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Coverking Topliner - Review & Install

staying_tuned

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:: UPDATE - The top liner is still fantastic but I wanted to add that it seems as though CoverKing treats some folks like annoyances. Read some of the responses from folks like @beachyetti who ordered one color, was sent another, then was told no returns. Their website is fresh out of 1995 and the swatch ordering process is extremely fraught. Proceed with caution. It's starting to sound like my issue-free ordering experience was the exception, not the norm. Call your order in. Since it seems as though they can't accurately reflect their own colors with a camera, I wouldn't risk ordering anything other than black. Again, I have zero regrets but it's frustrating to see folks dealing with these kinds of issues. ::

Howdy folks, after a trip from PA down to FL and back one thing that started bothering me on the ride back was general wind and road noise. We had our little ones with us so I couldn't crank the radio. I love sound deadening, it has been such a rewarding process in past projects and while it can be time consuming, it's incredibly easy. My goals were to drastically reduce sound while aiming for an OEM look & feel.

I'll refrain from any this vs. that product. I'm thrilled where I landed on this and the results are beyond my expectations. Easily the most impactful sound deadening install I've done, primarily because the panels are just so horrid at preventing intrusive sounds from entering the cabin. Anything is an improvement. This is transformative.

Ordered the topliner with 10% off (code -> BYEBYE2021) over the phone. They were fantastic to deal with. I was planning to go charcoal but the lady I spoke to said, with jeeps specifically, many owners who get charcoal say its far too light. I opted for black and received the topliner 4 days after I ordered it.

I was originally planning to go with 50 mil deadener. Once I realized how poorly the panels insulate against sound, coupled with the slight tolerance on the topliner itself for variation, I decided to bump it up to NVX 80 mil. A 20 sq/ft roll is $55. I used about 3/4 of the roll.

I opted to pick up a few rolls of 3M auto grade double-sided adhesive tape. You'll see my additional tape lines in the pics. I'd highly recommend doing this.

Results: Everything from the way the radio now sounds inside to the gratifying thud of the door closing to the drastically reduced road noise leaves me thinking I should have done this first. My sons and I no longer have to talk loudly to hear each other while they are in back, wife loves them. All in I'm at just below $500.

Random Tips:
- Get extra double-backed adhesive tape. You'll want to shore up a few lines (see pics) and like others have reported, I was missing two small adhesive sheets that apply to the freedom panels. I ended up just cutting another wider piece lengthwise to cover for it while bolstering it with my own tape.
- Number your clamp feet as you remove them. I used sharpie.
- Roll the deadener in. Rollers are $5 and well worth it. Prep well.
- Use new razors when trimming excess material, they glide through quickly and produce sharp fuzz-free lines.
- Heat all adhesive surfaces and their target with a hair dryer or heat gun. Makes deadener easier to lay down and greatly improves overall adhesion.
- I ended up taking twice as much time and I had planned only because it was enjoyable and I'm half OCD. If I had to do it all over again by myself, I'd plan for an entire weekend. These newer panels are lighter so I was able to remove and re-install all panels myself but the overall working space to get this done needs to be pretty big.

Onto pics & notes:

The material itself is quite plush. There were some reviews where someone mentioned being able to see through it. That was not the case for me at all, I had my iPhones flashlight backed flush against it and could barely see any specs of light.

Jeep Gladiator Coverking Topliner - Review & Install 0_plush



NVX 80 mil sound deadener.

Jeep Gladiator Coverking Topliner - Review & Install 1_nvx-sound-deadener


General process goes as follows.

1. Pull rubber stoppers & rotating clamp feet. Coverking includes a small set of tools to help. Very easy.
2. Wipe down with alcohol
3. Heat both the the panel and the adhesive surface of the deadener. Apply then roll the s*it out of it. I've got rollers from past projects but get a $5 roller on prime, well worth it and necessary when dealing with vertically hung deadener.
4. Peel back adhesive panels and place. Go back over it with heat (heat gun on low or hair dryer on high will do) and apply the carpeted piece from the center outward. Roll the carpet as well, using your hands to get get into all nooks and crannies.

Jeep Gladiator Coverking Topliner - Review & Install 2_heat-prep-sound-deadener


Jeep Gladiator Coverking Topliner - Review & Install 3_deadener-applied


Jeep Gladiator Coverking Topliner - Review & Install 4_rear-roof-prepped



Once a panel is done, set it aside and allow the glue to setup. You'll need a razor blade (ideally with a few fresh blades to cycle) to trim material in a few places where they simply include too much. With a new blade, it cuts easily.

Jeep Gladiator Coverking Topliner - Review & Install 5_freedom-panels-carpeted


Jeep Gladiator Coverking Topliner - Review & Install 6_rear-roof-completed



Installed pics. It's a bit hard to try to get good angles but essentially the results look & feel OEM in my opinion.

Jeep Gladiator Coverking Topliner - Review & Install 7_freedom-panels-installed


Jeep Gladiator Coverking Topliner - Review & Install 8_installed-sound-bar


Jeep Gladiator Coverking Topliner - Review & Install 9_interior-rear-completed
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Shawnu22

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Very nice, thanks for the write up. I have been considering this and now think I will go this route.
 

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That looks excellent and great write-up. I'm convinced of the CK despite some of apparent issues. Did your liner come with the diagram for the adhesive sheets?
 
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staying_tuned

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That looks excellent and great write-up. I'm convinced of the CK despite some of apparent issues. Did your liner come with the diagram for the adhesive sheets?
Thanks a ton, yeah it has been over a decade but I've worked with their floor liners before and felt that unless their quality went entirely south, it couldn't be as bad as some of the reviews. It's such a niche market, I couldn't understand how they could even stay in business if they started putting out garbage so I took a gamble on this over the other options out there.

They really should have labeled the adhesive pieces. Such a simple thing would have prevented me from pausing the install video, scaling it up, sending it to my printer yada yada. Boo hoo, 1st world problems but a lame oversight.

I was also missing 2 small pieces. It wasn't an issue, I just cut two others in half lengthwise plus I had some tape to supplement but again, simple oversight that has been noted all over the web yet they do nothing about it. It adds up and leads me to believe that they designed this (like their floor liners back in the day when they were B2B only) to be installed by a professional installer and never really prepped the instructions etc. for consumers.

That said, I'd do it (first, before anything else) over again in a heartbeat but I wouldn't bother unless I was also adding sound deadener.
 

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JTDay

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Thanks a ton, yeah it has been over a decade but I've worked with their floor liners before and felt that unless their quality went entirely south, it couldn't be as bad as some of the reviews. It's such a niche market, I couldn't understand how they could even stay in business if they started putting out garbage so I took a gamble on this over the other options out there.

They really should have labeled the adhesive pieces. Such a simple thing would have prevented me from pausing the install video, scaling it up, sending it to my printer yada yada. Boo hoo, 1st world problems but a lame oversight.

I was also missing 2 small pieces. It wasn't an issue, I just cut two others in half lengthwise plus I had some tape to supplement but again, simple oversight that has been noted all over the web yet they do nothing about it. It adds up and leads me to believe that they designed this (like their floor liners back in the day when they were B2B only) to be installed by a professional installer and never really prepped the instructions etc. for consumers.

That said, I'd do it (first, before anything else) over again in a heartbeat but I wouldn't bother unless I was also adding sound deadener.
That's funny you mention the professional install part because I had the same thought based on how ill-prepared the instructions are. My primary motive is sound damping since my truck is my DD, but the CK seems to invite you a bit more into a vehicle as opposed to feeling like you're getting in the hull of a boat and that's a HUGE plus for me. Thanks again for sharing your results.
 

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I was originally planning to go with 50 mil deadener. Once I realized how poorly the panels insulate against sound, coupled with the slight tolerance on the topliner itself for variation, I decided to bump it up to NVX 80 mil. A 20 sq/ft roll is $55. I used about 3/4 of the roll.


NVX 80 mil sound deadener.

Jeep Gladiator Coverking Topliner - Review & Install 9_interior-rear-completed
Great writeup, appreciate the work!

I have my CK liner, I'm just waiting for my hardtop to get delivered. I decided I wanted to do the sound deadening as well, but I was worried the liner wouldn't fit over a thicker underlayment.

Did you have any fitment issues?

Can you confirm this is what you used:
https://nvx.com/nvx-sdbtk20-premium-stealth-black.html

I can't find it listed at 80 mil thick only 91, so I want to make sure I get the right size...

Thanks!
 
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staying_tuned

staying_tuned

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Did you have any fitment issues?

Can you confirm this is what you used:
https://nvx.com/nvx-sdbtk20-premium-stealth-black.html

I can't find it listed at 80 mil thick only 91, so I want to make sure I get the right size...
Zero fitment issues, they nearly just fall right into place. Every nook and cranny is molded into whatever form they are using. They include a little extra material around the door opening portions that once is easy to trim with a good sharp blade. I’d say about 1/4” that you could likely ignore but getting the finish trim on it and straight would be challenging.

As for the NVX, I laughed at myself when you pointed out that it was 91mm. I’ve used this product many times because it just felt a bit more robust than other 80 mil options. I assumed that the others were trying to get one over on me and maybe labeled it 80 when really it was 70 never realizing it was 91 mil hah. No wonder, NVX just made it thicker.

I believe this is the same only silver vs black. I opted for black based on the reviews of the material being thin. Any color will work, you can’t see anything through it but here is where I got it:

https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item-133809-NVX-SDBTK20-Premium-Stealth-Black.html

I’ll record a quick video walk around later today for sure.
 

869 KPH

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Appreciate all of the details, @staying_tuned; Not a lot on the board from what I've seen considering how nice of a finished look this is. I am thinking about a CK but wanted to try and match the saddle seats. It was pretty hard to get them to send me swatches of this particular product, but in case anyone else is interested:


Update - Super unimpressed with what they finally sent me. Sounds like the finished product is pretty nice, but these swatches seemed to be poor quality. None of the colors really look right for me. I did order an ARE CX Classic with the headliner so I may just wait until it arrives and then try to match that color instead.

Jeep Gladiator Coverking Topliner - Review & Install 9_interior-rear-completed
 
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staying_tuned

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Appreciate all of the details, @staying_tuned; Not a lot on the board from what I've seen considering how nice of a finished look this is. I am thinking about a CK but wanted to try and match the saddle seats. It was pretty hard to get them to send me swatches of this particular product, but in case anyone else is interested:
Whoa, that is pretty horrible. Thanks for posting these, zero chance I'd trust anything other than black after seeing this. Even the carpeted textured versions of the tan seem like an entirely different structure. That twill looks pretty nice but seems way too thin. The black is very clean cut and sharp, not fuzzy at all if that makes sense. I'll be posting a video, I'll try to show what I mean.
 

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This is a great write up. I bought Hot Heads based on the quality, but now that i see how much coverage the CC provides, which allows much more use of sound deadening, I may need to re-think my approach.

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Looks so much better than the factory! I want to do this to my Mojave, but like you I am OCD and unfortunately my Mojave wont fit in my garage.

What was the time frame from start to finish? For other liner options I know you need to sand the top for the adhesive, but I don't recall if this needs to be done for the CoverKing one (I am assuming it does)?

Regardless.... I need to do this lol. Like @JTDay said - its much more "inviting" to have this vs the plain hardtop.
 

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Looks so much better than the factory! I want to do this to my Mojave, but like you I am OCD and unfortunately my Mojave wont fit in my garage.
Oh man this just brought up some apartment living PTSD of trying to finish projects in the parking lot as quickly as I possibly could.

Is it a height thing? Could you just drop your air pressure a lot?
 

JT-Mojave

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Oh man this just brought up some apartment living PTSD of trying to finish projects in the parking lot as quickly as I possibly could.

Is it a height thing? Could you just drop your air pressure a lot?
Haha it’s a height and possibly width but I don’t even want to try lol.

I could run it over to my parents but I’d have to do the top outside or leave the JT outside so either way isn’t viable I guess. As long as I can get it done in a days work I’m cool with it.
 
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staying_tuned

staying_tuned

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Haha it’s a height and possibly width but I don’t even want to try lol.

I could run it over to my parents but I’d have to do the top outside or leave the JT outside so either way isn’t viable I guess. As long as I can get it done in a days work I’m cool with it.
A day would be no problem at all for sure. We have a 5 and 7 y/o and much winter prep & mitigation up here on the mountain etc. so projects like this are always, at best, 3rd priority at any given moment this time of year unless I can somehow weave in safety as a selling point to moving my jeep stuff up the ladder of priority hah. Mine wont fit in the garage either so I had to pull my RTT off. Got it back on afterwards so as mentioned above, for me, yeah a full weekend.

Heat retention is fantastic, hit the trails this weekend so my boys could sled. This is our 4th Jeep, love them all but basically in single digits and below, our jeeps just bleed heat so fast I can tell when stopping at a gas station. Jumping back in after sledding we were pleasantly surprised. This may be a downside come summer but all of us would rather be uncomfortably hot than cold, especially my wife.


Jeep Gladiator Coverking Topliner - Review & Install Screen Shot 2022-01-19 at 10.25.12 AM


Jeep Gladiator Coverking Topliner - Review & Install Screen Shot 2022-01-19 at 10.26.00 AM


This is a great write up. I bought Hot Heads based on the quality, but now that i see how much coverage the CC provides, which allows much more use of sound deadening, I may need to re-think my approach.
Based on the community feedback I think if we were more extreme with our adventures I would have gone Hot Heads in a heartbeat because it blends practically with function so well. Easy to install, clean and does what it was designed to do. At resale, HH seems like it can be kept or optional by the buyer whereas it would be a PITA to get the top-liner out. I was purely going on my experience with CK stuff long ago and willing to give it a shot. We travel quite a bit. Off to TX in March then AZ in June. I do 99% of the driving so even slight comfort increases will add up. Love my seat jackers btw, I installed them awhile ago but never said anything to my wife post install. Weeks went by and she hopped in to back my truck up. She hopped back down and punched me square in the chest for not ordering her a set : o ) Now we have a set on the passenger seat hah.
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