Half door uppers

JWjeepSask

JWjeepSask

TJ Enthusiast
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I recently bought a pair of TJ half doors for my 02 TJ (super cheap only $300) but now I need the upper windows so I got a few questions. Is there a difference in the black coloured uppers? I was told there is a shade difference between the 97-02 and 03-06 uppers... Would YJ uppers fit a TJ half door? Finally how do I tell the difference between TJ and YJ uppers as I'm looking for a used set and don't want to get scammed?...


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Yes on the color differences. 97-02 had a color called "black denim". 03-06 had a color called "black diamond". They are different, the black diamond is a much darker black. I don't think you can use a YJ upper for A TJ door. If I remember correctly the windshield angles are slightly different so the upper part of the door doesn't line up. I would also recommend the upper hard sliders for your windows. I find them to be a lot more useful than the stock zipper windows. These are an after market upper made by Best Top (the original soft top supplier of your jeep).
 
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UpperMI said:
Yes on the color differences. 97-02 had a color called "black denim". 03-06 had a color called "black diamond". They are different, the black diamond is a much darker black.
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X2, this is dead-on accurate.

As for the interchangeability of the TJ / YJ uppers (and full doors), I've heard of people interchanging them, but things never really line up right.

Your best bet is to find a set of TJ uppers. Though I am not 100% certain on what to look for visually when comparing a TJ upper to a YJ upper. Maybe someone else will chime in on that. @PCO6 might know.
 
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Chris said:
X2, this is dead-on accurate.

As for the interchangeability of the TJ / YJ uppers (and full doors), I've heard of people interchanging them, but things never really line up right.

Your best bet is to find a set of TJ uppers. Though I am not 100% certain on what to look for visually when comparing a TJ upper to a YJ upper. Maybe someone else will chime in on that. @PCO6 might know.
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I know the lower door halves can be made to fit with some modifications. As for the top I think they will close but just not seal correctly. And for all I know it may depend on the manufacturer of the frame and if it is a soft top or a hard top. I googled it and came back with a few different results that make me think it might work but it might not.

Here's an after market upper door for a YJ. Please note the top "squared off" outside corner of the door.

88-95-yj-upper-door-interior-installed_2.jpg

Here's an after market upper for a TJ (same manufacturer). Notice the "rounded" upper corner of the door.
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Like @Chris said, I think you are better off trying to find a TJ upper if you can. I have the Best top sliders shown below which I love. The funny thing about this last picture is that it is labeled a best top slider tj-yj from Clemson4wheel.com. so maybe it does actually fit both.

bestop-upper-door-sliders-jeep-tj-yj.jpg
 
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There you have it... Based off what I'm seeing visually, the difference between a TJ and YJ soft upper is very obvious. The TJ has the rounded edge, whereas the YJs is more square.
 
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@JWjeepSask - I wasn't aware of the colour difference. Thanks for the clarification @UpperMI. He is also right about YJ uppers not fitting TJ's. The windshield angle is different by about 4*. YJ's are "steeper" while TJ's are more "streamlined" (lol). The easiest way to spot the difference though is the 3 pins that you insert into the top of the door For the YJ they are all in line. For the TJ the rear most pin is clearly out of line. I'm sure this was done to accommodate the revised done latch. Another difference is that the early YJ's have square rear top corners while the later ones were rounded. I also agree that if you can get a set of hard uppers they are worth it. I bought set used from a guy who got them used for his YJ but they were clearly for a TJ. He sold them to me the day after he bought them!

@Chris - I'm sure you are right re the full doors not being interchangeable. I have a set of YJ soft doors. The bottoms fit well but the tops not at all. As an aside, I swapped out the YJ door handles on the soft bottoms for ones for a TJ. Best Top sells them for both YJ's and TJ's and they are interchangeable.

I have 2 sets of TJ soft uppers - one MOPAR and one Best Top. The Best Tops are very good - no complaints. The MOPAR's are better though. They fit a bit better and are a bit nicer finished. They also have a Velcro strip the allows you to put the window up before you zip it up.
 
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Thanks for the photos UpperMI. The first one clearly shows the YJ square corners. Here's a pic of my YJ soft doors with the later rounded top corners. The bottoms on their own fit fine with the TJ latches installed. You are right about the overall fit though. You can close them with the tops on but they don't seal. I drove around with them on and I think they might have blown out if I went any faster.

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PCO6 said:
Thanks for the photos UpperMI. The first one clearly shows the YJ square corners. Here's a pic of my YJ soft doors with the later rounded top corners. The bottoms on their own fit fine with the TJ latches installed. You are right about the overall fit though. You can close them with the tops on but they don't seal. I drove around with them on and I think they might have blown out if I went any faster.

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You can't beat personal first hand knowledge. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
 
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Very useful information @PCO6!

It's also very helpful that you took photos of all of these parts for comparison!

I can definitely see how the YJ half uppers wouldn't seal correctly.
 
Thanks Chris. I haven't given up on using the YJ uppers on my TJ or LJ. I know you can buy replacement skins for TJ's from Best Top. My guess is that modifying the stripped down frames wouldn't be that hard to do. A bit of cutting, bending and welding should do it ... I think.
 
PCO6 said:
Thanks Chris. I haven't given up on using the YJ uppers on my TJ or LJ. I know you can buy replacement skins for TJ's from Best Top. My guess is that modifying the stripped down frames wouldn't be that hard to do. A bit of cutting, bending and welding should do it ... I think.
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If you have the right equipment and fabrication skills, I am sure you could modify the YJ door frames to work with the TJ. You might need a donor upper frame to go off of, as you will need it to be pretty close for the door skins to fit.
 
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glwood said:
If you have the right equipment and fabrication skills, I am sure you could modify the YJ door frames to work with the TJ. You might need a donor upper frame to go off of, as you will need it to be pretty close for the door skins to fit.
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I'm good on all counts ... TIME is the issue! :D
 
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Thanks everybody but would slider uppers look good with a soft top I don't know to if would look the nicest...


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The upper sliders I have are a bit different to the Best Top ones posted above by UpperMI. Mine are hard fibreglass and I believe they were made by Black Hawk Industries (there was a small but vague sticker on the bottom of one of them). They were glossy black when I got them. I painted them inside and out with Duplicolor bed liner (the cheapest spray paint they have) in an effort to match them to my soft top. Although it's off a bit I'm happy with the results (it's hard to match plastic/fibreglass to vinyl). As you can see, my hard top is gray. I will be painting it to match in the spring when it warms up. I will likely go with Duplicolor again. If it's something else I will make sure everything matches.

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JWjeepSask said:
Thanks everybody but would slider uppers look good with a soft top I don't know to if would look the nicest...


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Click to expand...

I'll take a picture of mine when I get home and post it for you. How good it looks is different for every person.
 
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My jeep is an 02' as well so this is how the black denim looks. Sorry for the shot being from inside my garage but it was too dark by the time I got home tonight to take a picture outside.
 
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