FJ45 LWB Roof Cap Support?

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miker

miker

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I'm working on the roof cap of my fj45 lwb removeable top pickup.

I had to bump out a few small dents in the very rear of the cap and other than that the roof looks like its in good shape.

Here's the potential problem:
The roof is not holding its shape. It will "pop" down (out of shape) fairly easy and then stay that way. The factory rolled beads in the roof don't seem to keep it in proper shape very firmly. Once it goes down, gravity seems to keep it there.

Potential fixes:
1. do nothing, its normal. (I don't like this option)

2. add a brace running from front to back following the shape of the roof to hold it in proper shape. Kind of like the brace that runs under a non-split FJ40 hood. I could do 1 or 2 braces on the fj45 roof. (This is what I'm thinking of doing)

3. spray it with some bedliner or other thick sound/insulation material like bed-liner or lizard skin. I'm not sure this would completely fix it and then it might be harder to fix with this material on it.

If I do nothing I'm worried that the roof could pop down when traveling at highway speeds or hitting bumps in the road. :doh: I wouldn't like that.

Ideas? Thoughts?
 
Mike,

Are you going to run a headliner? If you are, tack some braces on there to stiffen it up. I was looking at mine and thought about tacking in some small tubing inside the grooves in the panel.
 
Tony,
I'm not yet sure on the headliner. If I run a headliner, it needs to be fairly close to the roof because I'm 6' tall and I don't think I have a lot of room to spare. Since I've not yet mounted seats, I'm a bit unsure of how much head room I do have. I'm also planning on putting a roll cage in the cab so I don't want anything that will come down too far and make teh cage harder to tuck up high.

Your idea of the tubing is something I hadn't thought of. I think that would work to brace the roof but not sure I'd like the look of that vs. a single brace in the middle of the roof. hummm...

If I ran a single brace, I could split a headliner in two pieces if I decided to put one in.

Since you've thought of a fix, can I assume that your roof does this as well???
 
Read through this thread from a couple of months ago - I have the "oilcan" top issue to deal with as well...
 
Awl Teq beat me to it. If you'd like, I can take some measurements of my brace for you in the link.
 
Thanks for that link. I did a search before posting this thread but obviously I didn't search on the rigtht keywords.

Seems like a common problem. And my concerns were validated by what others said in the other thread.

I'm going to add a brace of some kind. I'll try to make it look as "factory" as possible.
 
You know... when i got my HJ45, everyone kept telling me how i was not going to fit in it because i'm a big guy. 6'2" 270lbs... but i fit in the cab of mine just fine and my head isnt anywhere close to the roof of the cab. I even have quite a bit of room between my steering wheel & my big old fat belly! :deadhorse:

I went outside to see if i had any interior roof brackets that i could photo for you but none are there. Just the original creases that run front to back .
 
miker said:
Since you've thought of a fix, can I assume that your roof does this as well???
Click to expand...

Mike,

No, actually my panel is fine. I was thinking more of a preventative fix. I do not want to get it painted and then find I need to tack something in there. Ruining a paint job.

Waiting to see what you come up with.
 
wooden brace, came installed in mine, works perfect

13536178.jpg
 
If I remember correctly it was a piece of oak with a section of about 3/8 x 2", cut too long to fit inside the rails above the doors. Since the cab tapers forwards all one needs to do is pound it towards the windshield with your fist and it bows upwards, holding the top up. And no need to repaint. Must have been some kinda hillbilly engineer to come up with that....:hillbilly:
 
one of my favorite PO mods.....:D

island45 said:
If I remember correctly it was a piece of oak with a section of about 3/8 x 2", cut too long to fit inside the rails above the doors. Since the cab tapers forwards all one needs to do is pound it towards the windshield with your fist and it bows upwards, holding the top up. And no need to repaint. Must have been some kinda hillbilly engineer to come up with that....:hillbilly:
Click to expand...
 
miker said:
Tony,
...I'm also planning on putting a roll cage in the cab so I don't want anything that will come down too far and make teh cage harder to tuck up high. ...

.....that would work to brace the roof...
Click to expand...

that sounds like the solution, can´t you use the cage as a brace wich a tube running in the middle
 
soenke said:
that sounds like the solution, can´t you use the cage as a brace wich a tube running in the middle
Click to expand...

probably work but I'm hoping to make the roof keep its shape (by adding a permanent brace) without something else holding it up. If held up by the roll cage then it might still make noise being against the cage as the cage moves (they all seem to) which would drive me nuts.
 
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