Mopar Grab Handles No Longer Fit

[Eternity]

I'm going to take off the soft top frame and grind out a little notch where the handle strap should go. The notch only needs to be deep enough for the thickness of the strap.

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[Eternity]

They don’t fit with soft-top on the rear, just front. Part of the soft top mounting system.

Well, they do and they don't. I was frustrated in custom ordering my Gladiator and including these with the vehicle, but the dealer/factory didn't install them. They just threw them under the rear seat figuring I wouldn't notice until later...which is what happened.

I really want these installed and thought I might just grind away a little of the plastic on the bottom of the rear soft-top support, but it would take away a lot of the bottom structure that appears to be very essential. Instead of filling the whole structure to give support and go through the possibility of damaging those brackets, I decided to just try to install the grip under the soft-top mount.

Unscrewing the large bolt that goes through the frame and the two smaller one connecting to the outer trim, the mount comes off in seconds. I installed the strap normally.

Putting the bracket back on was a little tricky, but I found if I put in the large through-frame bolt just enough to catch threads, then also put on the two smaller ones just to make sure the thread were connecting and not cross-threading, then tighten the smaller one and lastly the big one. I also found at times it was helpful to press down on the bracket or twist it a little to get all the bolts in correctly.

I put back on the corners and they appear to fit and seal. The rear window is a little tighter to snap in the bottom, but it works. Not sure if it is too much pressure or might stretch the window, but if I feel it is too much, I might start over, apply a heat gun to the bracket and allow it to bend over the strap and still keep its strength of form.

In the end, and after I took these photos, I did apply a heat gun for a while to software and then bent them down a little. One looks fine. The other I perhaps pushed too hard and on a little crack on the bottom. Considering that these really don't have all of the pressure on them, I think it will be fine.

 

[SergioGmz]

Sadly just joined the club, it a shame that Jeep is offering this on the website when you buy a Gladiator and these dont even fit, thats incredible wrong. Hope they fix this quick

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