doors off in rain - damage mitigation (2018 JL 2-Door)

[slim150]

I have a 2018 2-door JL hard top and I live in Florida and it rains suddenly and often. Say I'm cruising around with my Freedom tops off and my doors off and it looks like rain. I'll have my freedom tops with me to put back on, but the doors will be at home. In order to mitigate damage to my Jeep (musty smells) should I do any of the following:

1. Invest in water resistant seat covers? (But then where will the water go)
2. Invest in some sort of "bed liner" floor mats that cover the carpet? (If these exist what are good ones?)
3. Rip out the carpet and put a bed liner (ugh)
4. A combination of 1 and 2
5. A combination of 1 and 3
6. Nothing because nothing will help

or

Does rain not really play a factor when you you only have doors off.

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[sf5211]

Hi Slim, I’ve never had the experience but worry about that too as I will sometimes go to a cousins house an hour away with tube doors if it’s a beautiful spring/summer day. I did read on a thread in this forum of a guy that happened to. He closed his soft top and claimed the amount of moisture in wasn’t bad. I guess if it’s not windy and the rain is dropping straight down you’d be somewhat ok but if it’s blowing sideways not so much. Plus if you’re using the highway it’s an issue too.
It’s funny, I’ve never been interested in a Gladiator Jeep because I wouldn’t have much use for a pickup bed, but actually thought one day of purchasing one and making something in the bed that could secure the doors so they’d be with me. I know that sounds crazy but that’s how much I love the open Jeep.

 

[GtX]

Here is my plan if it happens to me.

Pull drain plugs.
Remove excess water.
Close up Jeep.
Set up dehumidifier in Jeep.
Wait.

 

[Stormin’ Moorman]

It happened to me in the Appalachian mountains last May. Huge storm blew in and put about 2" of water in my jeep before I could get in buttoned up. I just wiped down all the surfaces, pulled the drain plugs, vacuumed the excess water and went about my business. Everything in these jeeps are water resistant. Everything was dry in a couple days and I had no issues.

If it happened again I would also pull the carpet out, it only takes a few minutes

 

[Jitzy]

After the rain stops in 5 minutes let the sun and heat dry it out. It will dry up fast enough down here

 

[@CBEUnion]

We spend a lot of time in FL, so this has been on my mind too. Heres what I've done: I bought some water repellent from our local sporting goods store. I think it's usual use is for spraying tent rain flys and what not. I took the doors off on a nice dry day and gave all the seat surfaces a good even spray with this and let it dry. I also have waterproof front seat covers. I have these on more because I'm a slob and am constantly spilling coffee or whatever else I'm drinking on myself and the seats. My last car was leather and when I sold it I STILL did a heavy cleaning of the seats because they were gross. I figured double benefit with the waterproof covers.

 

[@CBEUnion]

We spend a lot of time in FL, so this has been on my mind too. Heres what I've done: I bought some water repellent from our local sporting goods store. I think it's usual use is for spraying tent rain flys and what not. I took the doors off on a nice dry day and gave all the seat surfaces a good even spray with this and let it dry. I also have waterproof front seat covers. I have these on more because I'm a slob and am constantly spilling coffee or whatever else I'm drinking on myself and the seats. My last car was leather and when I sold it I STILL did a heavy cleaning of the seats because they were gross. I figured double benefit with the waterproof covers.

The Water repellant is in a spray can. DON"T BUY the stuff for spraying shoes! It smells reallllly bad. Trust my experience with this!

 

[mic.rempel]

I accidentally left mine out before and found about 2-3 inches of water pooled in the front a rear floor spaces. I pulled the drain plugs beneath the carpet, soaked up the excess on the floor and seats with towels and left it outside to dry with top and doors off.

No issues with smell, mugginess or anything like that. The sun did its job in my case.

 

[@CBEUnion]

Yeah if you do get it that wet and have a sunny day, open it all up. If it's a few crap days in a row I think I'd close it up tight and either run a dehumidifier or grab a bunch of those damp rid pails to put in the Jeep. I used them in a sailboat all the time and it never smelled musty.

 

[Jebiruph]

I have a 2018 2-door JL hard top and I live in Florida and it rains suddenly and often. Say I'm cruising around with my Freedom tops off and my doors off and it looks like rain. I'll have my freedom tops with me to put back on, but the doors will be at home. In order to mitigate damage to my Jeep (musty smells) should I do any of the following:

1. Invest in water resistant seat covers? (But then where will the water go)
2. Invest in some sort of "bed liner" floor mats that cover the carpet? (If these exist what are good ones?)
3. Rip out the carpet and put a bed liner (ugh)
4. A combination of 1 and 2
5. A combination of 1 and 3
6. Nothing because nothing will help

or

Does rain not really play a factor when you you only have doors off.

I would get water proof seat covers if you have cloth seats. My concern would be the rusting of the internal seat frame even though it may not be an issue for a very long time.

 

[viper88]

Air dry in sun with top down, doors off, windows down if possible.

There's a reason for the drain plugs and carpet design. Pull the drain plugs to drain water. Wipe and soak up water with towel from carpet. The carpets are made to be easily removed so you can always do that if needed. The carpets dry pretty quick in the sun. Lysol or Febreze spray if needed.

People remove and leave out the carpet if a lot of top-off driving and rain is probable.

 

[Swagger]

I was caught in the rain with the doors off/soft top up during a storm. Even with the plugs pulled and using a wet vac, was still amazed at how much water was trapped by the carpet. If it happens a lot, i would consider removing the carpet permanently and using the rubber floor mats.

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