nositting
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- #1
back story: i and many others have had a soft top window blow out on the freeway while the roof was in the sunrider position.
i’m NOT an expert on the topic!
i’ve seen two main theories for how this happens
1. the channel at the top of the window widens and slips off the tube it’s supposed to slide onto. a suggested fix was somehow using a small copper or pvc coupler to help hold the channel and tube it slides around together. i believe you have to make a cut in a plastic piece of the soft top to do this fix so i wasn’t excited about it but could definitely see how it’d hold the channel on the tube very well. i think we should call this the JDJones fix.
2. the posterior aspect of the window (D pillar?) doesn’t fit correctly where it’s supposed to sometimes and i’ve seen at least two proposed solutions - Terpsmandan used a zip tie to hold the bottom of the D pillar to the base it’s supposed to attach to and another post (author?) mentioned using a cotter pin. both of these authors had success with this.
but i guess my question was WHY weren’t things fitting together correctly??? the bottom of the window has green tabs we’re all familiar with. i believe the 2018 might have black tabs. my green tabs fit easily where they were supposed to go at the front of the window but not towards the rear of the window. additionally, if i were to try and shove the D pillar into place so that i could attach the back window to it, the green tabs of the side windows would get chewed up. the happened at the same place on BOTH sides. this occurred at the seem where the side of the jeep met the back of the jeep so i looked up into the slot the green tab was supposed to fit into and sure enough there was some type of caulk type material where the two pieces of sheet metal met. i’ll try and attach a picture. i stuck a box cutter into the slot and in about a minute had cut a small amount away. windows fit perfect and clunked into place in the D pillar receiver at the back of the jeep (nositting fix?). now the back window is much easier to install and the D pillar is so much sturdier. it now takes a good whack to take off whereas previous it came out far too easy.
so how does this fix perform…. i have no idea. it’s been raining, lol. but i suspect well considering it’s based on Terpmandan’s (or others) theory that the D pillar is part of the culprit.
an interesting point i found when looking for the Terpmandan fix - his green tabs have a portion cut out of them that mine don’t. i’ll try and attach a screenshot of his green tab. either he cut this or jeep started doing this. if jeep started doing this then they discovered this “caulk problem” before i did (and didn’t say anything) and they cut the tab back in this section to fit around or compensate for the caulk. so why did his blow out despite having this green tab cut? maybe the half circle cut in the green tab isn’t deep enough? i don’t know
i know that was far too long a post. i’ll certainly check back after appropriate testing.
you can see in the pics below my mangled green tabs from being jammed up against the “caulk” or rubber material between the two pieces of sheet metal vs. Terpmandan’s cut tabs.
one last thought - maybe the stretched out C channel at the top of the window is from the D pillar not fitting correctly/securely thus exposing the window to more inward pressure on the window while driving thus pulling at the channel?
again, long post but interested in your thoughts.
i’m NOT an expert on the topic!
i’ve seen two main theories for how this happens
1. the channel at the top of the window widens and slips off the tube it’s supposed to slide onto. a suggested fix was somehow using a small copper or pvc coupler to help hold the channel and tube it slides around together. i believe you have to make a cut in a plastic piece of the soft top to do this fix so i wasn’t excited about it but could definitely see how it’d hold the channel on the tube very well. i think we should call this the JDJones fix.
2. the posterior aspect of the window (D pillar?) doesn’t fit correctly where it’s supposed to sometimes and i’ve seen at least two proposed solutions - Terpsmandan used a zip tie to hold the bottom of the D pillar to the base it’s supposed to attach to and another post (author?) mentioned using a cotter pin. both of these authors had success with this.
but i guess my question was WHY weren’t things fitting together correctly??? the bottom of the window has green tabs we’re all familiar with. i believe the 2018 might have black tabs. my green tabs fit easily where they were supposed to go at the front of the window but not towards the rear of the window. additionally, if i were to try and shove the D pillar into place so that i could attach the back window to it, the green tabs of the side windows would get chewed up. the happened at the same place on BOTH sides. this occurred at the seem where the side of the jeep met the back of the jeep so i looked up into the slot the green tab was supposed to fit into and sure enough there was some type of caulk type material where the two pieces of sheet metal met. i’ll try and attach a picture. i stuck a box cutter into the slot and in about a minute had cut a small amount away. windows fit perfect and clunked into place in the D pillar receiver at the back of the jeep (nositting fix?). now the back window is much easier to install and the D pillar is so much sturdier. it now takes a good whack to take off whereas previous it came out far too easy.
so how does this fix perform…. i have no idea. it’s been raining, lol. but i suspect well considering it’s based on Terpmandan’s (or others) theory that the D pillar is part of the culprit.
an interesting point i found when looking for the Terpmandan fix - his green tabs have a portion cut out of them that mine don’t. i’ll try and attach a screenshot of his green tab. either he cut this or jeep started doing this. if jeep started doing this then they discovered this “caulk problem” before i did (and didn’t say anything) and they cut the tab back in this section to fit around or compensate for the caulk. so why did his blow out despite having this green tab cut? maybe the half circle cut in the green tab isn’t deep enough? i don’t know
i know that was far too long a post. i’ll certainly check back after appropriate testing.
you can see in the pics below my mangled green tabs from being jammed up against the “caulk” or rubber material between the two pieces of sheet metal vs. Terpmandan’s cut tabs.
one last thought - maybe the stretched out C channel at the top of the window is from the D pillar not fitting correctly/securely thus exposing the window to more inward pressure on the window while driving thus pulling at the channel?
again, long post but interested in your thoughts.
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