Replacing bent bow arm on Soft Top

[tsaimh]

Howdy! I made stupid mistake yesterday and bent my passenger side bow arm on the soft top. I have new arm on its way and was trying to get the old one off. REmoved the screw to the hinge and I cannot seem to pull off the arm. It's like its pressed in to the hinge. I attached a picture of what I am looking. Anybody successfully replace this arm? Appreciate any help...

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[Jean1982]

Howdy! I made stupid mistake yesterday and bent my passenger side bow arm on the soft top. I have new arm on its way and was trying to get the old one off. REmoved the screw to the hinge and I cannot seem to pull off the arm. It's like its pressed in to the hinge. I attached a picture of what I am looking. Anybody successfully replace this arm? Appreciate any help...

Did you get that sorted out ?
I'm in the same situation. Mines are bented on both side. Found the part on Mopar (just the arm, not the hinge) but curious to see if it even possible to remove this bar from the hinge.

 

[tsaimh]

Did you get that sorted out ?
I'm in the same situation. Mines are bented on both side. Found the part on Mopar (just the arm, not the hinge) but curious to see if it even possible to remove this bar from the hinge.

Hi! Yes! I reached out to a few members to get some feedback. Even though the bar is difficult to remove. it is possible.

The method was using two hammers. Wedge the claw of one of the hammers behind the pivot and hit the head with the other hammer to break it loose. I put some cardboard behind the wedge hammer to minimize scratches. It took quite a bit of work but I was able to get it off and replaced without having to remove any additional parts.

These arms were on backorder as well but I was able to ask my dealership where they were in stock at other dealerships. They gave me a contact of a dealership in Iowa and I purchased and them ship me the part ASAP.

Good Luck!

 

[Jaym]

Hi! Yes! I reached out to a few members to get some feedback. Even though the bar is difficult to remove. it is possible.

The method was using two hammers. Wedge the claw of one of the hammers behind the pivot and hit the head with the other hammer to break it loose. I put some cardboard behind the wedge hammer to minimize scratches. It took quite a bit of work but I was able to get it off and replaced without having to remove any additional parts.

These arms were on backorder as well but I was able to ask my dealership where they were in stock at other dealerships. They gave me a contact of a dealership in Iowa and I purchased and them ship me the part ASAP.

Good Luck!

Did you have a part number?

 

[tsaimh]

Did you have a part number?

I only needed to replace the passenger side and the part # was 68506110AA

 

[Kevcass42]

I only needed to replace the passenger side and the part # was 68506110AA

Thank you, thank you, thank you. My wife just made the mistake of trying to pull into the garage and both bow arms got bent. I didn't even have to be one of those annoying noobs who post a question asked 1000 times already. Did a quick search for "5th bow lifting arm" and this was one of the top threads. Thanks!!!

 

[Kevcass42]

Oh, quick question. Is the part # the same for the JL and JLU soft top?

 

[tsaimh]

My quick google search seems to indicate that the JL and JLU BOW ARM arm part numbers are different. It would be best to call a dealership or in-line dealer to make sure.

 

[DaveO]

This happened to me, too. I bent the 5th bow bar on the drivers side. It was my own fault....but now how to fix it? I found this thread and was able to pop it off. It took a bit of leverage, but it worked.

I took the bracket off the top and bent the 5th bow bar off and just had a stubby piece to get off the pivot point. Disconnect the cable from the lever by taking a screwdriver and manually moving the internal piece of metal and that will take slack off the end of the cable. Pop the cable from the plastic holders off with a pry bar/screwdriver/panel removal tool.

After a number of unsuccessful attempts, i clamped the piece down on the workbench and used a "gorilla bar" to pop it off. It's all about leverage with this little thing. I put a piece of cardboard under the Gorilla bar to prevent marring the surface and gave a slow, but big push. It popped off. It popped up about 3 feet in the air after it gave way with all the leverage I was giving it--so watch out.

Now i will order the replacement (68506111AA) and figure out how to get it back on. I'm assuming just line it up with the keyway slot and slightly tap it on with the right hammer. Clamping it down on the bench again sounds like the right way to go.

 

[JJR]

I replaced mine today - and after reading these threads (thank you!), tried the two hammer solution above to get the arm off - worked really well.

 

[FLECK-5]

Is this the 2 hammer method? I tried it for a minute and it doesn’t appear to have made any difference.

 

[Squirly]

A tie rod removal tool aka pickle fork will also work

 

[FLECK-5]

I ended up using a small gear puller. I couldn’t get all 3 jaws behind the bar but was able to hold one jaw behind it and popped it off.

 

[Ron Humphrey]

This happened to me, too. I bent the 5th bow bar on the drivers side. It was my own fault....but now how to fix it? I found this thread and was able to pop it off. It took a bit of leverage, but it worked.

I took the bracket off the top and bent the 5th bow bar off and just had a stubby piece to get off the pivot point. Disconnect the cable from the lever by taking a screwdriver and manually moving the internal piece of metal and that will take slack off the end of the cable. Pop the cable from the plastic holders off with a pry bar/screwdriver/panel removal tool.

After a number of unsuccessful attempts, i clamped the piece down on the workbench and used a "gorilla bar" to pop it off. It's all about leverage with this little thing. I put a piece of cardboard under the Gorilla bar to prevent marring the surface and gave a slow, but big push. It popped off. It popped up about 3 feet in the air after it gave way with all the leverage I was giving it--so watch out.

Now i will order the replacement (68506111AA) and figure out how to get it back on. I'm assuming just line it up with the keyway slot and slightly tap it on with the right hammer. Clamping it down on the bench again sounds like the right way to go.

Was that the correct part number? When looking at mine the part number you listed appears to be the rear arm, not the one facing forward. That looks to be a built in part of the entire rail.

 

[DaveO]

Was that the correct part number? When looking at mine the part number you listed appears to be the rear arm, not the one facing forward. That looks to be a built in part of the entire rail.

It was the correct part number for me and the pics that i posted and pics from prev posters. The part you have circled in your diagram looks like a different part. It doesnt look like the part i replaced.

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