Replacing half door upper frames, a few questions

[MikekiM]

Soft upper skins are perfect but the frames are FUBAR. I really don’t want to spend time trying to straighten the pins.

I see options from Bestop, Rampage, Rugged Ridge, Smittybilt and a few others. Prices vary widely. With so many options, I’ll skip the Smittybilt.

1) any I should stay away from? Or,
2) are they all created fairly similar?
3) do they usually ship in secure packaging so they don’t get bent?
4) should I expect to have to work on getting them to fit? Really hoping to just drop them in.
5) the uppers I have have no labels so I have no idea of manufacturer. Is there concern that the skins I have might not be compatible with new frames?

 

[Coalcracker18]

What’s wrong with the upper frames? I’ve been looking for a used pair but can’t find anything local.

 

[MikekiM]

What’s wrong with the upper frames? I’ve been looking for a used pair but can’t find anything local.

If you are in the mood to massage the door pin alignment, nothing. The skins are dead perfect, and the frames are straight with no rust or bends. Just the pins are not perfect. I had half doors on my last JK and I remember the uppers dropping in with ease. These need to be pressed in. I suspect the PO wasn't careful and one or more of the pins are out of alignment. TJ is my DD and I don't want to wrestle with the uppers..

I'll either buy a full set and sell what I have or just frames if I can get a better idea of what to expect with the replacement. Going to call a few vendors today.

 

[cpwolf]

If you are in the mood to massage the door pin alignment, nothing. The skins are dead perfect, and the frames are straight with no rust or bends. Just the pins are not perfect. I had half doors on my last JK and I remember the uppers dropping in with ease. These need to be pressed in. I suspect the PO wasn't careful and one or more of the pins are out of alignment. TJ is my DD and I don't want to wrestle with the uppers..

I'll either buy a full set and sell what I have or just frames if I can get a better idea of what to expect with the replacement. Going to call a few vendors today.

I'm sure this isn't your issue, but I wrestled with the frames on my half doors for a while. Then, took a minute and realized that one pin was longer. Not sure they're all that way, but if I slowed down and got it in, then the other two went in super easy.

I found full doors and have had them on this winter, and as the wizard has said a few times on here, this glaringly showed me how crappy the TJ half doors really are. Crazy how now I can actually take a call and talk in the TJ with the top up.

I almost always default to Bestop if I'm looking for quality soft top parts. If I was getting new top halfs, I would look at that, or into the sliding window soft top halves, but I've got no experience with them personally.

 

[CreepinDeth]

I just bought these Rugged Ridge for $200
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003AOPCB0?tag=wranglerorg-20

I put the Smittybuilt skins on last week for $140
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003EOZMTI?tag=wranglerorg-20

Didnt even need the sun treatement for an hour
It was too cold out so I just roughed em up and had my son assist. Came out perfect

Now Im gonna tint them

 

[YonderWalnut]

Second what cpwolf said about the one pin being longer. That's how mine are and I stopped struggling once I figured it out. Assuming that's not the case and your pins really are out of alignment, you could probably just bend them back into alignment with a bench vise and a pair of pliers.

 

[TheBoogieman]

A slight tap of the pins with a hammer will align them. No need to do anything else after that.

 

[Coalcracker18]

If you are in the mood to massage the door pin alignment, nothing. The skins are dead perfect, and the frames are straight with no rust or bends. Just the pins are not perfect. I had half doors on my last JK and I remember the uppers dropping in with ease. These need to be pressed in. I suspect the PO wasn't careful and one or more of the pins are out of alignment. TJ is my DD and I don't want to wrestle with the uppers..

I'll either buy a full set and sell what I have or just frames if I can get a better idea of what to expect with the replacement. Going to call a few vendors today.

Okay, well let me know if you want to sell them and what you’d be asking, that is if you are willing to ship them. If you are buying new you’d already have packaging from your new set and I would pay for the post over to PA as long it’s not to expensive. It’s up to you if you want to sell the skins with them or not I’d be looking for a black set of skins but I have no problem buying new

 

[MikekiM]

I'm sure this isn't your issue, but I wrestled with the frames on my half doors for a while. Then, took a minute and realized that one pin was longer. Not sure they're all that way, but if I slowed down and got it in, then the other two went in super easy.

I found full doors and have had them on this winter, and as the wizard has said a few times on here, this glaringly showed me how crappy the TJ half doors really are. Crazy how now I can actually take a call and talk in the TJ with the top up.

I almost always default to Bestop if I'm looking for quality soft top parts. If I was getting new top halfs, I would look at that, or into the sliding window soft top halves, but I've got no experience with them personally.

Yes, thanks.. I am familiar with the pins. And no stranger to half doors. I had a set of Rugged Ridge half doors on my last JK, and a set of upper and lower soft doors on the JK prior. I ended up using the RR doors year round. The windows have toggles sewn into the zipper seam that allowed the windows to be secured open at half height or open diagonally. This was convenient.

Fully expecting things to get louder with the halfies.

At this point, I have spent so much getting the doors right I don't want to skimp on this final step and I have a Trektop NX, though... can't lie.. the Bestop are twice the price of all the other options (as is usually the case with Bestop stuff) and that's painful.

If I can get these in order, I will absolutely find a set of sliders for winter.

I just bought these Rugged Ridge for $200
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003AOPCB0?tag=wranglerorg-20

I put the Smittybuilt skins on last week for $140
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003EOZMTI?tag=wranglerorg-20

Didnt even need the sun treatement for an hour
It was too cold out so I just roughed em up and had my son assist. Came out perfect

Now Im gonna tint them

I've got the RR frames in my cart at the moment. That's my fallback. How was the shipping? Was everything straight? Did the pins need tweaking or were they drop in?

Tint.. Are you going to do a regular film tint on them? I was curious about doing that. My full door glass is tinted.

Second what cpwolf said about the one pin being longer. That's how mine are and I stopped struggling once I figured it out. Assuming that's not the case and your pins really are out of alignment, you could probably just bend them back into alignment with a bench vise and a pair of pliers.

A slight tap of the pins with a hammer will align them. No need to do anything else after that.

I can confirm with certainty that the pins are bent. I've already straightened one. I'm sure someone could get them straight but I am at the point that I am tired of working on these doors and just want them done. My experience with straightening the pins is that it's kind of like chasing your tail. One bend here requires another bend there and that then begs another bend a different way. The fitment of the RR uppers on my JK spoiled me. Those just dropped right in with zero effort. A slight tweak at the top to seal against the surround and I was good for a few years.

Okay, well let me know if you want to sell them and what you’d be asking, that is if you are willing to ship them. If you are buying new you’d already have packaging from your new set and I would pay for the post over to PA as long it’s not to expensive. It’s up to you if you want to sell the skins with them or not I’d be looking for a black set of skins but I have no problem buying new

My plan is to pay a visit to eBay/MarketPlace seller CustomWranglers this morning. He is a few minutes from me. While he's known to be a bit on the pricey side, he's become a friend and, well... I'll see what he has. I have a few options. If he has a straight set of frames I will trade mine for a few $$ and then retro fit the skins over. If there is something else that catches my eye, is plug-n-play and is a decent price I'll take them, just to be done with this project, in which case my set will be available. I just shipped a second set of half doors from NY to Colorado so while shipping the upper frames isn't something I look forward to, it is doable and easier than shipping doors. Stay tuned.

 

[CreepinDeth]

Everything came shipped perfectly fine and straight
As always YMMV with different people

As for the tint, Im experimenting with it for the first time. I ordered 20% for the door uppers, but forgot my soft top was already tinted. I think the Sierra off road top might be 35%……so now Im waiting on 35% tint film to arrive Sunday

I didnt wanna layer 20% over the 35% that would be too dark. I am gonna use the 20% for the full doors

 

[Coalcracker18]

Everything came shipped perfectly fine and straight
As always YMMV with different people

As for the tint, Im experimenting with it for the first time. I ordered 20% for the door uppers, but forgot my soft top was already tinted. I think the Sierra off road top might be 35%……so now Im waiting on 35% tint film to arrive Sunday

I didnt wanna layer 20% over the 35% that would be too dark. I am gonna use the 20% for the full doors

I often wondered about tinting the half uppers but always figured it wouldn’t last and would bubble from the window bending.
Is there a specific brand you are using?

 

[MikekiM]

Everything came shipped perfectly fine and straight
As always YMMV with different people

As for the tint, Im experimenting with it for the first time. I ordered 20% for the door uppers, but forgot my soft top was already tinted. I think the Sierra off road top might be 35%……so now Im waiting on 35% tint film to arrive Sunday

I didnt wanna layer 20% over the 35% that would be too dark. I am gonna use the 20% for the full doors

I did my full doors at 20% to match the Bestop TrekTop NX and in retrospect, it's too dark. At night, I am making turns by feel. Wish I had done 35%.

Good to know on shipping. If I can't get to the MP seller today I'll just order a set from Amazon and call it a day. I've messaged the guy three times since yesterday and no answer. Me - "I'd like to come by and buy some stuff from you.. cash in hand" and him... crickets.

Amazes me how merchants just don't respond. I have open projects right now to replace my Central Air, paint my first floor, add two sprinkler lines to the garden and the Jeep stuff... and no one calls back. I mean, I want to give you my money and you don't call back?

 

[Coalcracker18]

I did my full doors at 20% to match the Bestop TrekTop NX and in retrospect, it's too dark. At night, I am making turns by feel. Wish I had done 35%.

Good to know on shipping. If I can't get to the MP seller today I'll just order a set from Amazon and call it a day. I've messaged the guy three times since yesterday and no answer. Me - "I'd like to come by and buy some stuff from you.. cash in hand" and him... crickets.

Amazes me how merchants just don't respond. I have open projects right now to replace my Central Air, paint my first floor, add two sprinkler lines to the garden and the Jeep stuff... and no one calls back. I mean, I want to give you my money and you don't call back?

Well with the prices he asks for stuff he’s more of a collector than a seller.
I was looking for agate half door panels and he has two pairs on his eBay site. One set for $1100 and $1200 for the other. Just the panels, thats Ludacris. I just chuckled and thought to myself he’s not even trying to make sales those are the I don’t want to sell it prices. I bought my half doors complete in color for $300 just two weeks ago.

 

[MikekiM]

Well with the prices he asks for stuff he’s more of a collector than a seller.
I was looking for agate half door panels and he has two pairs on his eBay site. One set for $1100 and $1200 for the other. Just the panels, thats Ludacris. I just chuckled and thought to myself he’s not even trying to make sales those are the I don’t want to sell it prices. I bought my half doors complete in color for $300 just two weeks ago.

I'll admit his prices are, at times, outlandish, but I can confidently say he is NOT a collector. I am at his place often and I see his inventory change quickly, so either he is seriously negotiable or people pay what he asks. I always bargain with him. He has a MASSIVE amount of inventory, so if there is something you need and can't find elsewhere... I guess he serves a purpose.

$300 for complete half doors... there is no way that would happen on Long Island. There is a difference between buying something priced at market and scoring a deal. You scored.

 

[MikekiM]

For closure on this thread.. I bought a set of used, straight frames, retro fit the uppers I had (quite possibly the hardest job I've done on the TJ).

Done.

 

[MountaineerTom]

You can get tinted soft uppers HERE . They are currently out of stock and about $60 more than when I bought them in 2021. It might be worth checking back every now and then though. Installed easily and fit well.

 

[MikekiM]

You can get tinted soft uppers HERE . They are currently out of stock and about $60 more than when I bought them in 2021. It might be worth checking back every now and then though. Installed easily and fit well.

View attachment 518492

View attachment 518493

Those are a nice level of tint. I’ll keep an eye on them.

Also notice they don’t suffer from the same issue as the ones I have .. The back lower corner on yours fit the contour of the door surround better than mine. I can't get the upper down any farther. Pretty sure my issue is with the skin and not the frame..

 

[Coalcracker18]

You can get tinted soft uppers HERE . They are currently out of stock and about $60 more than when I bought them in 2021. It might be worth checking back every now and then though. Installed easily and fit well.

View attachment 518492

View attachment 518493

Those look nice! Any problems with quality 3 years later? They appear to match up pretty well with your top.

BTW I read through your entire build thread. You did a very nice job keeping that Jeep tastefully upgraded and still looking OEM. I’m in the process of doing something very similar but mine needs a ton of work done. I’m almost certain if it didn’t wind up in my possession it would up parted or in the scrap yard.

 

[MountaineerTom]

I haven't had any quality issues. I only ran them a little while in the fall of '21, spring and fall of '22 and '23. They have leaked a little around the seal where the top front corner meets the windshield/door surrounds during really heavy downpours. I kind of expected that though. It did it occasionally with the full doors too and my RallyTops hard top leaks more than anything short of not having a top on at all. My top was 4 years old when I added the tinted soft uppers, and I was pretty happy with the match.

Thank you.