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Rear window gaps? Am I missing a bracket?

4K views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  jmonty21 
#1 ·
I bought my black beauty 05 Wrangler X in June. I took the hardtop off and hung it from the ceiling. I put the soft top on, including the retaining bar and corners. I just put the hard top on for the winter. I removed the corners because the hardtop rear window didn't seem to want to shut right, with gaps all the way down both sides. But now I have these gaps where the corner brackets were (pics below). I cannot figure out what should fill the gap.

I'm a newbie Jeeper. I don't know what to do next.
 
#6 ·
From what I can see in your pictures the corner brackets are the softop brackets for the rear window bar. Those should always stay on. Hard or soft top.
 
#7 ·
It depends on the style of brackets. Bestop has ones that need to come off.

Is the back window closing all the way? The flap seal thing along the bottom of the window could be curling up/out. Mine is doing that slightly in the corners. You can get the runner along the bottom of the window with a new seal.
 
#9 ·
I took my soft top brackets off. They were getting in the way.

The non-latching design of the hardtop's rear window seems like an oversight, but it's probably the most practical configuration for ease of use. However, it does lead to the gap problem.

Two solutions to the rear window gap problems I've seen are:

1. Put extra foam or rubber weatherstripping to fill in the gap, either glued or screwed on.

2. Put some foam or rubber weatherstripping on the back of the third brake light so that it presses down on the window when the back door is closed. Of course, you don't want so much pressure that the window is endangered, but enough to keep the window down in a more positive way.
 
#13 ·
I agree, it'd be nice if they made the brackets the same. The Supertop NX I got I figured would be good to leave them on, but they have stupid lil tabs on them that prevent the lower trim bar on the window from sliding in :( I even contacted Bestop about it and they said I had to take them off :(
 

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#14 ·
I had the same problem and used some adhesive foam tape I purchased at the auto parts store and solved the problem. The gap was gone and a much quieter ride. The foam was manufactured for "camper tops" and is about 1 3/4 inches wide and fairly thick. It's a little more dense (almost a like a rubber cushion) than some foam tapes I have seen.
 
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