WJCO
Meme King
Just to follow up, we still have that top and run it year round with no functional issues. We have the Black Diamond fabric which is hard to keep clean. Get the Twill fabric if you can.
Question change hard top to soft top and back ?
- Thread starter Pavel9934S
- Start date
Just to follow up, we still have that top and run it year round with no functional issues. We have the Black Diamond fabric which is hard to keep clean. Get the Twill fabric if you can.
TrailHunter
Hooked
Thanks for the update... I schooled myself this morning on every soft top set up and I’m still not sure.. I really like the security of the hardtop and the ease of opening the rear glass. And even with all the designs, I’m still not sure I’d even pull it all the way off very often... I’m kinda leaning towards the bestop sunrider or black forest throwback with the hardtop.... seems like the best of both worlds... kind of. Lol
BaddestCross
Active Member
I swapped on a soft top last year before going to Vegas. 125° and it was still fine with the AC on. I figured I'd put the hard top back on in the winter, but I never did. I'm probably gonna sell the damn thing but since it's just sitting in my driveway.
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Build Thread - Adventures of Fiona - https://wayalife.com/showthread.php?t=47407
phillypete
New member
I have quite the history with JK tops, so let me share what works for me:
I bought my JKU with a hardtop because I hate the way the factory softtops look. I bought the Bestop Trektop NX right off the bat, and I rented on switching hardtop and softtop based on the season. After a year I found that storing and swapping tops too be too much hassle to be delt with and sold the hardtop. I spent all summer running without the back and rear windows (safari top mode) and the put the windows in for winter.
That was in South Carolina with a 7 mile commute.
Shortly after moving to Kansas the header of the top broke (one too many times of taking off after forgetting to latch it down!) With a now 30 minute highway commute and my first real winter in 15 years quickly approaching I purchased a used hardtop.
It has served me well through the winter, but now that summer is upon us I feel the urge to strip down the Jeep to bare essentials. So now I purchased a Bestop Safari Top (the one you don’t need door surrounds to run). For the header and the top it’s under $150.
One thing that has helped is that the hardtop I bought came with a storage dolly. Storing it vertically certainly reduces the square footage.
I bought my JKU with a hardtop because I hate the way the factory softtops look. I bought the Bestop Trektop NX right off the bat, and I rented on switching hardtop and softtop based on the season. After a year I found that storing and swapping tops too be too much hassle to be delt with and sold the hardtop. I spent all summer running without the back and rear windows (safari top mode) and the put the windows in for winter.
That was in South Carolina with a 7 mile commute.
Shortly after moving to Kansas the header of the top broke (one too many times of taking off after forgetting to latch it down!) With a now 30 minute highway commute and my first real winter in 15 years quickly approaching I purchased a used hardtop.
It has served me well through the winter, but now that summer is upon us I feel the urge to strip down the Jeep to bare essentials. So now I purchased a Bestop Safari Top (the one you don’t need door surrounds to run). For the header and the top it’s under $150.
One thing that has helped is that the hardtop I bought came with a storage dolly. Storing it vertically certainly reduces the square footage.
fiend
Caught the Bug
I swap between the hard top and soft top. The hard top is a lot quieter and offers superior insulation. I have the hot heads liner, which helps. The soft top is nice because it’s easier to get the jeep naked, especially if you have half doors. But accessing the back is a PITA versus the hard top. The zipper can be finicky and the rear window gets dirty, so inevitably your hands get a bit dirty as you’re fiddling around with it. Main thing about switching is that you need a system to remove the hardtop and a place to store it. Unless you have a decent garage, that’s kinda impractical.
I bought TJ new with a soft top only and ran it for 10 years through New England weather (winters). Warmth was no problem. The cons were that I had to stay on top of cleaning the snow off the top. Not sure how the top would have fared under heavy New England snow. Getting into the back was difficult. The zippers were stiff and the vinyl was too and I had to be careful not to crack it. Fast forward I now have a JK that came with a hard top only. One of my first purchases was a bestop soft top (I’m definitely a top down guy) and soft doors. I like this setup so I can put the top down and stow the doors behind the driver and passenger seat keeping everything with me to close it back up when needed. I was going to sell the hardtop but decided against it. I now switch the soft top for the hard top in the winter and really like this setup.
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Se7en Jeep
New member
Trek Top NX Glide
Hey Guys, any of you living in cooler climates (New England) running your soft tops through the winter or are you all going back to hard?
Hey Guys, any of you living in cooler climates (New England) running your soft tops through the winter or are you all going back to hard?
jmedgar
Member
Not New England, but I ran my soft top all winter in Idaho which had a ton of days well below zero with the coldest being -36 and the heater/defroster kept up fine. I didn’t have a garage either.
WJCO
Meme King
Moved your post here. Here in Colorado, on our JK, we use the soft top year round. We'll be doing the same with our JT.