JL Wrangler Hard Top Blemish - What Would You Do?

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Well, it only took 5 months but I just got a call from my dealership to let me know that our replacement hard top is finally in! The weird thing is, it's just the top - NO GLASS. Needless to say, we'll be dropping off our JL tomorrow to have the glass in our existing hard top swapped into the new top. Not too worried about the rear hatch glass but I am a bit concerned about the side windows. Oh well, hope all goes well. :crazyeyes:
 

Cozdude

Guy with a Red 2-Door
Well, it only took 5 months but I just got a call from my dealership to let me know that our replacement hard top is finally in! The weird thing is, it's just the top - NO GLASS. Needless to say, we'll be dropping off our JL tomorrow to have the glass in our existing hard top swapped into the new top. Not too worried about the rear hatch glass but I am a bit concerned about the side windows. Oh well, hope all goes well. :crazyeyes:

That’s really weird. Shouldn’t be to hard for them to do tho, it will be just like putting in a new windshield
 

JTCO

Meme King
Glad to hear it finally came in. Weird that top is separate. But then again, I assume they built them in a way that if any of the rear glass were to ever break, it could be replaced separately rather than having to get a whole top.
 

13_gecko_rubi

New member
Well, it only took 5 months but I just got a call from my dealership to let me know that our replacement hard top is finally in! The weird thing is, it's just the top - NO GLASS. Needless to say, we'll be dropping off our JL tomorrow to have the glass in our existing hard top swapped into the new top. Not too worried about the rear hatch glass but I am a bit concerned about the side windows. Oh well, hope all goes well. :crazyeyes:
That's quicker than I'd have thought honestly :)

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LauraRose

New member
Well, it only took 5 months but I just got a call from my dealership to let me know that our replacement hard top is finally in! The weird thing is, it's just the top - NO GLASS. Needless to say, we'll be dropping off our JL tomorrow to have the glass in our existing hard top swapped into the new top. Not too worried about the rear hatch glass but I am a bit concerned about the side windows. Oh well, hope all goes well. :crazyeyes:
Glad your dealership took care of you...but 5 months?! I'm curious how long a customer would have to wait if they ordered a new hardtop (not a replacement). Oh well, like I said, at least they took care of it.

Laura Rose from PA
 

doubletapdaddy

Caught the Bug
We were at Denver Jeep dealership about a month ago just driving around and looking at JLs. When we drove around the back of the building to see if any we're waiting for prep, we saw three or four JLU hardtops sans glass that appeared to have been discarded.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
That's quicker than I'd have thought honestly :)

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:cheesy: In all honesty, me too. :crazyeyes:

Good to hear it's in!

Yeah, it's in but the glass guy couldn't come in yesterday so I'll be heading in to the dealership this morning. Hope all goes well.

Glad your dealership took care of you...but 5 months?! I'm curious how long a customer would have to wait if they ordered a new hardtop (not a replacement). Oh well, like I said, at least they took care of it.

Laura Rose from PA

Right now, I think you'd have to wait at least as long.

We were at Denver Jeep dealership about a month ago just driving around and looking at JLs. When we drove around the back of the building to see if any we're waiting for prep, we saw three or four JLU hardtops sans glass that appeared to have been discarded.

Interesting. I have a feeling there was a lot of rushing around on those early days of the JL. :crazyeyes:
 

doubletapdaddy

Caught the Bug
I wish I can get a replacement too...View attachment 3374

Before sinking money into a new top, you really should try repairing it. I took out a good chunk of my JK top 2 years ago when I backed into a tree. I'm pretty mechanically inclined, but not a body man by any definition of the term. The JK top is not fiberglass. Assuming the JL top is the same material, this is what you need to repair it. I grabbed it from Amazon.

20180713_121451.jpg
 

doubletapdaddy

Caught the Bug
I had wiped out the corner that the arrows refer to. With the kit above I was able to fill and mold the corner back into shape. After lots of sanding, I used textured faux stone spray paint to reapply the texture, followed by Mopar Factory Wrangler top paint. Honestly cannot tell it ever happened. Don't ask why I didn't take before pictures.:doh:

20180713_121404.jpg
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I had wiped out the corner that the arrows refer to. With the kit above I was able to fill and mold the corner back into shape. After lots of sanding, I used textured faux stone spray paint to reapply the texture, followed by Mopar Factory Wrangler top paint. Honestly cannot tell it ever happened. Don't ask why I didn't take before pictures.:doh:

:eek: Whoa!! Talk about super clean repair job. Good work :thumb:
 

JTCO

Meme King
I had wiped out the corner that the arrows refer to. With the kit above I was able to fill and mold the corner back into shape. After lots of sanding, I used textured faux stone spray paint to reapply the texture, followed by Mopar Factory Wrangler top paint. Honestly cannot tell it ever happened. Don't ask why I didn't take before pictures.:doh:

Wow. That came out amazing.
 

doubletapdaddy

Caught the Bug
I was totally bummed when I hit that tree. I'll never forget the crunch. LOL. I was ready to just buy a new roof, but promptly Googled the repair process once I saw the replacement cost. I was totally shocked at how well it came out. I've never really done anything like it, but it just felt like doing drywall. I put on a layer and sanded to shape, put on a layer and sanded to shape, etc. I was so pissed that I backed into the tree, that I was bound and determined to fix it. The hardest part really was matching the factory texture. The black texture paint for Wrangler tops doesn't really have (sufficient) texture. The faux stone spray paint from the hardware store left texture that was too prominent and required light sanding prior to paint. Either way, it can be done but does require the appropriate product as pictured and lots of patience.
 

doubletapdaddy

Caught the Bug
I should say that after 2 years it has held up very well, no cracking or chipping as I had initially feared. Of course YMMV.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
As mentioned, we finally got word that JET Li's replacement hard top had finally come in and so this morning, we took him down to Carson City Jeep to take possession of it.

20180713184217-7261a433-me.jpg


20180713184215-0ef560eb-me.jpg


While it took 5 long months for our new hard top to come in, it only took about 5 hours to have our old one removed, the new one installed and have all the glass swapped out of the old and put into the new. Here's a few shots of what the new hard top looks like.
20180713183709-8bee9bfb-me.jpg


Of course, the yellow tape is just there to hold everything in place for at least 24 hours.
20180713183711-8089590b-me.jpg


No more blemish.
20180713183713-4086b09b-me.jpg


Kudos to Carson City Jeep for taking care of this for us. :thumb:
 

doubletapdaddy

Caught the Bug
Well, at least you didn't have to reapply your decals. Also, no more excuses... let's get that soft top going and see JET Li rock that Safari Top! :thumb:
 

13_gecko_rubi

New member
As mentioned, we finally got word that JET Li's replacement hard top had finally come in and so this morning, we took him down to Carson City Jeep to take possession of it.

20180713184217-7261a433-me.jpg


20180713184215-0ef560eb-me.jpg


While it took 5 long months for our new hard top to come in, it only took about 5 hours to have our old one removed, the new one installed and have all the glass swapped out of the old and put into the new. Here's a few shots of what the new hard top looks like.
20180713183709-8bee9bfb-me.jpg


Of course, the yellow tape is just there to hold everything in place for at least 24 hours.
20180713183711-8089590b-me.jpg


No more blemish.
20180713183713-4086b09b-me.jpg


Kudos to Carson City Jeep for taking care of this for us. :thumb:
Wasn't your top body color? Did u decide you wanted black or am I imagining things?

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