Topic: replacing upper door skins

[stan98tj]

i ordered a new top and it came with upper door skins. i made sure the guy understood it was for a TJ. i went to replace the upper door skins (i think they are from the factory cause they were stitched in) but i ran into a snag. i cut out the passanger side window to expose the frame and i tried to the slide the new upper in-it opens with velcro-but its a tight fit and i cant get it to go in all the way! now im without passenger side window. I had noticed that the zippers on the driver and passanger windows are different-passanger side upper is much newer-but both are stitched into the frames-im assuming they are original/factory. could i be wrong??  are there different size upper door frames on the market for TJs that you can purchase with upper installed/stitched onto frame......or do i need to try this with the upper skin heated up so to speak-so as to allow the material to stretch??
anyone installed these?  will heating work? or could i possibly have one frame OEM and another aftermarket etc. i placed the new skin on the frame and it seemed to line up...will it stretch if heated?
thanks
-stan-

[FourbangerYJ]

Put them in a sunny area for awile. They will loosen up a bit. Don't apply heat to them

[Bounty Hunter]

I would lay them on hot concrete for a while, don't apply any more heat than a hair dryer.

[stan98tj]

running out of hot days here in CT...im still thinkin they may be the incorrect size, how much can i really expect them to stretch. im gonna lay em out on sunday in the sun for a whole day and then install em before it gets dark.

[sharpxmen]

running out of hot days here in CT...im still thinkin they may be the incorrect size, how much can i really expect them to stretch. im gonna lay em out on sunday in the sun for a whole day and then install em before it gets dark.

you can always run some hot water on them in the shower and rub some soap on the frame (just a thought, never tried it but i don't think it can hurt in any way, they're supposed to be waterproof)

[stan98tj]

supposed to be 80 and mostly sunny tomorrow. gonna lay em out and have em back in the backyard and when i get home from work at 5 ill quickly work on the upper skins. ill see how it goes. its a nice top and all-just the fact that it isnt ripped is a plus, but i can already tell the plastic windows are thinner than the stock top's. gonna have to be real careful when i go wheeling. the better quality tops were $400 or more, had to go cheap on this one.

[chrisfranklin]

CJ/Wrangler's need doors like Huskies need sweaters.   

[stan98tj]

CJ/Wrangler's need doors like Huskies need sweaters.   

who needs doors when ya got snow and 10 below 0 degree weather in the winter?  got the upper skins on....my fingers are killing me. this was no small feat. honestly never wanna go through that again. i also realized that my original top was in such bad shape that i had learned to take down/put up in a backwards way that proved to be the easiest without damaging the top any further...pretty much had to relearn how to put the top up cause my old methods just dont work anymore.