If you have the time, that would be great. This info does not seem readily available on the maker's sites. Whenever you have the chance, thanks.
TJ upper door sliders?
- Thread starter Barley
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If you have the time, that would be great. This info does not seem readily available on the maker's sites. Whenever you have the chance, thanks.
I will also take off the soft tops when the weather is good. Really hot or cold weather, or rain, I leave them on and zipped up. I run the A/C when it is hot. I am scared of cracking the plastic when it is really cold.
I've never had any issues down to -20° with soft top windows or zippers...
OEM uppers? I am using Smitty, but is good to hear that I might not have to baby them so much..
Ok these aren't exact, but within an 1/8' or so...
The rear slider is doesn't offer as much open space as the front, by nature of the design. I'll attach pictures of both open to show you why the measurements are what they are..
Oh and yes that is a "custom" rear latch.... It was something done by the PO or more likely the one before him that DIY'd that fancy bugger!!!
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Wow, reddvltj, you put some real effort into gathering this info! The rear window looks to have an opening of a nominal 8 inches. That seems to be enough to deal with tolls and the drive thru. You did a really good job. Thanks for this, pictures and all.
I wanted to buy the Bestop sliders. Actually ordered them twice during covid a few years ago when they were on back order. I waited for many months on both orders and eventually canceled to use the money for something else. I will buy some eventually.
My take on the options:
Bull Dawg - only looks good with a hard top. I don't like how they look with a soft top. Someone else also mentioned they're more work to install and remove. I like the soft uppers (and bestop sliders) because they're easier to remove.
Bestop sliders - Only problem I see is that it might be tougher to get things in and out of them. Probably not a huge deal. Also if wheeling, you can't lean out the window like with the soft uppers. Though they're easy to remove.
Soft uppers - I do like them for the ease of removal. The thing I don't like about them is the zippers wear out and you have to replace them every few years. Think I'm on my third set in around 10 years. Currently my passenger window zipper is stuck and won't open without a lot of work. So when I want that window open, I just have to take out the upper and put it in the back. This is one of the reasons I want the sliders. I don't think they will wear out.
My take on the options:
Bull Dawg - only looks good with a hard top. I don't like how they look with a soft top. Someone else also mentioned they're more work to install and remove. I like the soft uppers (and bestop sliders) because they're easier to remove.
Bestop sliders - Only problem I see is that it might be tougher to get things in and out of them. Probably not a huge deal. Also if wheeling, you can't lean out the window like with the soft uppers. Though they're easy to remove.
Soft uppers - I do like them for the ease of removal. The thing I don't like about them is the zippers wear out and you have to replace them every few years. Think I'm on my third set in around 10 years. Currently my passenger window zipper is stuck and won't open without a lot of work. So when I want that window open, I just have to take out the upper and put it in the back. This is one of the reasons I want the sliders. I don't think they will wear out.
You're welcome, it wasn't any real effort... glad to help.
I took those measurements with the windows open..
The narrowest part of the rear window is about 9.5 with the window open because of how the corner of the glass sticks back,
Yeah, I double checked when I was taking the pictures... it's easy enough to slide the rear open and reach out without contorting in any way...
They are heavy. They are difficult to store and impossible if you want to stash in the back for some fresh air. The openings are tiny and difficult for drive up windows or even just hanging your arm out the window. They shake and shimmy.
How many times have you seen a set rolling down the road? They are not very popular for some reason?
Pros………hmmmmm?
How many times have you seen a set rolling down the road? They are not very popular for some reason?
Pros………hmmmmm?
(Speaking of the soft top material style)
They aren't all that heavy, they're no harder to store than the zip up factory uppers, no they're not the largest opening windows out there but drive up windows are not a problem. Haven't tried hanging my arm out the window. I haven't noticed any shake or shimmy and mine are not even close to new. They are however quieter than factory zip up windows. No flapping... they do offer a slightly higher amount of security (if you're running a hard top) over the zip up windows.
Real sliders are glass windows, so they're much heavier than zip up plastic windows. If drive up windows aren't an issue for you, you have the body frame of a small woman. No chance in Hell I can reach out of those windows without problems. I don't have tiny "girly man" arms though.
I’ve had the Bestop sliders for about a year now and love them. I like fresh air even in the winter. No problem for me with drive thru, and I don’t have girly arms. I found a set of Bulldawgs fairly cheap but didn’t like the way they looked as stated previously. To me this is the best option if you have half doors which was a must for me because I like the classic look. I previously had a Sahara with full doors and the lines just don’t look as good with soft top IMHO. They are certainly heavier than the zip windows but will store just as easily in my window bag. Obviously I can’t just pull them out and throw them in the back but I didn’t do that with my zip windows either.
Yes they are glass, and aluminum, so of course they are heavier. I'll go out and weigh both styles this afternoon...
As for my body frame, I can assure you, I most definitely do not have the body frame of a small woman, or a small man for that matter.
5'10", 54" chest, 20" neck, and 17" biceps, (we won't discuss beer muscle measurement...) so yeah not a small guy, and definitely not girly man arms either...
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