Busted zipper, my fault

I had the zipper on my back window stick so I snatched it. The leading edge of the top side zipper tore away. From owner experience, is this fixable or do I use it as a perfect reason to drop the money on a new top? I have been glancing at the various aftermarkets and wonder if I should start looking more seriously.

You could probably pay someone to fix it, but I see it as a great time to upgrade. Replacing my old, worn out soft top was one of the best things I could have done to my Jeep :thumb:

If it's a factory top, contact Bestop just to see what they say. They have awesome customer service.

Taking BananaJeep's advice, I went and checked with a local who does upholstery. All I can say is wow, this guy better use gold thread. I am leaning towards the Trektop NX so I may just have to give Bestop a yell and see where it leads. Now my wife may have to wait another couple weeks for her lift and tires. If she gets too upset, please make sure she gets a fair price for my Jeep.

I have a really comfortable couch you can sleep on if need be.

BananaJeep said:

I have a really comfortable couch you can sleep on if need be.

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Thanks but it may be more permanent than a couch. She "had" full intention of ordering a lift and some 35s this week. Well, she may still place the order but that won't relieve any of my suffering. :sigh:

I have a guest bedroom too, but I think it's haunted. Good luck!

I think mine just ripped in the same place. Is there still enough material attached to the zipper for you to work with? The rest of my top is still in good shape so I may try to sow mine back together once I come up with a plan


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JeepinLife said:

I think mine just ripped in the same place. Is there still enough material attached to the zipper for you to work with? The rest of my top is still in good shape so I may try to sow mine back together once I come up with a plan

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Sadly, the way mine came apart will prevent any form of easy repair. I spoke with a second person who works with canvas and such who also wanted the price of a replacement top to fix it. Both stated that due to the exact nature of the rip, the whole zipper would have to be replaced. On close inspection, it looks like the zipper pull was cutting into the material where the zipper attaches to the top. The whole section is frayed and leaves zero solid material to work with. In the words of the second guy who looked at it, "I can fix this but you would probably save money and have a better fitting top if you replaced it".

So, with that said, the Bestop Trektop NX will be picked up on Saturday. Now to dodge these afternoon rain storms.

Interesting turn of events. The top was replaced under warranty. Yay! Sadly, they screwed it up and have to do it all over again. The cloth was not properly aligned on the header and is about 1/2 an inch to far to passenger. The center frame rod is about an inch to far back and the rear rod is about 2 inches to far back. These few things are causing the back window to ride very high (top edge is about where the seam normally sits), the upper front edges of the side windows are not tight enough to hold, multiple stretched or saggy spots, the sun-rider bars do not lock on the pins properly and the fold points were not straight. It looks like the person who put it on was rather disgruntled and said screw it. After speaking with the service manager, they will be redoing/replacing it.

During this process, the tech did notice that my driver seat was rocking back and forth. He found out some of the linkage for the pump this was loose and took care of that. I honestly never noticed it but can definitely feel a difference now.

All in all, I am happy that I will have a factory top but will still be purchasing a Trektop NX a little later. My wife is very happy that her lift is not being delayed.

Good update.

Happy wife, happy life.

Current top situation updates and advice for any who are getting a replacement top from Jeep.

Since the original replacement/screw up was installed, I have been back to the dealer twice. The first return was a good deal of adjusting and measuring which ended in the ordering of a new top. They replaced that the day before yesterday and it turned out the exact same way. VERY tight fit, pulled up on the front edge of the header, back window stretched, sunrider would not properly fold down and lock. Yesterday they tried a third top to no avail.

Knowing quite a few folks at the local dealer, including owner, I was allowed to go in the back to watch and assist. Parking a brand new 2016 next to mine, tops and frames were removed, measured and compared. Phone calls were made and such. It was determined that the recent tops being shipped are cut too short to properly fit on the JK. I am unsure of the JKU. From what the service manager told me, it seems there was an issue with tops stretching and becoming loose inside of a year. (Mine was coming loose and flapping at about 8 months.) He stated that due to this, they have changed manufacturers and the tolerances were reduced too far, causing a shorter than required top.

Not having witnessed the phone conversations, I can only take his word on the cause. I can tell you that 3 brand new soft tops did not fit. Jeep is working on a solution for me but there is no time frame when it will be completed. If you need a top replaced under warranty and the dealer needs to order one, you may encounter the same issues. I will be purchasing a Trektop NX or the Smittybilt Combo Top Friday. Yeah, Smittybilt... I like the window storage built into the roof for easy access on trails.