Choosing A Soft Top

WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
There are so many soft tops on the market. We're a little overwhelmed on what to get or not get. We have decided we want one with a frame and we don't want the slanted back. What are the pros/cons to some of them? We also are in Colorado so we want one with the most insulation possible.
 
WJCO said:
There are so many soft tops on the market. We're a little overwhelmed on what to get or not get. We have decided we want one with a frame and we don't want the slanted back. What are the pros/cons to some of them? We also are in Colorado so we want one with the most insulation possible.
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me personally with what ur looking for would just go straight for premium oem top. best of the best...
 
WJCO asking JK questions! I like it!

I'd also think about noise. Some are considerably more noisy than others. I've heard good things about sail cloth in that regard but never personally owned one.
 
WJCO said:
There are so many soft tops on the market. We're a little overwhelmed on what to get or not get. We have decided we want one with a frame and we don't want the slanted back. What are the pros/cons to some of them? We also are in Colorado so we want one with the most insulation possible.
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I've used both the premium twill and regular factory soft top, and since you want more insulation, I highly recommend the premium. Its a thicker and heavy material that also retains is "blackness" unlike the black diamond. Its going to cost you more, I lucked out and found mine for $600, most of them I see on CL are $1000.
 
The slant tops are nice. Might want to reconsider. Zippers are straight where the factory rear window zipper curves around leading to it getting binded, and misaligned leading to it getting fucked up.
 
I didn't know you could put soft tops on WJs? Or did you cut your top off? [emoji16]

Like others have mentioned, I would go with either the OEM premium soft top or the twill top from Bestop in either the regular version or the trek top nx version if I did decide on a slant back top.

I'm hopefully fixing to order the regular trek top nx due to price and I really want either the two piece soft doors and/or hard lowers with soft uppers and those match the regular version better instead of the twill version.
 
Thank you guys. Sounds like the premium soft top is the way to go. So is the Premium QuadraTop much less quality as opposed to Mopar? Obviously we only want to do this once, and do it right.

catahoula said:
The slant tops are nice. Might want to reconsider. Zippers are straight where the factory rear window zipper curves around leading to it getting binded, and misaligned leading to it getting fucked up.
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I love the look of the slanted top, but my wife never has. I tried talking her into it with no luck. And it's her Jeep. :)
 
Another vote for the OEM Premium top, I'm running 37" tires and yes it's louder than a Cadillac but still able to hold conversations without yelling at each other. I also had a Trek Top a while back and hated the fact of not being able to roll the whole thing all the way back.
 
Are you going to run the soft top full time and sell the hard top? I have always been curious how soft tops handle nasty winters...
 
MrJ3sser said:
Are you going to run the soft top full time and sell the hard top? I have always been curious how soft tops handle nasty winters...
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If we do it this year, we're keeping the soft top and selling the hard top. We may wait until the Spring. Boardsurfer just put on a soft top. We may wait until February to hear what he has to say.
 
I finally put the OEM soft top on my 2012. I was blown away by how quiet it is 'cause I was expecting the worst based on 60's CJ's I've owned. BTW, I ran those tops years ago in Colorado on those 60's CJ's with their anemic heaters and never froze my ass. I got chilled, but never froze my ass. It is my understanding, beginning in 2013 the top material was upgraded to a thicker jeans like material. This must be the the premium top. I'd buy it in a heartbeat. The only minor complaint I have is mine flaps a little in serious sidewinds. Strip the doors, side and rear curtains and leave the "bikini" top on and enjoy the early Colorado fall weather. It's the way Jeeps were meant to be driven. Good luck!!:thumb:
 
I've had 4 tops on my JKU, OEM Hard top, OEM soft , Bestop Trektop NX and currently have the Trektop Pro Hybrid soft top (this one only has a slight slant to the back). I live in phoenix AZ during the summer it gets ridiculously hot over here. Out of the tops mentioned the hybrid seems to keep the Jeep's interior noticeably cooler during the hot afternoons(compared to the factory softtop). I still have my hardtop but i'm not planning on putting it back on anytime soon. The twill material does make it a lot more quieter than the regular oem soft top and the NX but not as quite as a hardtop. When on the road you hear the flapping of the material. Keeping it clean is also pretty easy and it has a limited lifetime warranty. I've had a few of the plastic parts break and i just email them and they send new parts right away no questions asked and they have been extremely helpful. what ever top you decide to get i would also recommend a twill material.
 
Linebacker said:
I finally put the OEM soft top on my 2012. I was blown away by how quiet it is 'cause I was expecting the worst based on 60's CJ's I've owned. BTW, I ran those tops years ago in Colorado on those 60's CJ's with their anemic heaters and never froze my ass. I got chilled, but never froze my ass. It is my understanding, beginning in 2013 the top material was upgraded to a thicker jeans like material. This must be the the premium top. I'd buy it in a heartbeat. The only minor complaint I have is mine flaps a little in serious sidewinds. Strip the doors, side and rear curtains and leave the "bikini" top on and enjoy the early Colorado fall weather. It's the way Jeeps were meant to be driven. Good luck!!:thumb:
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I have always wanted a soft top to change out for convenience in the summer, but would love to run it year around. I am pretty sure my fiance would freeze to death in the winter though. :hmm:
 
Slant top is handy for spur of the moment pull offs and tucks under the rear seat without any frame to mess with. The Bimini tops are pretty nice on them too. Not much spring and fall around here, so this makes it very easy for that week that its in the upper 80's to pull it off. Then when temps hit the 90's and 100's along with a horrible dew point, you can get it back on quick to cool off. No way in hell I would ever sell my hard top though and cant imagine not having one in the Rockies.
 
WJCO said:
If we do it this year, we're keeping the soft top and selling the hard top. We may wait until the Spring. Boardsurfer just put on a soft top. We may wait until February to hear what he has to say.
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To add some context - I have a Trektop NX in the thinner Black Diamond (I think that what it is called) material. I can definitely feel the heat radiating through it so I can only assume the cold will feel the same way. I want to run it all winter, I'm just not sure how bad it will be. I do have some seat heaters that I have not installed yet that I am hoping will mitigate that a bit. I originally bought it to run Safari style with a tonneau cover which I love but the full install look is definitely growing on me.
 
Another vote for the premium twill factory soft top. I'm running Toyo MT's and it is fairly quiet in the cab, very easy to hold a conversation. We drive from Oklahoma to central Colorado(12 hrs) every summer, not a bad drive at all, and, it gets hotter than shit in OK in the summer, the premium twill top does quite well as far insulation and keeping it cool inside.

BTW, congrats on the new JK! :beer:
 
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