Sky-One-Touch ripped / punctured, any help on what went wrong?

[JJSix]

Hey everyone, so after 42k miles and just shy of 2 years, my SOT has broken in a kinda weird way. When putting it up today, the top pushed 2 thing pieces of metal through the sailcloth fabric when I was trying to close it. Not 100% sure what the metal went to as its tough to see what's going on under the top all the time. The holes, which are about 3/4" by 1mm are about 1 1/2' from the front when the roof is close (which it is now, I had to get it closed as its very much rainy here today). Fixing the holes isn't a huge issue, Aquaseal or Tenacious Tape should fix it easily, but I'm not sure what'll happen if I open/close the roof again. Anyone else had this issue or know what might be my problem?

Update: So found out the holes were caused by the guides that allow it "accordion" as it slides backwards. Apparently, when mine went back, instead rising up it dropped down and when it got to the back, it ran out of room and instead the front pivoted up against the fabric. So that sucks. No idea what is causing it to drop down still so unsure how to fix it.

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[aldo98229]

Sounds like something the warranty ought to cover if the top itself created the perforation.

 

[JJSix]

Sounds like something the warranty ought to cover if the top itself created the perforation.

It would but I'm at 42k miles, so doubt I'll get luck there

 

[RealMenDIY]

Hey everyone, so after 42k miles and just shy of 2 years, my SOT has broken in a kinda weird way. When putting it up today, the top pushed 2 thing pieces of metal through the sailcloth fabric when I was trying to close it. Not 100% sure what the metal went to as its tough to see what's going on under the top all the time. The holes, which are about 3/4" by 1mm are about 1 1/2' from the front when the roof is close (which it is now, I had to get it closed as its very much rainy here today). Fixing the holes isn't a huge issue, Aquaseal or Tenacious Tape should fix it easily, but I'm not sure what'll happen if I open/close the roof again. Anyone else had this issue or know what might be my problem?

Update: So found out the holes were caused by the guides that allow it "accordion" as it slides backwards. Apparently, when mine went back, instead rising up it dropped down and when it got to the back, it ran out of room and instead the front pivoted up against the fabric. So that sucks. No idea what is causing it to drop down still so unsure how to fix it.

This is along the lines of what I pictured might happen when I was contemplating the SOT which is why I went hardtop. Sucks man, good luck getting it repaired and not draining the bank account.

Not that it will be the prettiest repair and I don't know much about the fabric of the SOT but would an iron-on clothing patch work? I imagine that if applied correctly the adhesive on the patch would provide enough water-proofness to keep that hole from leaking and the patch stays fairly flexible once applied. Plus the patch will probably kinda sorta match the fabric pattern; you may be able to find a gray one that gets close to the same color.

 

[JJSix]

This is along the lines of what I pictured might happen when I was contemplating the SOT which is why I went hardtop. Sucks man, good luck getting it repaired and not draining the bank account.

Not that it will be the prettiest repair and I don't know much about the fabric of the SOT but would an iron-on clothing patch work? I imagine that if applied correctly the adhesive on the patch would provide enough water-proofness to keep that hole from leaking and the patch stays fairly flexible once applied. Plus the patch will probably kinda sorta match the fabric pattern; you may be able to find a gray one that gets close to the same color.

That would probably work as well, though I'm hoping the Aquaseal is the best option. Its the same thing you can use on dry-suits to seal punctures so its flexible and clear, we'll see as I just ordered from amazon.

This is the first issue, or even hearing about this issue, but if I can't figure out why it did it, going to really not be fun not being able to put the roof down.

 

[HelmsJeep]

Maybe a tent patch would work.

 

[JJSix]

Update: So was searching the rest of the forums and ID'd the issues as the pop rivet that allowed the metal bar to escape and not accordion correctly. Unlike the other poster, the tension strap held fine so when it was closed, it closed tightly so probably why I never noticed an issue before. I did the same fix they did, popped out the rivet and drove a #8 screw through the hole and tightened down a nut to keep the metal bar and tension strap in place. Opens and closes like normal now so not a failed roof, just a pain that I have to patch the sailcloth.

If anyone else has a SOT, I would highly recommend keeping any eye on those rivets, its clearly a minimally effective solution for a fairly vital part.

 

[df007]

Update: So was searching the rest of the forums and ID'd the issues as the pop rivet that allowed the metal bar to escape and not accordion correctly. Unlike the other poster, the tension strap held fine so when it was closed, it closed tightly so probably why I never noticed an issue before. I did the same fix they did, popped out the rivet and drove a #8 screw through the hole and tightened down a nut to keep the metal bar and tension strap in place. Opens and closes like normal now so not a failed roof, just a pain that I have to patch the sailcloth.

If anyone else has a SOT, I would highly recommend keeping any eye on those rivets, its clearly a minimally effective solution for a fairly vital part.

Thanks for the update and fix. Would you mind pointing out the rivet or linking the post you found?

 

[JJSix]

Thanks for the update and fix. Would you mind pointing out the rivet or linking the post you found?

Sure, here is the post that I found that helped me ID my own issues. Here are also the pics of where I put in the machine screw and nut to replace the failed rivet. For reference, its a M8 screw at 1 inch in length.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/broken-sky-one-touch.39564/

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