Installed Bestop Superdoors (soft doors) on Unlimited
05-28-2009, 06:04 AM
#14
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I have super doors too!
I installed mine last fall and had the same issues. At first I was pissed that I paid $1000 for them and they fit like crap... I had them on my last TJ and they were incredible. But the more I lived with them and learned to tweak them the more I liked them.
I started doing the same things, adding weather stripping bending and tweaking it did help but I realized particularly at highway speeds they wouldn't stay tight to the vehicle at the top of the doors. I mostly bought these for muddy trails so I added weather stripping (3" actually!) to the bottom which bestop should have built into them... and that keeps the mud and water out. I seldom have the upper doors on them anyway but at highway speeds they pull away...
Until I cut a bungee cord that is fitted to perfectly stretch across the vehicle and clamp to the tops of the windows. So on a highway trip I simply loop the cord and it makes a super tight seal! It works very well! I have a bar running down the middle of the jeep's rollbar cage and at the center the bungee cord is tied. When not in use the 4 cors get clipped and looped above. This way I can bungee all 4 doors seperately.
For the most part it works very well! It is still loud at highway speeds though.
Hope that helps!!!
I started doing the same things, adding weather stripping bending and tweaking it did help but I realized particularly at highway speeds they wouldn't stay tight to the vehicle at the top of the doors. I mostly bought these for muddy trails so I added weather stripping (3" actually!) to the bottom which bestop should have built into them... and that keeps the mud and water out. I seldom have the upper doors on them anyway but at highway speeds they pull away...
Until I cut a bungee cord that is fitted to perfectly stretch across the vehicle and clamp to the tops of the windows. So on a highway trip I simply loop the cord and it makes a super tight seal! It works very well! I have a bar running down the middle of the jeep's rollbar cage and at the center the bungee cord is tied. When not in use the 4 cors get clipped and looped above. This way I can bungee all 4 doors seperately.
For the most part it works very well! It is still loud at highway speeds though.
Hope that helps!!!
05-28-2009, 06:45 AM
#15
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If I were to pay $1000 for some soft doors, I expect them to fit and perform almost perfectly out of the box.
With the issues that you guys described, I would think a fair price would be $500-$600 for a set of 4.
05-28-2009, 08:44 AM
#16
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Until I cut a bungee cord that is fitted to perfectly stretch across the vehicle and clamp to the tops of the windows. So on a highway trip I simply loop the cord and it makes a super tight seal! It works very well!
05-28-2009, 10:26 AM
#17
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I've been wanting a 'summer door' option for a while now, and pulled the trigger this year on the Bestop Superdoors for my Unlimited Rubi. Got them installed yesterday in preparation for a wheeling trip this weekend.
Install is pretty straight forward per the manual, but, they do take some tweaking/bending in order to get them to seal well. Lots of on/off, adjust, repeat. That being said, they are soft doors and I doubt will ever seal as well as factory. I noticed a gap at the bottom front of all the doors that I can't get rid of, an just filled it with weatherstrip foam from Home Depot. I rained all last night, and even before the weatherstrip, there were no leaks.
I drove them today at highway speeds and noticed a little flapping, solved that by putting some pipe insulation around the metal frame. I also noticed the tops of the front doors wanting to pull away above 50 mph, solved that by bending them in further at the next stop. There is a bit of a trick to closing them though -- from the outside I pull out on the front corner to keep from binding the door in the corner where all the sensitive foam/rubber pieces are. When closing from the inside, do the same just push out.
One thing to note during the install -- on the fronts, make sure you have the latches rotated down. They are rotated up in the rears, but you will be misaligned by a few inches in the front if you do the same. Instructions don't specify. Pic attached of the wrong way.
Overall I think they will serve their main purpose -- keeping the factory doors off the rig on wheeling trips for protection, giving more of the summer feel, and they'll be sweet as half doors with the top down.
Install is pretty straight forward per the manual, but, they do take some tweaking/bending in order to get them to seal well. Lots of on/off, adjust, repeat. That being said, they are soft doors and I doubt will ever seal as well as factory. I noticed a gap at the bottom front of all the doors that I can't get rid of, an just filled it with weatherstrip foam from Home Depot. I rained all last night, and even before the weatherstrip, there were no leaks.
I drove them today at highway speeds and noticed a little flapping, solved that by putting some pipe insulation around the metal frame. I also noticed the tops of the front doors wanting to pull away above 50 mph, solved that by bending them in further at the next stop. There is a bit of a trick to closing them though -- from the outside I pull out on the front corner to keep from binding the door in the corner where all the sensitive foam/rubber pieces are. When closing from the inside, do the same just push out.
One thing to note during the install -- on the fronts, make sure you have the latches rotated down. They are rotated up in the rears, but you will be misaligned by a few inches in the front if you do the same. Instructions don't specify. Pic attached of the wrong way.
Overall I think they will serve their main purpose -- keeping the factory doors off the rig on wheeling trips for protection, giving more of the summer feel, and they'll be sweet as half doors with the top down.
SWEET!!!!
05-28-2009, 11:46 AM
#19
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Too much Green?!
Well I agree they are too much money. My Jeep is just a summer toy... I was going to sell the hard doors to buy D60's and just run the 2 piece doors... after having them for a month decided that plan wouldn't work!!!
Since I tweaked mine they don't rattle, they are just loud like an old CJ soft top or something.
If I were doing it again I would save the $$$ and buy cheaper half doors (that cover all the way to the bottom of the doors) that would just keep the mud from coming in.
But now that I have them I really do love them and wouldn't want to part with them. I rarely use them with the uppers, usuallu just lowers for wheeling. I like that the uppers can easilly be carried on my rear trunk rack and don't take up any space and are very safe from 4wheeling branches etc...
I am not sure I have a pic without the tops on but maybe I will shoot one tonight.
Since I tweaked mine they don't rattle, they are just loud like an old CJ soft top or something.
If I were doing it again I would save the $$$ and buy cheaper half doors (that cover all the way to the bottom of the doors) that would just keep the mud from coming in.
But now that I have them I really do love them and wouldn't want to part with them. I rarely use them with the uppers, usuallu just lowers for wheeling. I like that the uppers can easilly be carried on my rear trunk rack and don't take up any space and are very safe from 4wheeling branches etc...
I am not sure I have a pic without the tops on but maybe I will shoot one tonight.
