ZIPPER PROBLEM

I posted earleir about a shifting problem I was having on a 2000 Jeep Wrangler Sport I had just purchased. Now I have discovered another. This morning I attempted to take the soft top down for the first time. The zipper on the left rear window is messed up. It is not missing any teeth or anything, but the teeth are out of line and prevent either zipper from zipping through to take the window out. The place where it is messed up is about six inches from the end of the zipper track. I wanted to take my top off so I just carefully pushed the window in with the top while folding it all down. I know that this will cause scratches on the window. Do I have any other alternatives? Can this be fixed without replacing the entire top? I need the help of you experts again!

Is it a "Steel Horse" top?

Maybe run a bar of soap on it. That sometimes will let the zipper get by the bad spot. I use silicone spray on mine to make them easier. It seems to last for a season.

On my CJ7 none of the windows come out. It is designed that way.

I just fold the sides and the back window up onto the roof and roll the whole works up together.

My windows aren't that bad for the age of them.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Shane wrote:

Different Zipper Problem, never mind ...

I rub beeswax on the zippers - seems to work well. You have to reapply it every so often, maybe 2-3 times per year. It's inexpensive and most craft stores sell it. Gary

Approximately 11/21/03 15:00, Gary uttered for posterity:

You might also want to try the Rain-X stick, thus getting *some* use out of it.

Rubbing with bar soap is good. Even better is to run a parafin candle on the teeth. Even better is to spray on "Boeshield" a UV protectant/wax ...... also good for spraying on electrical contacts/connectors, etc. Be careful with silicone or Teflon spray lubricants .... can soften the teeth and make them swell up.

Plastic zipper? These are generally self-healing. Lube the teeth, Bestop recommends "a silicone lubricant" for theirs but the other suggestions about beeswax and the like sound reasonable. Wiggle the slider as you tug gently on it to see if you can get it past the misaligned part. If not, pull the zipper teeth open a little at a time and run the slider back to the "open" position. The Bestop instruction sheet says that this is often caused by the slider stretching open. They recommend _gently_ squeezing the slider sides in a plier until they are parallel again. The illustration shows the slider as viewed from the plane of the fabric, so what they call "sides" is probably what you or I would call the top and bottom or insider and outside face of the slider.

_Everything_ causes scratches to the windows. It is just a Jeep thing.

Don't use soap. It attracts water. Use bees wax or parafin. You can get a "plumber's candle" at the hardware store cheap. That works pretty well, too.