Soft Top goes Bang Bang Bang over bumps

[AZDIESELPIG]

When I got my JL the soft top had this little metal on metal rattle and when I started looking to see what it was , I noticed one the backets that holds the plastic track to the passenger door was cracked. Dealer ordered the part and it took about 10 days...over that 10 days the rattle tuned in to a loud bang when bumps in the road would cause some side to side movement of the top. I never test drove the Jeep, I test drove one on the lot but this one was on the showroom floor and I liked the color better so we just switched units...my mistake probably LOL

Dealer replaced the plastic bracket and I was hoping that would solve the issue...it didn't...any rough spots in the road , uneven road transitions like bridges, dirt roads caused the noise.

Trip number 2 tech was unable to replicate the noise

Trip number 3 I went with the tech - was able to replicate the noise

Trip number 4 took Jeep in for them to trouble shoot...said the tightened various bolts on the soft top issue resolved. Took the Jeep home and it was defeinetly much better, I actually thought they got it fixed until I crossed a bridge...then it made the noise on the dirst road to me house. So I will say its 70% better than before.

Dealer wants me to take it again to have tech look at to see what can be adjusted - I feel this is a huge waste of time as they already had it to trouble shoot and make adjustments - I cant see how you would "adjust" the top anyway.

I got to looking around and I think I found what the issue is. The right hand end of the bow that is directly over the sound bar is banging against the bar it lays next to when the top is closed. The bar is part of the hinge. You can see on the end of the bow where it wore a hole through the felt and the bar is scuffed where its making contact.

My gut feeling is the frame of this top is tweaked and needs to be replaced. I do not see similar issue searching other forums and the interwebs, so this must be a rare issue.

 

[DeJkUnlimited]

I dont have much to add other than I moonlight doing professional installs directly for Bestop as a sub-contractor. it’s interesting to see the differences between the Mopar top manufactured by Bestop and the closet other product, the Supertop Ultra. Subtle but noticeable when you see them frequently. The Bestop version the cross bows are round tubes vs square as pictured and the curve at the end is also less pronounced with no felt. if I were you I’d definitely be after a new top. If they won’t you could probably tweak that side bow bracket just enough to enlarge the gap. Maybe also add some additional felt. Rattles are annoying as hell.

 

[AZDIESELPIG]

I dont have much to add other than I moonlight doing professional installs directly for Bestop as a sub-contractor. it’s interesting to see the differences between the Mopar top manufactured by Bestop and the closet other product, the Supertop Ultra. Subtle but noticeable when you see them frequently. The Bestop version the cross bows are round tubes vs square as pictured and the curve at the end is also less pronounced with no felt. if I were you I’d definitely be after a new top. If they won’t you could probably tweak that side bow bracket just enough to enlarge the gap. Maybe also add some additional felt. Rattles are annoying as hell.

It doesn't seem to be a common problem. But, the training of Service writers and salespeople sucks and they rarely know anything about Jeeps other than the basics.

My service writer wanted to test drive a JL off the lot and see if it made that same noise - I told him if they did you wouldn't sell any. When I showed him this video he was really surprised - he told me he thought I was just hearing wind buffeting....