Sick and tired of the hard top nuts by the doors

VadeerHunter said:
This true, looks like I'm stuck. The funny is the make plastic retainers for the other nuts but you can't get one that works on the holes by the doors. I guess the easiest way would be to make new holes where I can get my hand in or better yet use the nut retainers.
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I use silicone to hold the nuts, but the nut I use is wide enough that it can't turn.
No stress on the adhesive.

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Not sure if this will work by the door because I don't put those two in on my LJ.
 
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Well, the suggestions helped! It's also a lot easier outside in the sun where you can see through the hole and get the nut lined up. The other thing I did was take the washer off the screw, that added just a few extra threads I could catch the nut with. The flipped tape was the real winner. It allowed me to move it around without it slipping off and falling into inaccessible spots.
 
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Would this be a bad place for nutserts ? It seems like they could solve this issue .
 
I still don’t see why it’s a bad idea . Except for the part of leaving them loose .
 
When I had a hardtop I used these.

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The nuts were really easy to hold and the slight extrusion at the threads made them easy to line up.
 
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JDM said:
I still don’t see why it’s a bad idea . Except for the part of leaving them loose .
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The nutserts need to be loose to allow for bolt alignment with the hardtop. But a loose nutsert can't be tightened. That is why Jeep put captive square/rectangular nuts on the rear four attachments. And left the front pair for us to poke around with.
 
VadeerHunter said:
This is going to sound strange, but I am sick and tired of the hard top nuts by the doors. Every year I drop them and sometimes they disappear only to come bouncing back out behind where they have been hiding in the spring. In other words, I'm clumsy at trying to get them in place and hold them while I put the hardtop screws in. So, the other day I bought one of those swing down shelves for my tailgate. Absolutely super if you're a radio guy and need an instant Ham shack by the way. It's installed with rivet nuts. So, my thought is to install rivet nuts on both sides by the doors and leave them just loose enough so there is some play for the top to get set. Anyone tried this or is everyone way more coordinated than I am?
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Have you thought of using a coupling nut or making a flag nut with a handle? Use a longer bolt and push up from the bottom put the nut on top.
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jjvw said:
The nutserts need to be loose to allow for bolt alignment with the hardtop. But a loose nutsert can't be tightened. That is why Jeep put captive square/rectangular nuts on the rear four attachments. And left the front pair for us to poke around with.
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Nutserts would work if there is enough room for alignment in the hardtop. Newer Jeeps have fixed threaded attachment points for the hard top.
 
jjvw said:
The what that don't last a season?
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I think he means the one up above with the plastic spinner doodad on top so you don't need a wrench.

This is one of those things I will never understand why people have a problem with. You don't take the hardtop off every other day so what's the big issue?
 
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Viking Jeeper said:
One of the first things I did was remove the guide pins from the hardtop. No really reason for them in my mind. Now, this might be different on a TJ but on my LJ the guide pin holes are just a few inches farther back than the bolt holes by the door. I just put the forward bolt in that hole, much easier to get to.
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^ This
 
P man said:
I think he means the one up above with the plastic spinner doodad on top so you don't need a wrench.

This is one of those things I will never understand why people have a problem with. You don't take the hardtop off every other day so what's the big issue?
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Either those or maybe the plastic nut cages under the tub rail. Regardless, all of mine are 20 years old and hardly look or behave less than brand new. So, I'm a bit confused about how those are only lasting a season.

And I agree that none of these things are difficult to deal with, short of a physical disability. In which case, that isn't the norm.
 
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