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still in search of our first JK, is this normal for a hard top roof?

2K views 18 replies 17 participants last post by  lono100 
#1 ·
hi all, well my gf and i are still in search of our first wrangler. we were set on getting a 4 door, but then got interested in looking at some 2 doors as well and while we were doing that, the 4 door we wanted got snatched out from under us, so we are back to square one.

any way, it rained hard here where we live and so i thought it would be a perfect time to look at more jeeps. we found one that looked really nice to us on paper and in person, but i noticed that once i opened the driver side door, rain water that had accumulated on the roof (hard top) dripped right into the carpeted area of the floor. the drip was channeled by the seem on the top of the hard top that is above where the sun visors sit.

my question is if this is normal for a 07 and up hard top on a wrangler to drip into the vehicle this way!? it didnt just hit the door jam, it leaked right onto the carpeted floor in front of the seat. i looked at the top and where the water was chaneling and it looked normal. is this just a design flaw in these wrangler hard tops or was this roof bad? any help with this would be greatly appreciated.
 
#3 ·
Just to clarify- was it actually leaking when the doors were closed, or was it just when you opened the door? I haven't observed this issue but to be honest I have only had my jeep out in the rain with the hard top on a few times. If it's just water running in with the door open I wouldn't worry about it too much. It will get much wetter than that the fist time you are out with the top off and an unexpected rain storm hits ;).

...but if it was leaking with the door closed, then yes that is a problem. I don't think this is a common problem for hard tops but it does happen. If it is under warranty it should be covered.
 
#4 ·
He said that the water came in when he opened the door. This is unfortunately "normal", at least for a soft top. The key is to slip in very quickly, or let an unsuspecting passenger get in first causing all the water to run his/her way! If the rain water is cold, it will automatically catch you right on the back of your neck.
 
#7 ·
Rain pouring off the top (whether soft or hard) through the open door is normal. Parking on an incline or with your wheels in the curb helps. Leaking above the doors when the door is closed also seems to be common, but that should't be happening. On mine, that's usually from accidentally folding over the seals when installing the panels, but it could also be damaged seals in that case.
 
#8 ·
Yep, "it's a feature"
 
#9 ·
Every vehicle I've ever owned got the floor mats wet if I opened the door while it was raining. I'm just saying..... But, I bet a little dab of black silicone at the end of the channel at the front edge of hard top may keep it from running forward and into the cab. Doesn't rain much here so I haven't looked into this yet.
 
#12 ·
Normal. Price you pay for a removable top but the compromise is that when it isn't raining you can take it off.
 
#13 ·
desertgoose said:
Every vehicle I've ever owned got the floor mats wet if I opened the door while it was raining. I'm just saying..... But, I bet a little dab of black silicone at the end of the channel at the front edge of hard top may keep it from running forward and into the cab. Doesn't rain much here so I haven't looked into this yet.
I was going to say the same thing. I don't think it's happened with my soft top, then again, it really hasn't rained much.
 
#14 ·
here in the sunny-wetness of western Orygun, that run-off from the open-doored hard top is a 'normal' event. I learned to park on my drive taking advantage of the slight cant so the water flows away from the driver door.

Given the other features of the hard top, there is no readily evident remedy for such that I could figure out, other than parking such that the driver's front-door side is a bit more uphill so the run-off goes elsewhere.

Welcome to Jeep country.
 
#19 ·
thanks for all the info everyone, this forum is great. this makes me feel confident in buying this jeep now, im hoping thought that we find one that we like better because the guy at this dealership is a complete jerk. ill post pics as soon as we officially join the jeep family!
 
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