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Dual Top Owners

fjrrider

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As a current JK owner, and soon to be JL owner, I'm curious if I'm going to have the same struggles with the initial installation of the soft top on the JL.
With the JK, it was a real pain when I did the initial swap from hard top to soft top. Had to make sure it was a sunny day and the fabric was exposed to sunlight to allow some stretch. And even then, it was a struggle to get it latched in the front.
With the revised engineering on the JL soft tops, will I be experiencing the same struggles?
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BrntWS6

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Yes, mine was a royal pain the first time and i was ready to light it on fire...lol. Pretty easy until i tried to stretch the back window in, that is was took so long. I did not let it sit in the sun first though.
 

JustAJeepn

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Yes the hardest part was to latching it to the windshield header. Other than that it was a breeze putting my premium soft top on a couple months ago for summertime.

I did read that some people and some issue getting the latch unlocked in the rear when the top is completely folded back. I had no problems. Just something to watch for.
 

Young04

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Actually, my soft top went on pretty easily. I got my Jeep in June of 2018. Soft top was tight then. I did not notice it being tight when I put the soft top on this past spring.
 

Midwestguy

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Super easy. After installing the soft top in april, I had to wait for the sun to warm up the material enough to relax before the visor clamps woild engage
 

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robaw

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I let mine sit in a room of my house all winter until April (maybe March) when I decided to install it. Was pretty tight but eventually got the latches locked after struggling for a bit. It was difficult to unlatch/relatch for a while as well, but it has since stretched enough where it's a non-issue.
 

Chipe

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I sold my soft top and put the money into mods.
 

rubileon

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As a current JK owner, and soon to be JL owner, I'm curious if I'm going to have the same struggles with the initial installation of the soft top on the JL.
With the JK, it was a real pain when I did the initial swap from hard top to soft top. Had to make sure it was a sunny day and the fabric was exposed to sunlight to allow some stretch. And even then, it was a struggle to get it latched in the front.
With the revised engineering on the JL soft tops, will I be experiencing the same struggles?
Never had those issues with my JK, even when brand new, but any top will stretch and flex better when warm vs. cold.

The only issue, which is a very annoying issue with the JL's dual top is my soft top came in a giant box in the back of the Jeep. The JKs came with the soft top attached (only the door surrounds needed installing).
 

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18BlackJLRU

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As a current JK owner, and soon to be JL owner, I'm curious if I'm going to have the same struggles with the initial installation of the soft top on the JL.
With the JK, it was a real pain when I did the initial swap from hard top to soft top. Had to make sure it was a sunny day and the fabric was exposed to sunlight to allow some stretch. And even then, it was a struggle to get it latched in the front.
With the revised engineering on the JL soft tops, will I be experiencing the same struggles?
I had the issue with my JKU when new, but it was a breeze with my JLU... The only negative side is that the JLU top is much heavier and therefore harder to maneuver/install than the JKU. It goes better if you install it with someone.
 

MotownJLU

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Yes the hardest part was to latching it to the windshield header. Other than that it was a breeze putting my premium soft top on a couple months ago for summertime.
This was true for me too. Just don't stress out too much when this happens. It'll seem like it just won't latch, but do it on a sunny day, get it 99% installed, then let it sit in the sun for awhile unlatched... it'll eventually do it. Once it latches, keep it latched for a day to stretch it perfectly for good. Then you'll never have a problem again. I love my soft top because it's SO easy to toss it back in the sunrider position (don't forget the velcro straps). For a beautiful long weekend, it's easy to slide out the windows and put it all the way back. And living in the Michigan, I love having the hard top ready for winter. And, of course, there'll be nice days where I can take off the freedom panels. And when the snowstorm dumps a foot of snow, I put it in 4-wheel and go play! In my opinion, the Wrangler with both tops is perfect for Michigan!
 

m5guy

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First time on was 90% easy. Getting rear sides on was a bit of an issue but mostly getting that first stretch to get front header latches on was a pain. Some sunshine would help. Bigger issue was that once we got them latched it was tough for a day or two to get them to unlatch. After a few days though, all is good and soft top is easy to deal with. You'll be fine, just be a bit patient for your first day or two.
 

55WillysWagon

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On the topic of soft tops...and instead of starting a new thread...Anyone experiencing any rattles of the soft top bow right above your head? It's the second one back and it seems that the top material is attached to a dowel that sits in the cross bow is loose inside it and rattles. I can tap the underside of the roof near it and cause it to rattle. Make sense? Anyone experience that will on bumpy roads?
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