Hard top won't budge

nk24

nk24

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Tonight I tried to remove my hard top for the first time since I’ve owned this specific TJ. I disconnected wiring harness and washer fluid hose, unhooked the front latches, and removed all of the rear bolts. Between my wife and I, we couldn’t get the thing to budge more than about 1/2” at the front end. Mind you we removed and replaced the hard top on our previous TJ several times so this wasn’t our first rodeo.

It was clear that the top had been removed previously because one torx bolt on each side was replaced with a 13mm hex bolt and nut.

After some inspection (to make sure we weren’t going crazy), it appears that there is a thin layer of foam, adhesive perhaps, between the top and the tub rails. It was too dark for a photo, but it was clearly there. I’ll try to get a photo with some light in the morning.

I’m thinking we’ll have to heat it up somehow in order to get them separated.

Has anyone ever come across something like this before?
 
Mine has the foam layer too. Sometimes mine gets a pretty good suction and I have to push pretty hard from inside to separate it.
 
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Same, I have had to remove the hardtop at some point and it is the foam that is forming a seal against the rail. You just have to stand on the side of the tub/entry point and pull up with everything you have and it will break free. You will lost likely lose some of the foam in the process, I believe this happens from moisture being on the surface when the hardtop was installed and the hardtop bolts being overtightened.
 
It's normal if the top hasn't been removed regularly. The seal is acting as a light adhesive.
 
A spray of something like WD-40, and some sunshine to help warm up the stickiness of the foam helped me get mine off. A bit of inward as well as upward pressure can help too. A small tool like a gasket scraper carefully slid between foam and tub at the rear corner to help break the "stickshun".
 
Interesting, I didn’t know the foam was from the factory. I’ll give it another shot tonight with a different approach.
 
After you finally get it off if you apply some Armor All or similar to the foam before you put it back on then it won't want to reseal it self.
 
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I bought my '99 last year w/ the factory hardtop and had the same problem. After failing to get it loose by hand I drove slowly over some curbs at a 45 degree angle until I heard it pop loose. Not sure if that was a good idea or not but it worked.
 
It's that foam, trust me. Mine was really hard to remove as well, and it took a lot of force to get it off. Once I did, I could clearly see it was the foam on the underside that had basically seized itself to the metal tub underneath. Hard to believe, but that's exactly the issue you're having.
 
The PO of my LJ decided the foam wasn't enough so he used silicone caulking to "seal" the hardtop gap. Might want to make sure that you haven't been cursed by a PO. But most likely it is the foam my does the same thing every spring
 
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Thanks everyone for your insight and encouragement. I gave it another try today and it popped free with some significant effort. That thing was really stuck!

Now it’s time to install the hoist.
 
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