soft top

[tukinc]

Heya...

Been having a b**ch of a time with the rear window on the soft top.  It has ALWAYS been tough to zip and unzip, but now the zipper is stuck, and starting to split open.

Tried zipper lube... washed it, etc... but to no avail.  Any advice on this?  Is there a place that can fix it (cheap) before I break the whole zipper by forcing it too hard.  

Running with it half on / half off now, and want to be able to either take it off, or put it back on... neither of which I can get done myself.... :cry:

Thanks all

[apex]

yes... I have a similar problem. Only I reefed on mine too hard and it finnaly busted the zipper in half. I had to tear my back window out and i haven't had it in two month. The only thing I could suggest would be to send it into a professional and have the zipper replaced or do what I am doing... put the hard top on and forget about the soft top until next season. I am not convinced that a replacement rear window will solve the problem. I feel the problem is inherent with the design and cheap construction.

I put the windows on a Rubi last night. The darn thing went on like nothing. Really easy with no forcing or anything. Damn you Rubi owners! yer making me wanna switch!

[Dragonmaster]

the newer tops have a larger zipper (bigger teeth and actual zipper part) makes the on and off action much smoother.

You can get any of the upholsterers to replace it, but my brothers upper soft window on his YJ cost $90 to get it replaced, and I shopped around.

[Coolhand Luke]

Had a simmilar problem, did you know if you take the moving part of the zipper to the end of the line there is a little clip that you can take off, it has two sets of teeth that sink into the canvas so be careful and patient so you don't break it, cause I don't know where do get those. You should be able to slide the slider right off. Sometimes these get worn out. So off I went downtown Canmore to the sewing shop, full of grandmother types. I had the old zip. part and she started to go through bins off zipper thingys(the moving parts) I said it was off a jeep window, she went directly to another bin new exactely what I needed, went outside tested it, cheapest repair I have ever did on a vehicle, 25 cents. Has worked great ever since. Try this before you go with big expense.

[CanaMatt]

If the teeth are busted off, then its F&#$ed. Like on my leather jacket. Can't you get a friend to sew new zipper on the heavy duty canvas. Probably need similar heavy duty thread or something.  Jeepstuff seems abit expensive for their stuff.

[tukinc]

Thanks for the advice.

The teeth are not broken off (because I stopped fighting it)... and the back window is half on, and half off.  I cant get it closed, nor can I get it open... so its hanging there, folded in half... rear visibility is a little obstructed but ok.

That being said, I need to get it fixed ASAP.  If... WHEN it rains the back seat will get wet, and the girlfriend will start to b***ch... so no more putting it off.

Any suggestions on where to take it?

I dont know anybody that can sew.  Dont want to buy a new top, or new window.  Just want to fix a problem that should NOT be happeing to a 2 year old Jeep... :x

thanks all

[Coolhand Luke]

After I gave my reply last time I realized that you said it was stuck and couldn't move it. So I guess my advice won't work. Can you just break the F***er off then try and put a new one on. I know that when those things go on coats, my jeep, pants, whichever, people tend to think they need a new zipper, when in fact it is just the little slider. If it was me I would break it off anyway I could, hacksaw, bolt cutters, wire snips. If you are going to replace it eventually I would try and break it off first. Good Luck, and let us know what happened.