's silly to let $14 worth of material stand in the way of me ever buying another FCA or Mopar product....to those folks, I say that it's not me who is letting something so trivial stand in the way of buying their products, it's Jeep which is losing a customer over something so trivial.

Pictures attached of the materials purchased. Pictures of the solution in the following post.

 

[Yardie]

I don't know why all my uploaded pictures rotate 90 degrees when I upload, they are oriented correctly on my phone and on my computer, but after upload, they all turn 90 degrees, my apologies for all the tilted heads.

Sponsored