Help diagnosing horrific wind noise

[JM_TJ]

I’m going through the process of replacing all of the seals on the TJ as the PO did a horrible job (random pieces of rubber + a lot of super glue everywhere). It’s all going peachy until I replaced the windshield roof seal (where the windshield meets the soft top) and the wind noise is horrible. It’s almost undriveable over 50mph. There is also a whistling coming through the seal. I’ve checked the whole seal and everything seems fine. I’ve opened and shut the roof again. That helped a bit but it’s still pretty bad.

The seal was from rugged ridge and I remember thinking the adhesive strip looked a bit weak so maybe it’s just poor quality?

I’ve also noticed the roof doesn’t come all the way forward on the two corners of the roof. It’s worse on the right side. The center of the roof meets the seal just fine, but the gaps on the corner are noticeable.
FWIW, The softtop is a Bestop Twill Supertop.

 

[Rubicon88]

Ridge O' the Rugged is the problem.

Bestop or give me death.

Bestop is the only way my young padewain apprentice.

Certain names in the Jeep world one must be cautious in buying
Smittybuilt
Rugged Ridge
Rampage
Crown

Some things aren't a big deal and can get away with....
Cell phone holder?
Side armor?
Bumpers...although the finish is shit often times
Entry guards....

Soft tops? No effing way.
Anything top related....no way.

 

[Fishtaco]

Ridge O' the Rugged is the problem.

Bestop or give me death.

Bestop is the only way my young padewain apprentice.

Certain names in the Jeep world one must be cautious in buying
Smittybuilt
Rugged Ridge
Rampage
Crown

Some things aren't a big deal and can get away with....
Cell phone holder?
Side armor?
Bumpers...although the finish is shit often times
Entry guards....

Soft tops? No effing way.
Anything top related....no way.

It can be worse! I bought a Rugged Ridge consul rest cover from Amazon and when I got it it was a Chinese knock off of Chinese Rugged Ridge lol, the seller got his Chinglish all wrong and thought Rugged Ridge was the name of the cover and not a brand lol

 

[Fishtaco]

I’m going through the process of replacing all of the seals on the TJ as the PO did a horrible job (random pieces of rubber + a lot of super glue everywhere). It’s all going peachy until I replaced the windshield roof seal (where the windshield meets the soft top) and the wind noise is horrible. It’s almost undriveable over 50mph. There is also a whistling coming through the seal. I’ve checked the whole seal and everything seems fine. I’ve opened and shut the roof again. That helped a bit but it’s still pretty bad.

The seal was from rugged ridge and I remember thinking the adhesive strip looked a bit weak so maybe it’s just poor quality?

I’ve also noticed the roof doesn’t come all the way forward on the two corners of the roof. It’s worse on the right side. The center of the roof meets the seal just fine, but the gaps on the corner are noticeable.
FWIW, I’ve got a Twill Supertop.
View attachment 241359

Did you clean all the old tape gunk off fully? you can still see where the old one came down past the windscreen pillar a bit, I would just glue it down in the corners! Our US friends dont know how much it costs us to import stuff so sometimes we have to make do!
This may be helpful to see correct positioning and the extra aftermarket seal he used to stop wind noise before fitting the new Mopar.

 

[someguysjeep]

is your header bar bowed possibly. or are the clamps bowing it?
i hate the design of the headers and latches it just pulls shit back and down and it's hard to get a flimsy 1 to sit right.

or let it get hot and try to stretch it a little and maybe it'll ease up at the edges.

 

[JM_TJ]

Ridge O' the Rugged is the problem.

Bestop or give me death.

Bestop is the only way my young padewain apprentice.

Certain names in the Jeep world one must be cautious in buying
Smittybuilt
Rugged Ridge
Rampage
Crown

Some things aren't a big deal and can get away with....
Cell phone holder?
Side armor?
Bumpers...although the finish is shit often times
Entry guards....

Soft tops? No effing way.
Anything top related....no way.

My post might have been confusing but the Soft top itself is a Bestop. The seal was from Rugged Ridge.

 

[JM_TJ]

is your header bar bowed possibly. or are the clamps bowing it?
i hate the design of the headers and latches it just pulls shit back and down and it's hard to get a flimsy 1 to sit right.

or let it get hot and try to stretch it a little and maybe it'll ease up at the edges.

Yeah, the plastic header for the Bestop is bowed. I just assumed that’s how they are meant to be. Is it supposed to be flat?

 

[someguysjeep]

if you relax the clamps will the corners pull out better. or is the material so tight it's doing the pulling?

 

[03coloradowrangler]

My Bestop twill top has the same issue. doesn't like to sit correctly on the passenger side.

contacted Bestop last year and was sent a replacement header bar and that resolved my issue with fitment as shown in your photo, but towards the end of the year I was back to square one and it doesn't fit proper again.

while replacing the soft tops windshield header with the warrantied replacement sent out I had found that the stubs for the tubes to slide onto and secure in place had broken/cracked allowing for slack.

Im sure my passenger side is broken again because its fitting terribly and also noisy in the wind.

photo prior to windshield header replacement

currently its looking identical to yours after replacing it once already. though after the first replacement it was sitting perfectly flush and tight & looked correct in appearance for the first few months.

 

[JM_TJ]

Did you clean all the old tape gunk off fully? you can still see where the old one came down past the windscreen pillar a bit, I would just glue it down in the corners! Our US friends dont know how much it costs us to import stuff so sometimes we have to make do!
This may be helpful to see correct positioning and the extra aftermarket seal he used to stop wind noise before fitting the new Mopar.

Interesting, seems like the corners come lower on the Mopar one.

Yeah, I did take off the leftover glue from the old seal with solvent so it’s a clean surface for it to stick to.

 

[Fishtaco]

My post might have been confusing but the Soft top itself is a Bestop. The seal was from Rugged Ridge.

Yes I can see its a Bestop! You should get a load of some of the cheap soft tops TJ owners buy here!
Anyway was the Vid any help? I cant see a rubber seal being much different, maybe un clip the header and re clamp it down a few times and perhaps glue the ends of the seal down?
It cant be that warm in Blighty so seal may have shrunk a bit or was a bit stiff?

 

[Fishtaco]

I just got my Rugged Ridge summer top Duster combo with bolt on header delivered today, Its not twill or even sailcloth but for the price it was worth getting as its a mothball now until my next great southern land spring time

Get some heat into the Top at the Header & new Rubber seal and it may clamp down better? New seals sometimes need to mould into a fitting, Its not like its a 6 bolt flange getting a new gasket

 

[Fishtaco]

if you relax the clamps will the corners pull out better. or is the material so tight it's doing the pulling?

Looks to me like the top is still really tight and needs some break in, I don't think its the seal at all.

 

[JM_TJ]

Just gone and taken some more photos of the top. The material is very tight. It hasn’t seen a summer yet. However I get a bit of flapping on from the material on the bow above my head. The window also aren’t as flat as the rear window. They have a wave in them and flap on the highway.

Anyways, here are some photos of the top:

Inside with the flaps open:

It’s particularly bad on the drivers side which is where the whistling is coming from:

Drivers side:

Passenger side:

 

[JM_TJ]

My Bestop twill top has the same issue. doesn't like to sit correctly on the passenger side.

contacted Bestop last year and was sent a replacement header bar and that resolved my issue with fitment as shown in your photo, but towards the end of the year I was back to square one and it doesn't fit proper again.

while replacing the soft tops windshield header with the warrantied replacement sent out I had found that the stubs for the tubes to slide onto and secure in place had broken/cracked allowing for slack.

Im sure my passenger side is broken again because its fitting terribly and also noisy in the wind.

photo prior to windshield header replacement
View attachment 241364

currently its looking identical to yours after replacing it once already. though after the first replacement it was sitting perfectly flush and tight & looked correct in appearance for the first few months.

Oh that’s a shame! Have you been back in touch with Bestop since?

 

[JM_TJ]

Yes I can see its a Bestop! You should get a load of some of the cheap soft tops TJ owners buy here!
Anyway was the Vid any help? I cant see a rubber seal being much different, maybe un clip the header and re clamp it down a few times and perhaps glue the ends of the seal down?
It cant be that warm in Blighty so seal may have shrunk a bit or was a bit stiff?

Yeah, thanks, video was interesting. I’ve ordered some double sided tape to get the corners down. Let’s see if that helps.

I’ve tried reclamping but no luck. Considering it’s cold AF here it may have something to do with it.

 

[JEEPCJTJ]

After seeing your interior picture, where the header looks to be bowed, I went outside to check out my 10 yr old Bestop and header. I was surprised to see that mine is also somewhat bowed but not quite as much of a "U shape" as yours. I also noticed that my seal, which may be original, does have what looks like a seam about 5 inches in from each end but there are no steps or changes in thickness of the seal.

Also, you don't have to wait for summer to help the top. A small electric space heater inside the Jeep can give you any temperature you want, just be careful. It helped me finish putting my top on in 40F degree weather when the top was pretty much just hanging in place and the windows were barely zipped.

 

[02SteelBlue]

Maybe a silly question: is your top frame bent any?

I have similar fitment issues but it looks as though my top frame is slightly bent.

 

[JM_TJ]

@JEEPCJTJ thanks, what do you mean by 'seam'? Do you have a photo of yours by any chance?

@02SteelBlue What do you mean top frame? Are you talking about the header?

 

[02SteelBlue]

@JEEPCJTJ thanks, what do you mean by 'seam'? Do you have a photo of yours by any chance?

@02SteelBlue What do you mean top frame? Are you talking about the header?

The metal frame for the soft top itself.

I had to remove the top from the frame, then pulled the frame up as if the top were on it. That's when I noticed the slight bend in the frame.