Soft-top Tailgate Bar Sleeve – 1997-2006 Jeep Wrangler TJ

3D-printed soft-top tailgate bar sleeve for the 1997-2006 Jeep Wrangler TJ, made to order as an affordable alternative to a discontinued or expensive original part.

About this part

This is a model of the rubber and plastic sleeve that slips into channels on each end of the soft-top tailgate bar for the Jeep Wrangler TJ.

For the actual OEM sleeve, part of it is hard plastic and part is rubber. I don't have a multi-material extruder, so I printed the entire sleeve in TPU (flexible polyurethane), and that seems to work well in this application.

The sleeve model is exported as two bodies in the STL file, so you can split it into the plastic part and the rubber part. (In the orientation picture, the rubber part is green and the plastic part is yellow.) Then, if you have a multi-material setup, you can print the plastic part in PETG or ABS and print the rubber part with TPU.

I printed the sleeve with black YOYI brand TPU (flexible) with 100% infill. The picture of the blue test print is also TPU. The TPU prints are stringy and shiny, so it's hard to get a good picture. The white print is PETG and I only printed 5mm of the sleeve to show a clear picture of the cross-section.

I printed the sleeve vertically first, and that created a very stringy print. (I haven't really figured out how to get a clean TPU print. If anyone has good TPU settings for the Prusa MK2S, please feel free to share.)

My second attempt was better because I rotated the model to print lengthwise with the long cross-section side down on the print bed. See the picture showing the orientation on the bed in the slicer tool. If you print this way (and I recommend that you do for TPU), then enable support material.

The part, as modeled and printed, fits well into the channels in the tailgate bar and into the holding brackets on the back of the Wrangler TJ.

_Edit 07/14/18:_ I uploaded a new version that is 1mm narrower and has rounder corners to fit better in the back of the metal bar holder bracket on the Jeep.

_Edit 01/18/21:_ I uploaded a new version (v12) that has the correct model orientation within the STL for printing and has 45° sloped interiors to prevent the generation of support material on the inside of the two outer channels. The center channel still requires support material.

Compatible vehicles

• 1997-2006 Jeep Wrangler TJ

Always compare with your original part before ordering. Fitment can vary by trim level and production date.

Specifications

Print settings

No special print instructions provided.

How to order

This part is in our catalogue and is printed on request. Send us a request with your vehicle details and we will reply with a price and delivery time.

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Design credit: original design on Thingiverse, licensed CC BY-4.0.