Sunrider owners - MY mess-up, or theirs?

[ShadowsPapa]

Something does not seem right. I have the 2020 JT overland and have the BestTop Sunrider. First install took 30 minutes, but now it 's 10 minutes to remove and stash the Freedom tops and install the sunrider. Wonder if the Sunrider is warped?
The front seal is about even with the leading edge of the sunrider as it is compressed.
My doors definitely don't hit and no seals are displaced.
Tight seal no air leaks and drive through touchless car wash with no water leaks.
When installing, I latch the front before I tighten the bolts and install the center clamp last.
I also go back and forth front right, front left, back right, back left and just tighten to when I see it start to suck down, then go back and snug them up to try to get them even.

Is that your youtube video (Punkin Mojave?) I watched before installing mine?

I was skeptical of putting it on myself until I watched the video. I have an old bedspread/comforter my wife threw away and put that up on the roof, a piece of cardboard because I'm paranoid (and the cardboard made it slide easier)
It literally slid forward right into place with no problem.

I'm normally a stickler for specs and such -but like the hard top, I'm skipping the torque specs bit on the sunrider. It's not going anywhere. It's also real simple to double-check later.

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[DBravo]

Is that your youtube video (Punkin Mojave?) I watched before installing mine?

I was skeptical of putting it on myself until I watched the video. I have an old bedspread/comforter my wife threw away and put that up on the roof, a piece of cardboard because I'm paranoid (and the cardboard made it slide easier)
It literally slid forward right into place with no problem.

I'm normally a stickler for specs and such -but like the hard top, I'm skipping the torque specs bit on the sunrider. It's not going anywhere. It's also real simple to double-check later.

Not my video, though i do also use a comforter when installing. I keep my Orange Alien Sunshades installed year round so the comforter allows me to lay the Sunrider on the roof and slide it forward. The sunshade bungees pass through the same holes as the bolts for the Sunrider; I made little sleeves out of tubing to keep the bolt threads from fraying the bungees. I've kept my rig pretty much bone stock right down to tire size 'cause we travel in it and like how it rides. Still get 20-23mpg at 96k miles and still on my 2020 original batteries. I turn off the stop /start every time. My wife uses the stop/start and had to change out the batteries on her '21 JL earlier this year. hmmmmm

I appreciate the the no nonsense knowledge you share in your posts.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

It's supposed to be raining all day Tuesday, but I will probably take mine to the dealer after I get back from dropping off my wife's JLU there for the Safelite damage repairs.
At least a couple of people here, and JeepCares, said start there, JC said contact them if I need a case and case manager assigned.
Will be interesting as what my sales guy said - he'd never seen one installed, and didn't know of any around the dealership with the sunrider.
But that's where it needs to start, so I'll follow the processes as advised.
Maybe we'll get lucky and can find a 2024 or 2025 model year with a sunrider installed!

 

[Mister Lamb]

Sounds like youre friendly with your dealership which helps. I am curious how warranty works on items not installed by the factory. How would they know you didn't install it wrong (not saying you did). I know these NY dealers would be quick to toss the blame in my lap

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Sounds like youre friendly with your dealership which helps. I am curious how warranty works on items not installed by the factory. How would they know you didn't install it wrong (not saying you did). I know these NY dealers would be quick to toss the blame in my lap

Nice thing is, you really can't mess up the install. It sits directly on the top rails of what I call the roll cage. If the bolts go in, it's lined up. It's sort of like putting in the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Ran wife's JLU over to dealership collision center, got a ride over to rental car place, Safelite furnishing rental until her Jeep is fixed. Still a lot of running around - 40 minutes there, waiting around, then 40 minutes home, then hopped in my JT and drove back over there and talked to Scott, the sales guy.
Showed him the situation. He'd never seen one installed, and heard of no issues.
So he said pull it in and he'd have a service advisor look at it.
We all looked, compared to the seals on other Jeeps there, and how the normal freedom panels interact with seals and gaskets. The SA looked things over - he'd never seen one installed or worked with any before............
But he did take some notes, got a copy of the install instructions, and saw how the seals were compared to how they should be, and how the right side almost contact the right door and is cutting the seal on that side.
Appointment for next Tuesday. He said when I bring it in, lift he sunrider up and pull the Jeep seal back down where it belongs so they can deal with it with the factory seals in the correct location and see it as I saw it.
So I'll take the bit and ratchet with me - takes 1 or 2 minutes to loosen those bolts, lift, and pull the seal back where it should be.

At least that way, they can address it in the shop and contact Jeep or whoever they need to and go from there.

In the mean time, I'll print pictures of other sunriders members here have posted to show how it should be, and how some of us experience it.
So far, the only people I have heard from has been JeepCares. Yes, they sent me a message and said start with the dealer and go from there and if necessary, they'd assign a case manager. That will be up to the dealer.
Nothing from Bestop, but no surprise since they just make and sell them to Jeep, not support them after the sale.

 

[Trollboogie]

I took my sunrider from my 21 Mojave and put it on my 24. That little rain flap is called a mucket seal. The drivers side folded under the door frame just like yours. The passenger side fit just like it does with the freedom top . I had no other problem installing it. I just get bad wind noise coming from the front seal..Bestop told me to get the front seal replaced under warranty. I told them that there was nothing wrong with the seal..... the freedom pannels seal just fine. My Sunrider seems to not be low enough ( in the front). Just the opposite of yours.
FYI.... the Hotheads headliner will keep the crossbar from rattling when you pass a big truck. ( when closed )

 

[Bestop]

As I showed - mine can't go outside. Closing the door smashes the seal up between the top of the door and the sunrider rail - inside. You can't close the door without crushing and shoving the seal inward.

There's zero clearance for that seal.

there's no adjustment to the rail - it bolts to the frame of the Jeep, so however low it sits when it's bolted on, is how low it sits.
i would have to do what you did - GRIND the sunrider rail to make that seal fit properly and in my case, a lot! The rail almost doesn't clear the top of the door its so bad.
There's another thread where a guy posted pics of his and the sunrider rail shoved the seal down so bad it almost folded it over, downward.



Years, perhaps? I am beginning to believe that the Jeep quest to quiet down the 24 and 25 models (yes, they are a ton quieter!) means that the seals are different and things up there at that windshield header area fit differently.

If @Bestop gives the OK - then grinding it is - I'd actually thought about that, but then I didn't want to screw up any warranty - I don't know if Jeep warrants this since it's a Jeep accessory that came with the truck - or Bestop since they made it.

Grinding would also resolve the almost 0 clearance between the door top edge and the sunrider - two birds, so to speak.

Please don't grind, zero need for that, the rubber seal just needs to "cup" the front edge of the door rail, please see my response to your DM which shows the correct fitment.


~Crystal@Bestop
www.bestop.com

 

[heretic]

Crystal,
could you DM me the correct figment as well please.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Please don't grind, zero need for that, the rubber seal just needs to "cup" the front edge of the door rail, please see my response to your DM which shows the correct fitment.


~Crystal@Bestop
www.bestop.com

I have a dealership appointment Tuesday.
There isn't any way that seal can sit properly - the sunrider simply sits way too low at the front on my truck at the front, and plenty high at the back. It slopes down badly front to back.
Others picture an even gap between sunrider rails and the top of the door.
Mine slopes heavily downward as it goes forward.
(Even the guys who looked at it at the dealership while I was asking them advice were confused as to how low it sat at the front)

It's cutting away at the right door seal.......... The underside of the sunrider rail is like a rasp, or a course file. Nothing smooth about it and it rubs/crushes this part of the door seal.

These were smooth before the sunrider went on, the front is almost cut through now

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Crystal,
could you DM me the correct figment as well please.

The gap between sunrider and top of the door should be EVEN, front to back, back to front. The gap should be exactly as it is with the freedom panels in place, nice and even.
The mucket/seal should sit exactly as it does with the freedom panels in place - so if you open your door with the freedom panels ON, that's how things should look with the sunrider in place.

And for many, it does - but for quite a few others, it's a bad fit.

This is correct -

NO WAY IN HELL mine will ever fit that way! No way, and others have found the same in some cases.

Mine - Also look at theirs and see how high the whole front edge sits - mine just sits way too low even across the front at the top of the windshield. Compare theirs sitting proud of the windshield frame - mine sits down in, lower.

 

[heretic]

OK that helps to see THERE stance on what the correct figment is.
But as for me and just like you have so eloquently stated…
“NO WAY IN HELL”
The drip rail is wrong as least for my application and MUST be modified.
Or maybe tuck it behind the drip rail and that’s just a water funnel.
Is there a 2024 and newer part# for the drip rails?
What about the front latch on the rail? Are they all the same?
In the end I just made mine fit and moved on.
Wish you the best of luck.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

OK that helps to see THERE stance on what the correct figment is.
But as for me and just like you have so eloquently stated…
“NO WAY IN HELL”
The drip rail is wrong as least for my application and MUST be modified.
Or maybe tuck it behind the drip rail and that’s just a water funnel.
Is there a 2024 and newer part# for the drip rails?
What about the front latch on the rail? Are they all the same?
In the end I just made mine fit and moved on.
Wish you the best of luck.

From what I can tell - Jeep has changed the seals/gaskets/mucket 2 times in the last 5 years. My 2020 was very different, then along comes a change in 2022 for rain dripping on you resolution, and my 25 looks different than my wife's 2023 does - so, maybe another change??

But the sunrider has not changed.
On the other hand - if MINE fit like the one pictured and what others have shown theirs to fit, I'd not have any issue with it.
The fact that the door gap disappears and that part of the seal is cut on mine - well, that's a sunrider fitment issue.

The door gap alone is a bold, in your face, indication there's a problem with it. That gap should be even and the sunrider should fit there like the freedom panels do.
Mine does not.

Since there's no adjustment - you set it on top of the Jeep's roll cage rails, insert the bolts, it's done. There's nothing to adjust.
Taking the bolts out, lifting and setting it down again does nothing because it's going to sit right back down on that Jeep framework!
Set top in place.
Start the side bolts by hand.
(some prefer to go ahead and latch it at this point)
Torque the bolts.
Put the rear clamp in place and install those two smaller bolts.
Done.

It's like putting your oil cap back on - it goes on, or it doesn't. You can't adjust it.

 

[Gatorized]

Wondering if there is a difference in the fit of your freedom panels if you tried swapping them to compare fit on previous year JTs… would that correspond to how the Sunrider fits.
also wondering if there could be a tolerance issue between slope of the windshield and maybe the rear of the hardtop has some movement front to back that would allow for a difference in measurement for the freedom panel area - still in tolerence for the freedom panels to fit, but messing up the Sunrider fitment.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Wondering if there is a difference in the fit of your freedom panels if you tried swapping them to compare fit on previous year JTs… would that correspond to how the Sunrider fits.
also wondering if there could be a tolerance issue between slope of the windshield and maybe the rear of the hardtop has some movement front to back that would allow for a difference in measurement for the freedom panel area - still in tolerence for the freedom panels to fit, but messing up the Sunrider fitment.

The issue appears to be where the sunrider sits on top of the Jeep's framework.
The sunrider literally sits on those side rails of the structure. There are two "pads" on each side of the sunrider. Those pads sit down on the tops of the Jeep rails. Bolts go up through into the sunrider holding it where those "pads" sit on the Jeep structure. I'll try to get pictures later with the top open - it's easy as heck to see it.

The panels fit like a glove, no issues.
But the sunrider sits on different spots than the panels sit. Only the front edge and the rear edge of the sunrider sit and seal in the same locations as the panels sit and seal.

Another sunrider would tell what's going on. Find a sunrider that sits perfectly on another Jeep - wrangler or gladiator, won't matter, as long as it fits perfectly on that Jeep - then try it on mine.
If it sits perfectly on mine - it's my sunrider. IF not, then it's a Jeep issue.

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