New Window for my Jeep

I love my Jeep Wrangler and that's part of the story here. How far will I go to please my Jeep? Read on.

The driver side window in my Jeep was beginning to show signs of wear and tear, but cosmetics don't bother me much. A Jeep w/character is what I call it. What finally got me to get some new windows, or as they're called in the world of all things Jeep - skins (just the plastic and not the frame) was that the window would no longer zip up. Yes, the zipper was stripped in multiple places (the passenger side window zipper is busted too). Miraculously, rain has not seeped in via the unzipped portions. But I did not want to test my luck and so I broke down and got the new skins. 2 for $219.

But there's a trick to dealing w/the plastic windows on Jeeps ... they need to be pliable. WTF. I know this, but I live in Ohio and I don't have a garage. So I'm waiting for a sun shiny day to pop along when I can change out the windows. Keep in mind, when I bought the windows the guys says "you should be able to put them on yourself, just be patient". WTF. When you get that type of advice after a big purchase, watch out.

Patience did eventually work, but not before I nearly broke down and cried. Here's what happened:

It was supposed to be 74 degrees on Saturday ... I had been reading the weather all morning on the radio and I was confident that this was the day to put in my new skins. But time got away from me and before I knew it, it was 4 p.m. I had dinner plans for 6 p.m. but I can do this, right? Apparently not. By 5 o'clock, I was searching for a shoe horn. Yep, that's the tool of choice for this job. You see, the skins were not very pliable, read: soft enough, to get around the corners of the wire frame so I needed something to pull it over the top and not rip the fabric.

Long story longer ... I went to dinner w/out the window on the driver's side. Not a big deal, but it was getting cooler and I knew that I'd have to make it through dinner quicker to get back to my task because of course, there was rain in the forecast. I got home a little after 8 and headed straight for the bathroom and the next tool of choice, a hair dryer. Need this to make that window pliable since Mother Nature did not work in my favor.

I bought the window in the house and I wrestled w/that frame for about 20 minutes. Patience. Patience. The shoe horn was of no help since it was plastic and began to bend. I finally ended up using a screwdriver. I was a bit fearful that I would puncture the plastic and be back at square one w/a busted window. But the screwdriver worked like a charm as I used it to guide the pliable plastic window over the frame. The screwdriver seemed to be saying "why didn't you ask me for help sooner?" Silly me, but I love my Jeep and I can see clearly now - at least out of the driver's side window...