Hardtop rear window seal

[imactj2004]

First things first: yes, I always close glass first then door.

Second: yes, Ive replaced the seal.

Nevertheless, this window never stays put. It comes unsealed with very little effort by hand (see video) and the slightest bump/jostle of the vehicle always dislodges it from the snug fit and then rattles.

So whats goin on? Is this just something that has to be accepted from a hardtop? Or do I have a bad top? a bad tub? both?

 

[Thunderhead]

You can loosen the bolts from the glass and see if you can shimmy the glass down for a tighter fit or pick some new bulb seal for your tailgate

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=rubber+b...a-20&ref=pd_sl_wiki8c8px_e&tag=wranglerorg-20

 

[imactj2004]

You can loosen the bolts from the glass and see if you can shimmy the glass down for a tighter fit or pick some new bulb seal for your tailgate

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=rubber+b...a-20&ref=pd_sl_wiki8c8px_e&tag=wranglerorg-20

already got the new bulb seal but will check the glass. thx for the tip.

 

[Hokahay]

Here I put a car door edge protector across the top of the tail gate. this was years ago still working.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BFRMB66/?tag=wranglerorg-20
Find the thickest one you can. Link is mostly as an example,

 

[Ken Perkins]

take a piece of hose the length of the gate, slice it and slip over the gate. will give a little pressure against the glass.

 

[Hokahay]

take a piece of hose the length of the gate, slice it and slip over the gate. will give a little pressure against the glass.

Same theory as the car door edge protector.

 

[LONGJP2]

You shouldn't need to add anything to fix it right.
It would help to see more of the tailgate and bottom edge of window to make better suggestions.

 

[PCO6]

Did TJs come with a seal along the top edge of the tailgate? My old 03 TJ did not have one and my 04 LJ does have one. I've looked at various pictures, but they were inconsistent. I probably could have dug a bit deeper, but I couldn't find a replacement part for one.

 

[LONGJP2]

Did TJs come with a seal along the top edge of the tailgate? My old 03 TJ did not have one and my 04 LJ does have one. I've looked at various pictures, but they were inconsistent. I probably could have dug a bit deeper, but I couldn't find a replacement part for one.

No.
Only the seal on the bottom of the glass.

 

[imactj2004]

You shouldn't need to add anything to fix it right.
It would help to see more of the tailgate and bottom edge of window to make better suggestions.

 

[LONGJP2]

View attachment 373507

I was expecting to see your tailgate sagging, but the body line looks decent enough.
Hard to tell if your tailgate is closing all the way flush with the body.
Also, are your soft top brackets keeping the window from closing all the way.
I have to remove mine, when I put the hard top on.

 

[imactj2004]

door closes all the way. I took the soft top brackets off for a while to see if would help but no improvement at all.

It drives me crazy. Its so bad that I can close the rear window, close the tail gate, and then go open and close the drivers door and the pressure difference will pop the rear window out of place. Still takes opening the gate go open the hatch at that point, but driving with it like that means it rattles like crazy and has significant wind noise.

I’m wondering if the top that I have was not intended for my year. My father n law bought the jeep (04) without hard top and then purchased hard top seperately. Maybe its a mismatch between model years? Seems unlikely, but at this point Im at a loss for explanations.

 

[nk24]

door closes all the way. I took the soft top brackets off for a while to see if would help but no improvement at all.

It drives me crazy. Its so bad that I can close the rear window, close the tail gate, and then go open and close the drivers door and the pressure difference will pop the rear window out of place. Still takes opening the gate go open the hatch at that point, but driving with it like that means it rattles like crazy and has significant wind noise.

I’m wondering if the top that I have was not intended for my year. My father n law bought the jeep (04) without hard top and then purchased hard top seperately. Maybe its a mismatch between model years? Seems unlikely, but at this point Im at a loss for explanations.

The hard top looks to be factory and it is the ‘03-‘06 version without the vents behind the side windows.

A temporary fix would be to apply a vertical bulb trim seal to the top of the tailgate: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019RXHYVS/?tag=wranglerorg-20

I had the same issue where the glass would pop over the tailgate. Here’s a photo of my previous TJ with that same seal:

A good look at how it fits (not my photo):

 

[Hokahay]

Like I was saying, everything was shipshape on mine tailgate and such. The hinges couldn't be adajusted more to make it fit better. Door edge protector was enough to do the job here. It is pretty much unnoticeable. But has been working great for many years now.

 

[JWalker]

I had this same issue and adding the vertical bulb trim seal to the top of the tailgate solved it. Thanks for that fix!

However, I found it wasn't necessary to put it all of the way across the top of the tailgate. I only needed a little section, about as wide as the 3rd brake light, that would put some pressure against the plastic lip at the bottom of the window. That lip catches against the top of the tailgate to keep it from opening up, but there's too much of a gap which is why it would rattle when I was driving.

 

[LONGJP2]

that would put some pressure against the plastic lip at the bottom of the window. That lip catches against the top of the tailgate to keep it from opening up,

The tailgate isn't suppose to catch the plastic lip on the window.
It presses against the rubber seal below the window.
I would think your short section of trim would add gaps that water can get in.