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DIY Writeup: The FIX for the drip rail water leaking that anyone can do

JAY

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Copied from JLWF, DIY by rubi-zero:

Ok so I been a long time Jeep owner since the 90’s so I have seen the wrangler come along way, as many of you have, from what it use to be to what it is now with the JLUR. With all the tech and creature comforts that are packed into these Jeeps at this time today I am a little surprised we have water streaming into the cabin when we open the door and it has been raining outside. Those that are familiar with this issue know it’s not a drip or two but can be a pretty steady stream if it’s been raining alot. This has been pretty annoying to me since the night I picked up my first JL in the rain.

Since that night in 2018 I have tested several solutions to try and solve this problem, some worked better then others.

First I tried to block the end of the drip rail with stacked 3m tape like a dam, but that only slowed the stream down. This was really just testing the theory of blocking the end. I believe I had some very small gaps on the sides of the tape so kind of my fault with poor execution. I thought I could improve this solution by using a dab of silicon at the end of the rail as well, and for the most part that worked pretty good, unless it has been raining really hard and overflows or I parked on a decline and it over flowed the end. I also tried to use heat shrink to cap the end of the rail. I thought if I capped the end it would help it from over flowing or would hold the water in on a decline. Again this didn’t really work to my satisfaction. After this attempt I tried to extend the rail with rubber further towards the windshield frame, but I hated the look of the end result and couldn’t live with this very long.

When I picked up my 2020 JLUR in Nov. I had a different approach to this issue and I believe I have finally created a solution that works.

I went to Lowe’s and was on the hunt for something I could execute extending the rail better. I picked up two vinyl self stick door sweeps and some velcro that had adhesive tape so you can apply it to different surfaces. The vinyl door sweeps that I purchased did not come in black like I wanted, so I had to make the choice between dark brown, white, gray or clear. I purchased the clear knowing I was going to paint them black.

This is 1of the two door sweeps I purchased from Lowe’s, they were about $3 each. The door sweeps can be found in the weatherstripping isle. It comes with self adhesive ready to be applied.

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This is the velcro that has adhesive on each backside.

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Once I got home I measured out how much of the door sweep I would need to extend the rails. I decided on 21”. After I trimmed it to 21inches, I decided to trim 1/8 inch off from the edge of the adhesive taped.

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After all the cutting was finished, I wanted to paint them black. I used a scotch-brite pad to knock the shine off of the door sweep and then wiped them down with an alcohol pad. I used fusion satin black paint to paint the side without the adhesive. Since it was clear, I only had to paint one side. after letting the paint dry it was time to test if this was all going to work like I thought.

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I ended up trimming the ends to not be so squared off. I don’t think it really matters, for me it was more pleasing to the eye. Once I peeled the red adhesive back, I did leave about 5 inches of red tape cover from the top portion. The adhesive tape will only be on the front part of your windshield frame starting right past the rubber seal all the way up until you reach that 5 inch piece you didn’t peel off yet. like the picture below.

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Once you get the door sweep set in place, cut a piece of soft sided velcro. it should match the length of the rest of the door sweep. Now you will pull the rest of the red adhesive back and the adhesive back to the soft sided velcro and attach them together.

Once this is completed. Now you just have to get the hard side of the velcro and cut that to match from the end of factory drip rail to the end of the door sweep that you just installed the soft velcro to. It should be about 3 inches.

Once that is done, its complete

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now you have drip rails that are extended and you will still be able to remove the top whether you have a soft top or a hard top. I have a premium soft top, but I don’t see any reason why this shouldn’t work for the hard top freedom panel.

So far this is the best solution I have come up with that has been working so far very well. As a licensed aircraft mechanic, This was only going to test the theory to see if it would actually function well, because I was going to fabricate them out of aluminum, but over time I actually have grown to really like them how they are. I like how simple they are and its very easy for anyone to replicate. Also they are very inexpensive. Anyway I just wanted to share this, and hope it helps someone. Sorry for the long post, there are probably some mistakes in here, as I did this all from my iPhone. If there needs to be any clarification please ask.

-John

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mojocho

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I can not for the life of me understand why there needs to be a fix for this.

When it has or is raining, I just run my fingers from one end to the other end of the drip rail right before I open the door. It pushes all the water out. Then when you get open the door... Nothing left to drip in.

No need to worry about this when leaving the car because you were just moving so the rain isn't collected.

Even if I forget to do this, my wet boots bring in more water than the dropping.

Kudos for the ingenuity and tenacity though...
 

Gren71

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Gatorized

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Clever idea. - I like the Velcro to attach to roof. I was experimenting along the same lines using pallet strapping. I work in a warehouse so see all variations of pallet strapping in various colors, widths and materials - fiber , plastic, steel. I cut some plastic strapping as you did but not quite as long as I experimented. It’s the perfect width in that space between the windshield and door. Attached with electrical tape. But am thinking a strip of 3M Trim tape will probably work in a final product. Does not have to extend out beyond the windshield frame, just match up with the roof gutter so it directs water down along the windshield frame and away from the interior. No specific results to report yet, but we haven’t hit the rainy season yet.
Don’t know why FCA didn’t put a gutter on the inside edge such as this - if they were just eliminating the gutter that has existed since the CJs to streamline for mpg improvements or a cleaner look, hiding it under the windshield frame would have done both and kept the water out.

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I can not for the life of me understand why there needs to be a fix for this.

When it has or is raining, I just run my fingers from one end to the other end of the drip rail right before I open the door. It pushes all the water out. Then when you get open the door... Nothing left to drip in.

No need to worry about this when leaving the car because you were just moving so the rain isn't collected.

Even if I forget to do this, my wet boots bring in more water than the dropping.

Kudos for the ingenuity and tenacity though...
That has not been my experience at all. Everyday that I drive in the rain and park my the truck, incline, decline, flat ground, water comes pouring into the truck. I don't think I'll be using this fix, but I certainly wouldn't mind a fix for it.
 

Mopar King

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I can not for the life of me understand why there needs to be a fix for this.

When it has or is raining, I just run my fingers from one end to the other end of the drip rail right before I open the door. It pushes all the water out. Then when you get open the door... Nothing left to drip in.

No need to worry about this when leaving the car because you were just moving so the rain isn't collected.

Even if I forget to do this, my wet boots bring in more water than the dropping.

Kudos for the ingenuity and tenacity though...
Yeah, this seems silly. Falls under the "its a Jeep thing" philosophy. Interior made for water.....just deal!

Next we are going to look to eliminate the problem of rain getting inside with the top down :)!

But to each is their own. Congrats for being innovative on your rig!
 

Slapping_Rabbits

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I really like this. It has been raining a lot and i think i might do it. However, I'm going to slightly modify it because if it run it down in the cabin with a filter and into a french press, I can have some cold brew ready to go in the am.
 

noside85

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i don't understand why it doesn't seem to be a big deal to see a constant stream of water dripping into an expensive ass toy. Water has a tendency to go where it wants, if I could prevent or delay its eventual contribution to rust or damage why not? Just because it can doesn't mean it should.
 

Rav34653

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I came up with this fix, I won't know how well it really works till the rainy season comes but I think it will work fine, Items I used were nebulizer tubing, duct seal, contact cement, goof off cleaner, I cut the tubing on an angle for more open surface area and placed 2 inches in the tract.I used duct seal around tubing and the tract. to make a water tight seal, I use contact cement on both the door/windshield frame and the tubing and waited 10 minutes before attaching, I cut the bottom to the tube where windshield Frame ends. I used goof off to clean excess contact cement,

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Gatorized

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I came up with this fix, I won't know how well it really works till the rainy season comes but I think it will work fine, Items I used were nebulizer tubing, duct seal, contact cement, goof off cleaner, I cut the tubing on an angle for more open surface area and placed 2 inches in the tract.I used duct seal around tubing and the tract. to make a water tight seal, I use contact cement on both the door/windshield frame and the tubing and waited 10 minutes before attaching, I cut the bottom to the tube where windshield Frame ends. I used goof off to clean excess contact cement,

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Freedom panels can still be removed?
 

Gatorized

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This fix applies to soft Tops, May not work for hard top
So that attaches to the support structure not the top. Pictures are too close in to tell
 

Rav34653

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So that attaches to the support structure not the top. Pictures are too close in to tell
The Rain track on the soft top is stationary and does not interfere with opening or closing the top, I don't ever plan to remove the complete soft top frame or I would have an issue with having to remove the duct seal and move the tube out of the way for the complet frame to be removed, The same issue the freedom panels have since the rain track is a molded part of the panel, Here are Pictures of the top open and closed

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