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Premium Soft top rattle above passenger

26K views 96 replies 42 participants last post by  jvandy50 
#1 ·
Premium soft top rattle!

I have a 2013 with 1200 miles on it and have developed a rattle in the front passenger side bow of my premium soft top. It is really bad on the interstate. Went to the dealer today and the service tech told me if rattles bothered me I shouldn't have bought a soft top. Anyone have any ideas of how to adjust or tighten this?
 
#2 ·
Wow, I have a 2013 JKR on order with the premium soft top & I hope that's not the kind of customer service I can expect from my Jeep dealership. I'm sure someone with knowledge on this will chime in but I wouldn't have left the dealership until they fixed it.
If it didn't rattle when you 1st bought I would think it shouldn't rattle now. I know the JK with the premium top that I test drove didn't rattle at all & was surprisingly quiet at 70+ mph.
 
#3 ·
Crap customer service. Call Chrysler and give them your experience. And/or go to another dealer that competes with your dealer and tell them your story as a way to trash your dealer. Bet they will bend over to take care of the defect.
 
#5 ·
It shouldn't have any rattles-presuming you mean rattling of metal bits as opposed to flapping noise of the top. Even with the new top, at highway speeds you can get some fluttering of the top. Absolutely waaaay less than I ever had on the old TJ but it occasionally creeps in.

If this is what you are experiencing, you should try pressurizing the cabin by turning on the heat blower, making sure that the recirculation is off. Should fill right up!

If you are talking metal rattles, maybe the sun rider clips are not seated or something. Are you able to pinpoint where it is coming from-front/back/etc.?
 
#6 ·
It's definitely metal to metal. I drove a 1999 tj with factory soft top for several years, I know flapping noise lol. It's coming from the passenger side front bow area. I can take my hand and move it to reproduce the sound. It just feels kind of loose to me at that joint, as compared to the driver side.
 
#11 ·
Just back from a 150 mile trip in my Jkur with the premium top, it was VERY windy today, no noises or flapping, unless you count when the 18 wheelers passed me going the other direction on the 2 lane...wow! Hope they get you fixed soon...
 
#12 ·
Just got a 2013 this past weekend. Left the dealership, no noise at all on the freeway. Was very impressed with the soft top. 2 days later however and I have a similar noise on the passenger side. It looks like it is where the sunrider would fold. That joint is bouncing against the track. Best way I can describe it. Going to take the top down tonight and see if I can pin point it.
 
#14 ·
Sorry I didn't update my solution. It turned out to be a loose rivet at the front passenger bow. Jeep has a factory repair kit, sorry I don't have the part number. The dealer basically drilled out all the rivets on the frame and replaced them with nuts and bolts. Problem solved... For what it's worth the dealership I purchased the jeep from was clueless. Went to another dealership and they diagnosed it without even a test drive, said it was very common problem.
 
#15 ·
Any chance you could post up a copy of the receipt from the dealership so I can show it to mine? It should have a part number on it as well. Thanks.
 
#17 ·
I recently developed an annoying rattle on my passenger side of my soft top. Only at hyw speeds and can be stopped by pushing up on crossbar. I assume its the nader type pin that goes into the hook that needs to be release to put top all the way down.
Is there an adjustment I need to make? I was thinking a couple wraps of tape might quite it, but woul rather do it right if I can.
Any help would e appreciated as its kinda hard to experiment with it since I need the top on and get on hwy. I like neither :)
 
#18 ·
ugh, you are speaking my language, i feel like i've had a lot of soft top issues so im sensitive to the rattle.

Do you have the back window zipped in? when i drive with that down on the highway, as you can imagine, it allows air to pool in the back and whip around the cockpit. With that open, the whipping around of the softtop almost completely ceases. maybe try that?
 
#19 ·
It only happens, or I should say I can only hear it, when everything is buttoned up...
I just went and really looked over it after doing some searches and everything looks the same with the sun rider clips on both sides. I don't see any real adjustments, however I did tighten the door surrponds and they were def looser on my rattlin side. Hope that fixes it...
The top has always to be pulled ever so slightly to the passenger side to make sure it closes correctly, so maybe that has something to do with it?
 
#21 ·
OP: I have the same rattle on my premium top, on same passenger side, at or close to highway speeds and only when everything is closed up. I can see where it is happening but not why.

I had a quick look, and found nothing different than from drivers side.

:popcorn:
Gonna follow

dp
 
#30 ·
If pushing up on the crossbar stops it check your rivets. Open the top, hold crossbow near the joint and see if you have movement. According to my service guy these joints should be very tight with no movement what so ever. Mine drove me crazy until the dealer drilled out all the rivets and replaced them with bolts. Now it doesn't make a sound.
 
#29 ·
I don't have a fix but subscribing in case there is one. My 2013 has the same rattle as does a friend of mine with a 2013.
 
#31 ·
I had some squeaking/rattling noise with my 2013 JKU premium softtop during winter, but since I have been taking top up and down in warmer weather it seems to have disappeared. I actually forgot all about it until I saw this thread.
 
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