Let me just start out by saying that had I had it to do all over I would absolutely get another BestTop roof for my Jeep Wrangler.
This is not a slam against their products. Actually the word on the street (No, I have no proof) was that Chrysler was getting the roofs for the Jeep Wrangler TJ during their entire run from 1996 to 2006 from BestTop.
Now a couple strange things happened with me.
My previous Wrangler, a 1997, got broken into in Philadelphia in front of my house. I told my insurance, and they shipped me a new roof. This was roughly 1998. I was able to get the old roof professionally repaired and I kept the new roof in my basement.
Eventually I sold the Wrangler when I got my current TJ, a 2002 Jeep Wrangler. I kept that roof in the basement. The new TJ had a stick shift and I vastly prefer a stick to an automatic. It's more engaging to drive.
But that roof rode with me to Florida. Here,it went into my shed.
So the other day, September 30, 2024. I was in Boca Raton, FL. It was a stunning day. 82F, light winds, sunny. Previously, a hurricane (Milton) had come through and we had a week of rains, some of which were heavy.
I had a Doctor's Appointment where I was yelled at for not following instructions. Don't Lift Anything More Than A Cellphone. *grumble*.
So of course I went out into the parking lot and started opening the windows on the Jeep. The seams catastrophically failed. I packed things up as best as I could and drove home with what was left of the roof down.
Getting the new roof put on the car would be easy, right?
No. Don't even. You have a 26 year old product sitting coiled up in a box that had been sitting in your shed and the basement before that. It even still smelled like the basement in Philadelphia that it lived in for 3 or 4 years.
So I got the box out and found the instructions. The thing that caught me was where they tell you to use a razor or knife to rip the seams out of the door window skins. The new skins would go in place with Velcro fasteners.
I put the entire roof on the car save those window skins and left the old ones in place. Having broken bones healing will slow you down and the car was technically in one piece.
I took a day off to recover, per Doctor's Orders, and came to it the next day.
Utility Knife in hand, I sliced the driver's door skin off the metal frame that holds it in place. The skin had to be stretched to remove it from the frame.
This is a 23 year old car. The idea that the vinyl door skin had that much tension left scared me.
I began the process of stretching the new skin in place.
The new door skins were a finger's length short from top to bottom and side to side.
Three inches. 8cm or so. Short.
Are. You. Kidding. Me?
I thought to myself get the heat gun and start to loosen up the vinyl to allow it to stretch over the frame.
Two hours later it was in place.
Two HOURS for the one piece.
The problem was that the frame had a bit at the leading edge that would not seat inside the door skin that was open like a pair of scissors in a V Shape. I eventually got it over that bit but was not happy with the way it fit.
I also had another skin to put on the car on the passenger side. That would wait for another day.
That other day came and I started. An hour after following the instructions to start at the rear lower corner and work counter clockwise stretching the vinyl into place, I got out the power tools.
First the Heat Gun. That made the vinyl stretch more and almost allowed me to put it in place. The skin hooked itself on that leading corner and refused to let it go. It got there almost immediately but after an hour of heat and stretching, I was cursing and frustrated.
Second the Dremel with the cutting wheel. I got it out and cut the ends of the points down so that there was nowhere for the window skin to hook onto. Then I sanded the metal down for this purpose. I even painted it black to match the rest.
Eventually after another hour, the next problem started.
Third it bent my spudger. Sure that sounds like something a kid would say but lets deconstruct that. I got the skin to stretch so that it was almost in place. Almost as in the Vinyl had only tore a little bit. The spudger is a metal tool that you use in installing a bicycle tire to a wheel. I have some in plastic and they were too fragile for the task. The one just bent as I was holding the vinyl skin over the frame for the door. Eventually I was able to use a second spudger to help stretch the skin over the frame with a lot of Bad Words said.
That blasted passenger window skin took two solid hours to install even after trimming the frame.
So the list of materials needed to install a "no problem" Jeep Wrangler TJ window skin were Knife, Two Spudgers, Heat Gun, and Dremel drill with Cutting Wheel.
Do not do this process if you are easily frustrated. The entire roof took 8 hours to install including allowing the plastic to relax in the sun, and threading it over frames.
I never would have thought that I would need a heat gun to install a window skin made out of vinyl that smells of a new beach ball (and my Philadelphia Basement) not to mention a Dremel and two Spudgers, but it did.
(Spudgers? I told you not to mention those!)
Or so the website said. I don't remember which website, of course.
The instructions also say do not attempt this if the Jeep and roof are below 72F (21C). The entire time I am cursing the process, I was thinking that if I had a walk in freezer or meat locker and tried this there because of the colder temperatures, the window would be able to stretched into shape with a heat gun and the metal frame would have shrunk due to the temps.
Yes, I had a LOT of time to think this through. 8 Hours from what I can tell.
Of course the standard internet warranty applies - do not attempt if you are unsure of your abilities, your tools, or your conditions. Ramblingmoose.com takes no responsibility for your inability to finish the process or any damage to your Jeep.
Sorry folks, had to say that!
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