I purchased a Smittybilt top awhile ago, and it's bummed me out since owning it. One of the major bummer is no one makes sliders for upper half doors with the twill material. Missed my sliders.
Anyway, I got a weather window and went for it. Put my old Iron Horse sliders in my Smittybilt twill upper skins.
What you need:
Upper sliders, complete.
0.060" sheet plastic, 43 x 60", nice and stiff stuff.
Fine point marking pen.
Gorilla tape.
Double sided waterproof tape.
Aircraft shears.
Sharp box knife.
Philips screwdriver.
Tape measure.
Patience, lots of patience.
Access to spare uppers, so if you screw up, you can start over. Measure twice and cut once.
Ready? Here we go.
Strip the upper down to the frame.
Lay everything out to make sure you have all the parts. Frame, upper skins, sheet plastic, screws, tape.
Lay the frame on the sheet plastic and trace around the outside. You want to cut the plastic with no overhang. It should cover the frame completely though. Top to bottom, side to side. This is going to support and tie your sliders to the frame. The skins won't do it. Use aircraft shears to cut the plastic out. Test fit and trim as required. It should cover the frame but not hang over.
Gorilla tape the plastic sheet to the frame. Be generous. We're looking for mechanical strength here. I didn't go all the way to the bottom of the frame, and should have.
Don't put the skin on yet. Flip the fame over, plastic side down. Lay the window frame retaining piece in where you want the slider to go. Center it up and mark the inside of the frame on the plastic. Give yourself a generous 1/8" or so of extra material to work with. The slider frame should just slip into the opening with a little persuasion.
Take the slider out when it fits, and put the skin on the frame. Trim the skin to just hang over the opening, inside first - then outside. Use double sided tape to position and hold the outside skin to the plastic sheeting perfectly aligned. Once everything is trimmed to fit and the outside skin is taped, flip the assembly over, inside up. Slide your window into the opening. Put the retaining ring on and screw it down. Make sure all edges are tucked in and smooth. Viola! Your done.
Anyway, I got a weather window and went for it. Put my old Iron Horse sliders in my Smittybilt twill upper skins.
What you need:
Upper sliders, complete.
0.060" sheet plastic, 43 x 60", nice and stiff stuff.
Fine point marking pen.
Gorilla tape.
Double sided waterproof tape.
Aircraft shears.
Sharp box knife.
Philips screwdriver.
Tape measure.
Patience, lots of patience.
Access to spare uppers, so if you screw up, you can start over. Measure twice and cut once.
Ready? Here we go.
Strip the upper down to the frame.
Lay everything out to make sure you have all the parts. Frame, upper skins, sheet plastic, screws, tape.
Lay the frame on the sheet plastic and trace around the outside. You want to cut the plastic with no overhang. It should cover the frame completely though. Top to bottom, side to side. This is going to support and tie your sliders to the frame. The skins won't do it. Use aircraft shears to cut the plastic out. Test fit and trim as required. It should cover the frame but not hang over.
Gorilla tape the plastic sheet to the frame. Be generous. We're looking for mechanical strength here. I didn't go all the way to the bottom of the frame, and should have.
Don't put the skin on yet. Flip the fame over, plastic side down. Lay the window frame retaining piece in where you want the slider to go. Center it up and mark the inside of the frame on the plastic. Give yourself a generous 1/8" or so of extra material to work with. The slider frame should just slip into the opening with a little persuasion.
Take the slider out when it fits, and put the skin on the frame. Trim the skin to just hang over the opening, inside first - then outside. Use double sided tape to position and hold the outside skin to the plastic sheeting perfectly aligned. Once everything is trimmed to fit and the outside skin is taped, flip the assembly over, inside up. Slide your window into the opening. Put the retaining ring on and screw it down. Make sure all edges are tucked in and smooth. Viola! Your done.
