Home » Why The Jeep Liberty’s ‘Sky Slider’ Roof Was An Absolute Disaster That Forced Owners To MacGyver Strange Fixes

Why The Jeep Liberty’s ‘Sky Slider’ Roof Was An Absolute Disaster That Forced Owners To MacGyver Strange Fixes

2008 Jeep Liberty Sport With Industry Exclusive Sky Sliderâ„¢ Ro
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Ratchet straps, custom latches, glued on glass, welded-on sheetmetal — the list of MacGyvered solutions to the second-generation Jeep Liberty’s disastrous Sky Slider roof problem is enormous. Why? Because after thousands of people purchased a cool fabric roof for their off-road vehicle, in short order they found themselves high and dry (OK, not dry), with no replacement parts anywhere to be found. 

The second-generation Jeep Liberty, internally coded as the “KK,” arrived in 2008 as the successor to the first-generation Liberty, the controversial Cherokee XJ-replacing “KJ” (you know, the round one that always looks happy). The KK was a boxy, bankruptcy era, hard-plastic-filled, underpowered Jeep considered by most as mediocre at best. It was decent off-road, and did have a couple of neat special editions, plus it offered one whiz-bang feature that nobody else had: A fabric sliding roof called the Sky Slider. It was genuinely cool at first, but within a few years, that nifty feature would become a seemingly unsolvable headache for many people who regretted ever having ticked that option box.

The Sky Slider opened up nearly three-quarters of the KK’s roof area via a motorized canvas cover that slid back or forward and folded itself, accordion-style. It was cleverly engineered with an obstacle-detection system to prevent the mechanism from jamming, and multi-position adjustability so occupants could decide how much sky to…slide.

Vidframe Min Top
Vidframe Min Bottom
2008 Jeep Liberty Sport With Industry Exclusive Sky Sliderª Roof
Stellantis

The feature looked great, but many who bought a KK Liberty with the fabric top would now tell you that it totally wasn’t worth it.

Click the video above to see Sky Slider in action (it’s just a six second scene). You’ll notice how it opens from the rear, though in the image before it opens from the front. It was clever — when it worked.

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Why Did It Become So Problematic?

When I say the Sky Slider became problematic, I don’t mean the concept itself; it’s awesome. I wish more manufacturers offered a unique sunroof option like it. (I know Land Rover offers a similar canvas top on the current Defender — and knowing their brand reputation, say a few prayers that it doesn’t fail).

No, the primary problem that plagues these Sky Sliders is that they all eventually fail. And it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. They were simply not built to last.

 

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The shocking videos above, posted by Ryan Nicolosi, whose Liberty was turned into a veritable rain forest due to Jeep’s faulty Sky Slider design, should drive home what the problem is.

The number of Jeep Liberty owners with broken Sky Slider roofs is astronomical. In fact, every single model year that Jeep offered the Liberty Sky Slider, 2008-2012, has loads of complaints from customers to the U.S. government’s vehicle safety organization, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). One owner writes that their Sky Slider just… fell off:

Components Structure Copy
NHTSA

“Millions of people are experiencing this issue all around. It failed me right away! After on (sic) incident when I was driving on highway the Sky Slider just came off!!!  It almost caused multply (sic) accidents!” reads the complaint from Brooklyn.

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Another Liberty owner complains that their Sky Slider came off the tracks, wouldn’t close, leaked, and also almost fell off:

Components Unknown Or Other Copy
NHTSA

“Skyslider roof unhinges off track and leaks terribly. Almost blew off on highway while driving 65 mph. Cannot be put back on track,” the complaint from Poughkeepsie states.

Sky Sliders were even reportedly ailing Liberties that have under 50,000 miles on them — that’s pretty sad. This owner writes that theirs failed at 44,000 miles:

Components Electrical System Structure Copy
NHTSA

“The contact had to forcefully shut the roof after the cables disconnected from the guide rails with the convertible sun roof,” the complaint reads, before going on: “The contact called Rothrock Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, but the parts were too hard to obtain so they did not want to attempt to make any repairs.”

These complaints were only from the 2011 model year, but if you go through the other years, you’ll find similar ones detailing the same issues.

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There’s also a Facebook group titled Jeep Sky Slider Roof Problems.” It documents the many issues Liberty owners have been facing with their Sky Sliders. The cover picture is a stained headliner, damaged by water leaking through the roof:

Roof Problems Copy
Facebook

 

I’m not entirely sure how much it costs to repair or replace a headliner, but I imagine it’s not a cheap or easy job. Also, I’d be worried about mold or bacteria growing beneath the fabric. Not exactly the best thing to breathe in. At least you can open the sunroof for some air, oh wait…

Repair? Parts? Nope. Good Luck!

Screen Shot 2023 06 01 At 12.07.30 Pm
Stellantis

[Editor’s Note: I wanted to get an idea for how exactly Sky Slider roofs fail, so I did a little digging. 

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The video above shows the basic mechanical setup (just watch the 30 seconds starting where the clip above begins). There’s a pair of motors and some cable-driven transmissions that pull the fabric top (which is stiffened by some cross-bars) along a track. Various metal and plastic pins and levers are responsible for making sure the Sky Slider glides along the track and locks into place when open/shut. 

Screen Shot 2023 06 25 At 9.45.02 Am
Screenshot: Jeep Creep (YouTube)/ adapted by David Tracy

As I understand, either parts of the track break, the motor fails, or — perhaps most common — the cable itself strips. No, it doesn’t break, it strips. How? Well, the cable is a special “flexible rack” style cable, meaning it acts as a rack (like a steering rack) while the electric motor spins a “pinion.” As the motor (forward or reverse, i.e. open or close) spins, it rotates its pinion gear, which rides along the cable. 

I asked member of the aforementioned Jeep Sky Slider Roof Problems Facebook page, Jeepz Organics, to help me understand why these roofs fail, and he sent me the photo below showing the motors and controllers. The gear on the bottom left runs along an aforementioned cable (“flexible rack”):

No description available.

Jeepz Organics also showed me these images below, which, though a bit dark, show the cables that pull the Sky Slider along the track; the cables are tripped, Jeepz Organics told me, and can thus no longer act as flexible racks that move the roof:

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No description available.

No description available.

Here’s a screenshot of the cable all bunched up, causing the Sky Slider to fail:

No description available.
Screenshot: Kang Wang (YouTube)

I asked Jeepz Organics what exactly is going on. Here’s what they told me:

The cable is just a helix cable [representing] the length of top that a motor moves with a gear, and often times the cable strips out. It has to overcome way too much leverage to move the top from the rear to the front.

The forces on that top are just too great while open for the under engineered track assy
So it seems like the forces needed to slide the Sky Slider along that track are too high for the motor and cable-driven transmission to handle. It’s worth noting that I’ve also seen other failure modes on the Sky Slider Facebook page, and sometimes it seems the various plastic and aluminum parts in the track itself can give folks grief. In any case, the whole situation is bad. Anyway, back to Rob. -DT]

What do you do when your Sky Slider fails? Do you place a brick on the accelerator of your Liberty and drive it into a lake? Do you scrap it? You can move to Yuma, Arizona, the driest city in the United States, and drive your Liberty around with a broken, but open Sky Slider without fearing any incoming rain.

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Not For Sale Exclamation Points Copy
Factory Chrysler Parts

 

Finding a replacement top for your Liberty will be, well, difficult. The part was discontinued by Chrysler, officially. Searching the part number 68055315AF brings you to Chrysler’s factory parts page where it’s currently unavailable and will be, well, forever.

I particularly like the excessive usage of exclamation marks after the “NOT FOR SALE” statement. It shows the dire situation at hand with the Sky Slider. Chrysler really wants you to know you’re flat out of luck.

So you can’t buy an OEM replacement top from Chrysler. But what about a secondary parts source? Another quick Google search brings you to MoparPartsGiant, which states about Sky Slider bits: “This part is discontinued.”

Mopar 680553 Copy
MoparPartsGiant

 

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However, Chrysler Dodge Jeep of McKinney, Texas, seems to have an assembly in stock! It can be yours for $1320.90, discounted from the original price of $1985.00.

Frame Folding Top Copy
Chrysler Jeep Dodge City Of McKinney

That’s right, a nearly $2,000 part for an old Jeep that’s maybe worth $7,000. Oh, don’t forget to throw in another $2,000-$3,000 in labor costs to install a new Sky Slider. That’s a lot for most individuals to spend on unnecessary features. Sky Slider Liberty owners seem to agree and have creatively developed temporary fixes and solutions, as I will now share.

Solutions (Sort Of)

Digging into Youtube, Reddit subthreads, Facebook Groups, and forums brings a handful of different methods Liberty owners have resorted to to “repair” their broken Sky Sliders. One man in Mexico had a bunch of parts custom-made out of aluminum:

 

One owner, The World as Seen by Tom on Youtube, installed window clamp screws into the runner of his Sky Slider, permanently securing the front of the top to the rails and frame of the roof.

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Another solution is to buy a sheet of polycarbonate plastic and insert it into the rails where the old canvas top would have been. This eliminates the Sky Slider top entirely and is a much cheaper option. However, polycarbonate is still not cheap, costing around $500 depending on the sheet size. Additionally, now your Liberty has a giant fixed piece of thin glass without a shade. This is exactly what Liberty owner Brian Halbasch did on his daughter’s Jeep:

Brian Halbasch Copy
Facebook- Brian Halbasch

Some folks have used tinted glass as a solution. Leigh Hazelbaker, for example, posted these images of her Jeep’s new lid:

No photo description available.
Image: Leigh Hazelbaker
No photo description available.
Image: Leigh Hazelbaker
No photo description available.
Image: Leigh Hazelbaker

Leigh told The Autopian’s Editor-in-Chief David Tracy a bit about her situation:

Yes it’s a mind bender that Jeep knew of this issue, stopped producing the sky slider yet also stopped producing the parts. The dealer offered me no solutions and if it wasn’t for this FB page, I wouldn’t have found this workable solution. I hope you will be including the various solutions to the problem because at this point, that’s what really matters.

This job was apparently done by Liberty Auto Glass Plus out of Bailey, NC (talk about an appropriate name for a business — no, they don’t just do Jeep Liberties). Jerald Wilks also used this shop, and with nice results:

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May be an image of indoor
Image: Jerald Wilks

 

May be an image of 1 person and outdoors
Image: Jerald Wilks
 
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Image: Jerald Wilks
No photo description available.
Image: Jerald Wilks
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Image: Jerald Wilks
 
It looks great, honestly. Per Wilks, this glass lid required “No fasteners.. Lots of glue!! ???? They also put some type if rubber sealant over top of the glue to protect from weather.”
 
Then there are folks who have cut out a hard-top from a non-Sky Slider Jeep Liberty KK, and welded it over their Sky Slider’s openings. YouTuber Kang Wang did just that:

In case you don’t want to watch those long videos above, here’s a screengrab showing the dire situation — the Liberty owner had to buy an entire Jeep Liberty top section, chopped off at the pillars!:

Screen Shot 2023 06 25 At 8.40.13 Am
Screenshot: Kang Wang (YouTube)

Here’s a look at Liberty owner Dustin Glenn’s welding work (he tack welded it because thin sheetmetal gets too hot if he lays down a continuous bead, and thus can warp, so he alternates between various parts of the roof with small tacks until it’s completely welded). Presumably Glenn ground the welds nice and flat, then painted over top, though I don’t have an “after” photo:

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No description available.
Image: Dustin Glenn

But fixes get much, much more creative than that. The aforementioned user named Jeepz Organics installed some Jeep Wrangler-Style latches for their roof solution

 

Screen Shot 2023 06 25 At 8.42.52 Am

The setup is rather elegant, with the entire latch mechanism attaching to the Sky Slider above the headliner, out of line of sight:

356278294 1739108479880930 619934347235689427 N
Image: Jeepz Organics
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Image: Jeepz Organics

Perhaps less elegant, but still effective is this ratchet strap fix by Facebook page member Thomas Moore:

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Screen Shot 2023 06 25 At 9.09.39 Am
Image: Thomas Moore
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Image: Thomas Moore
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Image: Thomas Moore

Then there’s Esau Gonzalez from Mexico, who had his broken Sky Slider parts custom-made out of what appears to be aluminum:

Screen Shot 2023 06 25 At 10.45.20 Am Screen Shot 2023 06 25 At 10.46.16 Am

However, among the impressive MacGyvers is one true hero, and his name is Mikey Siddons, owner of A&B Upholstery in Baldwin, New York — a man who personally specializes in fixing the broken soft tops that plague these vehicles. He says that he has fixed “well over a hundred of these sky slider systems” and if parts are unavailable (hint, they are!) he “fabricates and modifies them to work with no problems.”

Mikey Siddons Copy
Facebook

 

Although not particularly cheap, around $1,700, Sky Slider owners are extremely satisfied with the work that Mikey puts into their Jeeps. I found this Liberty owner who traveled all the way from Florida just to get her Sky Slider fixed. Now that’s dedication!

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Regina
Facebook

We’ve reached out to Mikey to learn more about what he does, but haven’t heard back. In any case, he seems to be, according to that Facebook group, the only outfit in the entire U.S. that can fix these Liberty Sky Sliders.

What a shame that Jeep designed this roof so poorly, and what a shame the brand discontinued a part that was inevitably going to break, abandoning all customers who have broken Sky Sliders that leak water into their vehicles. But ingenious fixes and heroes like Mikey turn this story into a positive one — a display of human resourcefulness.

My best advice? Skip buying a Liberty. Oh, and one with a Sky Slider too. It’s not worth the hassle. Buy yourself an old YJ Wrangler and take the top off of that. Although you might run into other problems … Just Empty Every Pocket, they say.

This story included reporting assistance by David Tracy.

 

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Drew
Drew
10 months ago

Complaining about EV coverage on an article that is in no way about EVs? Not recognizing that EVs make up an ever-increasing percentage of newsworthy automotive goings-on? Expecting the folks running the site to also pump out articles at an unsustainable rate?

Well, looks like you’re doing your part to make the comments as rough as that other site.

There’s enough content here that you should feel free to skip articles you don’t think pertain to your interests. And I looked at the front page and counted all the articles. 18 non-EV, 2 EV-related (both cold starts with other, non-EV stuff). We could call it 17 and 3 if you wanna throw the Bishop’s imagined hybrids into the EV category (which would not be accurate, but I’m trying to be generous). 4 of those bylines were Jason, one was David (and David’s was pretty thorough).

I can appreciate that you’d rather lodge a complaint to try to improve things instead of leaving, but I don’t think your complaints are really fair. There’s a lot more to running this site than simply writing articles, and I think the folks here are doing a pretty darn good job balancing it all.

Last edited 10 months ago by Drew
GreatFallsGreen
GreatFallsGreen
10 months ago
Reply to  Drew

I’ll add too, I feel like I noticed less articles by them too*, but I also see DT/JT “editor’s notes” on a lot of articles too, so even if it’s not the same to some, I’d say they are still visibly involved with the content that’s put up.

*This could just be because I realized with the recent Glorious Garbage article that there hasn’t been a Mercury Monday in a while, they faded away. Unless that was like Mercury and supposed to be the joke all along.

Ranwhenparked
Ranwhenparked
10 months ago

Also, remember David and Jason are also running the site itself, they’re writers here, but they’re also management for the other writers and probably also handling a lot of behind the scenes business stuff, it isn’t realistic to expect them to basically fill the entire site with their own content on a daily basis, given the entire workload, that’s why there’s a team

Drew
Drew
10 months ago

Yeah, they absolutely write less than they used to, but they are doing a lot of other things, such as editing (as you rightly point out). I think a lot of people forget or don’t realize that editing isn’t simply checking spelling and grammar. They help rewrite for style choices, approve articles, assign articles, schedule articles, and try to ensure the site remains as cohesive as appropriate. They definitely have a hand in most goings-on around here.

As to Mercury Mondays, that was unsustainable from the beginning, but it did fade pretty quickly. Wouldn’t be surprised to see one soon, since you’ve mentioned it.

Last edited 10 months ago by Drew
GreatFallsGreen
GreatFallsGreen
10 months ago
Reply to  Drew

Yeah, if we had a Mercury Monday every week since its inception, we probably would have covered the entire historical lineup by now, lol.

Drive By Commenter
Drive By Commenter
10 months ago

This seems like just the thing that 3D printing was made for. Print the necessary parts in nylon or ASA and rip it apart.

Dogisbadob
Dogisbadob
10 months ago

Shitty problem they can’t or won’t fix. It’s a Jeep Thing.

There are other cars with canvas sunroofs, and they work just fine. The E36 318ti had one available, for example.

Zeppelopod
Zeppelopod
10 months ago

Mate, not trying to sound glib or anything, but did you get hacked? This rant seems out of character for the ghostpedalsyndrome we know and love.

Taargus Taargus
Taargus Taargus
10 months ago
Reply to  Zeppelopod

Yeah this seems a bit out of character. What’s going on here?

Drew
Drew
10 months ago
Reply to  Zeppelopod

Yeah, this does seem weird. Are you going through some stuff ghostpedal? Or maybe starting a new medication that causes irritability? Maybe look at whatever recent changes you’ve gone through, because things can affect us in ways we don’t immediately notice.

Fix It Again Tony
Fix It Again Tony
10 months ago

That’s what buying a car with sunroof means. After a few years, you’re lucky that it can stay closed and doesn’t leak. And don’t test your luck and try to open it.

GreatFallsGreen
GreatFallsGreen
10 months ago

People say this and I get it that it’s another part to fail, but I’ve had 6 cars with moonroofs, 3 of them over 10 years old and 2 over 100k miles when I got them (so not garage queens) and never had an issue* with leaks or not working.

Problematic sunroofs do exist, but those seem to be more from bad design and show up much much sooner, not years in. And they seem to be more common with panoramic roofs – the two examples that come to mind are the prior GM Lambda SUVs with leaky rear skylights and the Mk7 Golf Sportwagen* pano roof.

*I do have some concerns over my GTI moonroof, but that seems to be more the fitment and build quality, not leaks. And although I do like moonroofs I kinda wish it were more regular units than pano ones especially with how some OEMs package them (why does a power liftgate require a pano roof, Kia?).

Maymar
Maymar
10 months ago

I had a beater ’97 Cavalier with a sunroof, it worked great and was leak-free at 250k kms. I mean, I know ’90’s GM was the absolute pinnacle of build quality, but still, there’s more going on than just sunroofs being problematic.

GreatFallsGreen
GreatFallsGreen
10 months ago
Reply to  Maymar

My first car was a ’94 SC2, and now that I think about it the Saturn sunroofs were notorious for breaking. But mine worked fine, even if the rest of the car other than the polymer body panels was crumbling.

TOSSABL
TOSSABL
10 months ago

Depends on the manufacturer. I had several 20+ yo Mercedes with sunroofs. No leakage problems once drains were cleared of debris from sitting. One 300SD had a failed motor—but Mercedes provided a way to manually crank it at the motor mechanism. The other SD just needed an afternoon’s cleaning & lubricating for the stock motor to work the sunroof.

It pays to pay attention to the ethos(at time of manufacture)of the corporation you are buying a product of. Only Mopar/AMC I’ve owned was from 1982—and was actually a Mitsubishi (‘Plymouth’ Sapporo)

Cerberus
Cerberus
10 months ago

This is one of those weird complaints I don’t understand. Five sunroofs, 2 aftermarket, over 900k miles covering 30 year span of production with no leaks. One had the wuss safety thing that would sense phantoms if I attempted to close it on a bumpy road, but a 20-second recalibration fixed it (or not closing it while traveling over bumps). None of the people I know have had issues on anything built since the ’90s, either. It seems like the mystery power window failures people who lament the loss of “more reliable” manual cranks claim where all I remember for window failures were regulator problems unrelated to how they were powered or were hand cranks breaking off. Sure, they’re just anecdotes, but that’s all any of it is.

Nick Fortes
Nick Fortes
10 months ago
Reply to  Cerberus

Knocking on the biggest piece of wood I can find, I haven’t had sunroof issues in decades and I have strictly owned VWs and Audis. The last sunroof issue I’ve had was on my old 1994 Mk3 Jetta roof. Even that had a backup little Allen key that still allowed me to open and close the roof after the motor gave out.

Jason Torchinsky
Jason Torchinsky
10 months ago

This doesn’t feel exactly fair. I’m writing all the time! There’s new stories every day! I mean, it’s 2 am and I’m doing some research for a bunch of videos we’re shooting tomorrow. We’re trying, man. I’m sorry you feel that way, and we always want to be better, but we’re just humans, or close enough. We’re happy to have you here, regardless.

Danny Zabolotny
Danny Zabolotny
10 months ago

I’m more amazed that there are people out there who care enough about their Jeep Libertys to keep fixing this. It’s not an amazing vehicle in any other sense, hardly worth keeping alive.

BMW had a similarly stupid huge sunroof on their E34 tourings (92-95) where it was two huge metal lids that would move around to allow you to open the sunroof in the front or in the back at the same time. It was stupidly overcomplicated, underbuilt (everything is plastic) and has no real parts availability, leading owners to have to engineer their own fixes. At the very least those big E34 sunroofs don’t fly off, they just rattle and leak water into the interior when the drains clog.

DadBod
DadBod
10 months ago

The liberty may be lackluster, but these owners probably have paid it off. It makes sense to figure out a way to keep it on the road.

Auto Guy
Auto Guy
10 months ago

Before you blame Chrysler, it seems that the Sky Slider was a German design — as evidenced by the Continental and VDO motor hardware. I’d sure like to know who the system supplier for this debacle was. Google does not seem to know.

JumboG
JumboG
10 months ago
Reply to  Auto Guy

Cable being bad seems awfully similar to the sunroof problems on my W124 MB 300E

BentleyBoy
BentleyBoy
10 months ago
Reply to  JumboG

came here for this. Had to replace my MB sunroof cable lot of the same vibes.

Taargus Taargus
Taargus Taargus
10 months ago
Reply to  Auto Guy

If there’s anything the Germans are truly awful at, it’s overly complicated sunroof design.

See: Every VW sunroof over the last 15 years.

Hoonicus
Hoonicus
10 months ago

Nobody did the VW camper style pop up ?!?!

DadBod
DadBod
10 months ago
Reply to  Hoonicus

seriously missed opportunity

Slow Joe Crow
Slow Joe Crow
10 months ago

I’m astonished that Chrysler managed to screw up something Webasto had been doing since 1937. Fabric sunroofs are mature technology so there was no excuse. Of course this does raise the question of how feasible is,retrofitting a genuine Webasto roof and how costly?

Auto Guy
Auto Guy
10 months ago
Reply to  Slow Joe Crow

Auto supply is a tough gig. Webasto is most recently famous for screwing up the hard tops on the Ford Bronco.

Ranwhenparked
Ranwhenparked
10 months ago
Reply to  Slow Joe Crow

I was going to say, way to over-complicate something simple, hell, every Citroen 2CV built essentially had this. Why did it have to be motorized? The Liberty isn’t a big vehicle, how hard would it have been to just have a manual latch by the rear view mirror and just have people slide it back by hand, with maybe the metal rails dimpled to create stops that would hold it in place if you wanted it partially open. Its like they intentionally designed it to fail out of warranty and be impossible to fix so you’d go back to the dealer and buy a new Jeep, except, how is an experience like this going to make anybody want to buy another new Jeep?

Also, I’d be very surprised if that dealer actually has the part in stock – more likely the webpage hasn’t been updated since ca. 2015 and you’ll get a different answer if you actually call them on the tele-phone machine.

Last edited 10 months ago by Ranwhenparked
GreatFallsGreen
GreatFallsGreen
10 months ago

I want to say in a recent DT article about the KL Cherokee, one of his pics with preproduction/test mules on an off-roady type course was a Trailhawk with a fabric roof retracted – seemed like they were maybe going to offer a Sky Slider roof but canceled it closer to production for reasons outlined here.

The 2000s were an interesting time for moonroof experimentation though – Nissan gets pointed to as a frequent example for the Maxima and Quest, plus the Frontier Open Sky fabric roof that didn’t reach production. But pano roofs were popping up in many spots in addition to the Sky Slider – GM with the multipanel pano roof in the G6/Aura (that was also problematic), plus the Lambdas with the rear skylight, and the Malibu Maxx too.

Cerberus
Cerberus
10 months ago

As I read the part of it using a cable, my immediate thought was why not a toothed looped belt with the forward lateral rib (most distant from the motor) secured to the top of it so that, as the belt was turned clockwise or c-clockwise, the forward rib would move either forward or back? Like the powered rib, all the ribs would ride on longitudinal runners that also serve to maintain alignment (t-slot or something to that effect), but they would travel free of the belt, the powered rib pushing them back toward the motor as the roof opened and pulling them forward as it closed. I put more effort into typing this than thinking that solution up, so I don’t know the specifics, where idler pulleys might be needed, or how it would hold up (though likely a hell of a lot better than what Jeep came up with), but WTF, Jeep.

RKranc
RKranc
10 months ago

The system looks kind of like the mechanism in a lot of old power radio antennas with a plastic rack cable. In my experience the antennas are also when, not if, failure parts.

The Dude
The Dude
10 months ago

On that fix that the guy has done for hundreds of other Jeeps, I’m curious if what he did was able to fix inherent reliability issues with this soft top.

And btw, I’d totally be the one to tick that option box if given the chance.

Crank Shaft
Crank Shaft
10 months ago

Hi Rob,

Glad to see you back and I hope your recovery has been going well. Great post.

Shooting Brake
Shooting Brake
10 months ago
Reply to  Crank Shaft

I was getting worried because we haven’t seen any new articles from him in the past 2-3 weeks! So I’m glad to see him back publishing content gain.

Shooting Brake
Shooting Brake
10 months ago
Reply to  Shooting Brake

again

Mr Sarcastic
Mr Sarcastic
10 months ago

Two questions;
1. How can the amount of Jeeps that have had this problem be called astronomical and the sales of the option on Jeeps offering it be called in the thousands?
2. Didnt this type of canvas sunroof exist pre WWI through WWII? How did they solve this issue?

Gerontius Garland
Gerontius Garland
10 months ago
Reply to  Mr Sarcastic

They were manual slides, which is what Jeep should’ve done to begin with. “Power ALL the things” is a trend that is well past its prime.

Ranwhenparked
Ranwhenparked
10 months ago

Its completely stupid, designed to “wow” the sort of people who are impressed by one CUV having a dashboard touchscreen that’s a barely noticeable fraction of a centimeter larger than the touchscreen in a competing CUV.

Last edited 10 months ago by Ranwhenparked
Mr Sarcastic
Mr Sarcastic
10 months ago

Thanks.

Detroit-Lightning
Detroit-Lightning
10 months ago

I used to work for a sunroof supplier – absolutely maddening products to deal with. Moving parts, electronics, display parts, glass, water concerns, weight, anti-pinch requirements, etc.

Tough, competitive, market too…

I still like a nice panoramic roof – but there’s just so much that can go wrong…

Goblin
Goblin
10 months ago

A strange engineering choice indeed…

Another strange one: I wonder if the Fiat Stilo’s pano roof was better or worse reliability-wise:

https://youtu.be/kdEe6jvrbqc

Last edited 10 months ago by Goblin
Kasey
Kasey
10 months ago
Reply to  Goblin

Wow that looks pretty much the exact same as what GM was putting on G6s

Phantom Pedal Syndrome
Phantom Pedal Syndrome
10 months ago

Introducing Lanum Products Inflatable targa tops.

Canopysaurus
Canopysaurus
10 months ago

Another great Spit Take, Rob (and David). Not only would I never buy one of these (Why punch holes in a perfectly good roof; if you want open air, by a real convertible.), now you know why I’ll never buy clothes with nylon zippers, either.

Phantom Pedal Syndrome
Phantom Pedal Syndrome
10 months ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

As someone who is very particular about my jackets, chore coats and pants ($$$ at purchase but last for years) I approve this message. I prefer easily repairable snaps or buttons over zippers any day. And that type of thinking translates into my automotive thinking as well.

Last edited 10 months ago by Phantom Pedal Syndrome
Ranwhenparked
Ranwhenparked
10 months ago

Also Jerry Seinfeld’s point about not wanting sharp interlocking metal teeth around a certain area. It may have been a comedy bit, but it is logical

TOSSABL
TOSSABL
10 months ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

I just did buy a real convertible —but it’s a BMW w/ 176k miles. And, (lol), I couldn’t get it to close the top when I pulled the hard top off…

A quick look at the wiring diagram showed they ran the circuit through the brake light switch—I assume so idjits wouldn’t try to work while moving. Whew!

MrLM002
MrLM002
10 months ago

Stuff like this is why I think ALL convertible tops should be manually extended and retracted (unless they’re easily removable and replaceable like the Jeep Wrangler tops). I rarely ever see manually actuated convertible tops fail, but there are tons of power convertible tops that get stuck down, and that’s with abundant parts availability and dealerships that’ll fix them. Wait till the OEM stop supporting your power top and see how much fun you have keeping it working.

Most convertible car interiors I’ve seen are not waterproofed at all, and considering all the different ways a convertible top can fail, break, be damaged, etc. I think that any convertible without a waterproof interior is not worth buying.

When your convertible top fails you and you don’t have a waterproof interior you best hope it won’t rain or snow in the near future and that you got room in your garage for your convertible while you wait for it to get worked on, and that the place that it’ll be worked on has a place to store your car inside between the time you drop it off with them and the time you come back to pick it up.

Mr Sarcastic
Mr Sarcastic
10 months ago
Reply to  MrLM002

Also why when i buy seat covers neoprene and when i replace radios marine grade.

The Dude
The Dude
10 months ago
Reply to  MrLM002

Agreed. Thankfully my 17 year old Toyota convertible has a nice back-up for the powered top. If the motors fail, you can just raise and lower the top manually without a problem.

Ranwhenparked
Ranwhenparked
10 months ago
Reply to  MrLM002

Yeah, I test drove an old Pininfarina Spider Azzura (rebadged Fiat Spider 2000), one of the things I was pleasantly surprised by was how easy the convertible top was to use – a 1960s design, just unlatch and fold it back. Isn’t technology generally supposed to make things easier over time? Why are we regressing with convertible tops and sunroofs?

Jack Trade
Jack Trade
10 months ago
Reply to  MrLM002

Old girlfriend had a VW Cabrio with a hydraulic top. Eventually the fittings broke and try as I might, I couldn’t find any replacements.

But wasn’t hard to drain the system and turn it into a manual top. Raising and lowering it took maybe a minute and yeah you had to get out of the car, but it wasn’t really a big deal.

Preston Flowers
Preston Flowers
10 months ago
Reply to  MrLM002

I got into Miata’s for a minute with an NA and some parts cars and yes the manual top is where it is at, now I have a C4 coupe so also a manual top. The wife has a TJ with a hardtop so we have top off day at some point in the late spring but we do have a car port and a couple shops to park in if something comes up.

Cam.man67
Cam.man67
10 months ago

My dad has an ‘08 Liberty we bought for $800 at 200k miles. It doesn’t have a Sky Slide but it does have a sunroof, one that leaks terribly. To its credit, in the rain, the water channels down inside the Apillar and onto the carpet, rather than dripping on one’s head. But the headliner is easily as bad as the pic posted in the article, abd the fix appears to require a lot of removal and frustration. So he ignores it. As I would too, given he paid less than a grand for it. It’s a fine beater, leaky or not.

Eggsalad
Eggsalad
10 months ago

They had to reinvent the wheel instead of just calling Webasto, who has been making sliding ragtops since the late 1950s, who could have just made this correctly.

Sarah Bell
Sarah Bell
10 months ago

Having owned a DaimlerChrysler-era Neon that they were never able to fix the leaking sunroof on, and a Dakota they were never able to fix the leaking windshield on, the only surprise is that they even attempted something this ridiculous.

StillNotATony
StillNotATony
10 months ago

I saw one of these for sale a while back, and I was tempted. I wasn’t really in the market at the time, and now I’m glad I didn’t take the leap!

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