What did you do to your TJ today?

jazngab said:
How do you like the quality of the twill? Worth the extra $$$?
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I can say, having had my Bestop twill top for a few years now, it’s worth the extra money. I love it! It doesn’t seem to have faded any, all of the zippers work, it’s quiet and holds the heat in in the winter and keeps cool in the summer (although I’m sure the insulation from the sound deadening material and the BedRug help with that), and it just looks great all around. It’s actually black on the inside, not grey like other tops are. I have the MasterTop twill uppers for when I run my half doors, and they match pretty much perfectly. Also, no annoying branding on the rear window!

My only gripe, which I have learned to live with, is that the rear driver’s side window isn’t very taut. I actually wrote Bestop about it and they sent me a replacement, bur I had the same problem with the replacement. I have the sunrider hardware, but I don’t think that I put the adjustable brackets on the roll bars when I initially installed the first soft top, so that could account for the slack in the window. But it’s not that noticeable, and eventually I’ll buy the correct brackets. On a related note, Bestop’s customer service is very responsive!
 
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HBomber8 said:
I can say, having had my Bestop twill top for a few years now, it’s worth the extra money. I love it! It doesn’t seem to have faded any, all of the zippers work, it’s quiet and holds the heat in in the winter and keeps cool in the summer (although I’m sure the insulation from the sound deadening material and the BedRug help with that), and it just looks great all around. It’s actually black on the inside, not grey like other tops are. I have the MasterTop twill uppers for when I run my half doors, and they match pretty much perfectly. Also, no annoying branding on the rear window!

My only gripe, which I have learned to live with, is that the rear driver’s side window isn’t very taut. I actually wrote Bestop about it and they sent me a replacement, bur I had the same problem with the replacement. I have the sunrider hardware, but I don’t think that I put the adjustable brackets on the roll bars when I initially installed the first soft top, so that could account for the slack in the window. But it’s not that noticeable, and eventually I’ll buy the correct brackets. On a related note, Bestop’s customer service is very responsive!
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I’ll second that on the customer service. Days after placing my order they still got it out the door despite being impacted by the Boulder wildfires.
 
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installed the double din bezel for my cheap Chinese CarPlay stereo. Briefly tried to go with the 03-06 version but it’s a no go as stated elsewhere. The fit is good, but not OEM-quality. Like, why did they remove the middle set of standoffs/clips? And why did the upper tray have to be a separate piece? What’s square root of a million? Nobody will ever know.

For $40 I’m super happy with the radio. I may buy 9 more and treat them as disposable, rather than spending $400 on a deck that will be equally susceptible to rain. I expect a $40 unit to die at some point, but what is the MTTF? I bet it’s long enough to make me remain happy with my purchase.

27D58397-2A88-470E-A30F-F655AFCF19D6.jpeg
 
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hear said:
installed the double din bezel for my cheap Chinese CarPlay stereo. Briefly tried to go with the 03-06 version but it’s a no go as stated elsewhere. The fit is good, but not OEM-quality. Like, why did they remove the middle set of standoffs/clips? And why did the upper tray have to be a separate piece? What’s square root of a million? Nobody will ever know.

For $40 I’m super happy with the radio. I may buy 9 more and treat them as disposable, rather than spending $400 on a deck that will be equally susceptible to rain. I expect a $40 unit to die at some point, but what is the MTTF? I bet it’s long enough to make me remain happy with my purchase.

View attachment 304796
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That's odd - my '06 version has the middle clips, and fits/looks like OEM. My upper tray is separate too - but I have one of those add-a-tray things that fits on top anyway.
 
When I bought this Jeep almost 2 years ago, it had the famous high idle problem that was caused by excessive airflow (AKA "Vacuum leak") through the CCV system because the dealer put the wrong rear elbow on the valve cover.
Yesterday, the problem came back. WTF? My first thought was the rubber coupling between the CCV pipe and the intake manifold - I had taped it up as it was cracked. Nope, looked fine. Turns out my hand throttle "suddenly" wasn't letting the throttle return all the way home consistently. I'm speculating that it was a dimensional change caused by the very cold weather (for Florida) we've been having the last couple of days. In any event, a 1/8" adjustment fixed the problem.

But I really need to order a new rubber dingus to replace the hard one...
 
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Towed mine to a shop. Apparently the 6 gallon gas can I emptied into the gas tank had a gallon or so of water in it. Went from
running perfect to running like crap in about a minute.
I'd fix it myself, but I'm living/working in a Forest Service campground and I already got crap from the ranger when he caught me installing my flat front fenders. Can't imagine the fit he'd throw if he caught me with the gas tank on the ground.

Plus side is, the shop I found seems to have plenty of Jeep experience, judging by the various projects scattered around the yard. If he does a good job on this, I might let him change the clutch.
 
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DougyintheBushies said:
Turn signal in on the fender. A little led light.

View attachment 304714
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OK. ‘Hard to see in the original pic, but that’s really cool. I’ve seen guys cut holes in the grill below the headlights for the turn indicator lights like most of the other Jeep models. That would be a nice retro luck, but I don’t think I would ever want to go there. I like yours better.
 
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Zorba said:
That's odd - my '06 version has the middle clips, and fits/looks like OEM. My upper tray is separate too - but I have one of those add-a-tray things that fits on top anyway.
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I had both Metra versions side by side, the 03-06 has the middle clips, the 97-02 version does not. I'm completely baffled as to WHY they aren't there, however. Regardless of the model year differences, I get that it takes some modifications to make it fit a double din but the mount points don't change as part of the install. It's also a bit of a challenge to fit it over the upper duct work, or else it's challenging to get the lower standoffs to clip in. Ultimately it's exactly what the reviews say: it's an ok fit, but not amazing.
 
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hear said:
I had both Metra versions side by side, the 03-06 has the middle clips, the 97-02 version does not. I'm completely baffled as to WHY they aren't there, however. Regardless of the model year differences, I get that it takes some modifications to make it fit a double din but the mount points don't change as part of the install. It's also a bit of a challenge to fit it over the upper duct work, or else it's challenging to get the lower standoffs to clip in. Ultimately it's exactly what the reviews say: it's an ok fit, but not amazing.
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Ain't that just special. The 03/06 fit and looks perfect - at least in my '06. The fact the 97/02 doesn't is baffling indeed!
 
Zorba said:
Ain't that just special. The 03/06 fit and looks perfect - at least in my '06. The fact the 97/02 doesn't is baffling indeed!
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There are a few other subtle differences as well. I think you can trim some of the standoffs to make the later one work on an older jeep, but it wasn’t worth the risk.

03-06
6C602C55-B437-4D1B-87A8-9C8589AE0AFC.jpeg


97-02
F2C74E4C-4F39-42FA-AE70-995D53E12D71.jpeg
 
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