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Anyone tried Clear Roof Panels?

Gee-pah

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;) Man, these things are so noisy! Has anyone put Hot Head headliners on them?;)

(That is satire. I have no data on their noise and the comedy seeks to come in headliners solving one problem and removing the product's most notable transparency feature. Hot Head headliners, in actuality, are an excellent product from a reputable company.)
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Reinen

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I got Clearlidz because Utah scenery is absolutely not horizontal and I got tired of craning my neck to look up with the freedom panels on. So I'll post my review trying to cover what was mentioned in this thread.

Sealing/Water Leaks:
No leaking, seems like a good seal all around. Mind you, if it rains in Utah just wait the 10 minutes until it stops. It's never seen a true rainy day so take that with a grain of salt.

JL Mounting Points:
The Clearlidz panel uses 6 of the 8 factory freedom top latch points (all 4 front and 2 center rear) and also adds 2 hand-tightened bolts through the roll bar above each door for a total of 4 additional bolts. It can be somewhat finicky to install as it doesn't use the guide pins found on the freedom panels (not sure why they didn't utilize them) but not excessively so.

Noise:
I haven't checked it with a decibel meter but it is roughly equivalent to the hard top with no headliner. It does sound a little different but it's not louder. No annoying whistles or anything like that. No surprises there.

Strength:
It's a little flexy out of the box but once latched down It feels sturdy. It doesn't flex much at all. Until I accidentally test it's strength I'll defer to the strength/destruction test videos on youtube. One person tried to break it with a sledge hammer (failed), wood splitting maul (failed) and finally managed to puncture it after a couple swings with a pick axe. It also managed to fend off .22s and buckshot requiring a larger round to penetrate it. I do not doubt those videos.

Scratch resistance:
Again, I'm not going to test this. However my hands-on expectation is that anything that would pinstripe the paint will also pinstripe the Clearlidz. I think it will be a nothing lost / nothing gained situation.

UV/Heat:
I'm out in the high altitude Utah sun (up to 40% stronger than at the beach, BTW) so this one is important to me. Clearlidz claims it blocks 99.9% UV and only allows 16% light transmission (like non-polarized sunglass lenses). The interior does not seem any hotter than an unlined hard top, possibly less hot. I've had no sunburn issues beyond what could happen with the opaque freedom panels. A simple feel test showed it is definitely cooler under the Clearlidz than in the open sun. I further tested it using a solar panel (the only equipment I have to test this). I placed a solar panel on the ground and it was producing 51w. I then covered the solar panel with the Clearlidz so the only light it received was through the Clearlidz. It's output dropped to 6w (88% reduction). So I'd say that I was able to confirm the manufacturer's UV/Light Transmission claims to the best of my ability and have no reason to doubt it.

Yellowing:
Too soon to tell, but given that the UV & Sunlight Filtering is definitely working I doubt this will be an issue. In spite of it's name Clearlidz aren't clear, they're like sunglasses. I've never seen sunglasses yellow.

Functionality / Clearlidz driving experience:
It gives a very topless feeling while being completely enclosed, protected from the dust/rain/snow, in Heat/AC without the necessity for sunblock. A pretty big deal for the desert. It adds about 1" of physical headroom as it's much thinner than the freedom panels but adds a huge amount of percieved headroom. It completely removed the visual heaviness of the freedom panels overhead and even makes the windshield seem larger (even though it isn't). It turns the view from the Jeep up to 11 without being topless and unprotected from the elements. In very vertical Utah I look through it very often. It's like the Jeep meets the Jetsons. So IMO, the price is reasonable for the huge quality of life improvement.

Downsides:
It is not glass and there is some visual distortion when looking through it. The distortion is minimal when you are looking through it head on but the greater the angle, the greater the distortion. For example, the driver can look up with minimal distortion but if the driver looks up at an angle over the passenger there will be significant distortion, and vice-versa.

I hope this helped decide if a clear top is right for you or not.

Edit: 1 year update
Everything still holds true. Still looks new. It's a permanent part of my Jeep now.

Edit: 2.5 year update
Still like new. Still great. My freedom panels are never going back on.
 
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Gee-pah

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I got Clearlidz because Utah scenery is absolutely not horizontal and I got tired of craning my neck to look up with the freedom panels on. So I'll post my review trying to cover what was mentioned in this thread.

Sealing/Water Leaks:
No leaking, seems like a good seal all around. Mind you, if it rains in Utah just wait the 10 minutes until it stops. It's never seen a true rainy day so take that with a grain of salt.

JL Mounting Points:
The Clearlidz panel uses 6 of the 8 factory freedom top latch points (all 4 front and 2 center rear) and also adds 2 hand-tightened bolts through the roll bar above each door for a total of 4 additional bolts. It can be somewhat finicky to install as it doesn't use the guide pins found on the freedom panels (not sure why they didn't utilize them) but not excessively so.

Noise:
I haven't checked it with a decibel meter but it is roughly equivalent to the hard top with no headliner. It does sound a little different but it's not louder. No annoying whistles or anything like that. No surprises there.

Strength:
It's a little flexy out of the box but once latched down It feels sturdy. It doesn't flex much at all. Until I accidentally test it's strength I'll defer to the strength/destruction test videos on youtube. One person tried to break it with a sledge hammer (failed), wood splitting maul (failed) and finally managed to puncture it after a couple swings with a pick axe. It also managed to fend off .22s and buckshot requiring a larger round to penetrate it. I do not doubt those videos.

Scratch resistance:
Again, I'm not going to test this. However my hands-on expectation is that anything that would pinstripe the paint will also pinstripe the Clearlidz. I think it will be a nothing lost / nothing gained situation.

UV/Heat:
I'm out in the high altitude Utah sun (up to 40% stronger than at the beach, BTW) so this one is important to me. Clearlidz claims it blocks 99.9% UV and only allows 16% light transmission (like non-polarized sunglass lenses). The interior does not seem any hotter than an unlined hard top, possibly less hot. I've had no sunburn issues beyond what could happen with the opaque freedom panels. A simple feel test showed it is definitely cooler under the Clearlidz than in the open sun. I further tested it using a solar panel (the only equipment I have to test this). I placed a solar panel on the ground and it was producing 51w. I then covered the solar panel with the Clearlidz so the only light it received was through the Clearlidz. It's output dropped to 6w (88% reduction). So I'd say that I was able to confirm the manufacturer's UV/Light Transmission claims to the best of my ability and have no reason to doubt it.

Yellowing:
Too soon to tell, but given that the UV & Sunlight Filtering is definitely working I doubt this will be an issue. In spite of it's name Clearlidz aren't clear, they're like sunglasses. I've never seen sunglasses yellow.

Functionality / Clearlidz driving experience:
It gives a very topless feeling while being completely enclosed, protected from the dust/rain/snow, in Heat/AC without the necessity for sunblock. A pretty big deal for the desert. It adds about 1" of physical headroom as it's much thinner than the freedom panels but adds a huge amount of percieved headroom. It completely removed the visual heaviness of the freedom panels overhead and even makes the windshield seem larger (even though it isn't). It turns the view from the Jeep up to 11 without being topless and unprotected from the elements. In very vertical Utah I look through it very often. It's like the Jeep meets the Jetsons. So IMO, the price is reasonable for the huge quality of life improvement.

Downsides:
It is not glass and there is some visual distortion when looking through it. The distortion is minimal when you are looking through it head on but the greater the angle, the greater the distortion. For example, the driver can look up with minimal distortion but if the driver looks up at an angle over the passenger there will be significant distortion, and vice-versa.

I hope this helped decide if a clear top is right for you or not.
That is what you call a comprehensive well thought out and written review!
 

four low

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Having this as 2 separate panels would be the best of both worlds, hope they do this. Open air , easy storage, easy replacement if one is damaged
 

Vincenzo

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I'm liking it so far. Changes the feel of the interior completely. Adds more headroom, tons of light, and just feels more open.
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Dear God that is a sexy Jeep. I'm thinkthin this will be a must have for me as well. Assuming my Jeep ever gets built, of course.
 

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rcadden

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I was originally debating between this and the Sunrider for Hardtops. Wound up going Sunrider. Absolutely zero complaints on the Sunrider - best purchase for my Jeep thus far.

However, reading through @Reinen's review, I'd definitely take a closer look at ClearLidz if I was in the market again. *I* love the open-air ease of the Sunrider, but my wife/daughters kind of hate it. ClearLidz seems to address all/most of their complaints, while still offering me the visibility that I wanted.

Good thread.
 

Hambone92037

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I have a Clearlidz. I like it a lot and do not regret it. But, today it rained in San Diego, and no it doesn't leak, but when I open the driver side door, the rain drains off the lid into the driver side. Since it never rains out here I never noticed it until today. Wondering if anyone has a resolution for this!
 

PrimeTime4370

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I have a Clearlidz. I like it a lot and do not regret it. But, today it rained in San Diego, and no it doesn't leak, but when I open the driver side door, the rain drains off the lid into the driver side. Since it never rains out here I never noticed it until today. Wondering if anyone has a resolution for this!
Freedom Panels do the same thing.

It's a Jeep thing.

:CWL:
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