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Any/all info on Sky One Touch PowerTop

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Just wanted to make a thread for info on the Sky One Touch PowerTop.

Questions include

When will the top be available to order on JL Sahara or Rubicon?

What is the price of the top?



Seems that there are JLs made with the top obviously shown in multiple review videos as well as they have been displayed at Auto Shows, so what is the wait to be able to order?
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cyberdan

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The guys from TFL car also said it was not as easy to fold down the windshield if you get this top, but did not say why. If anyone knows, I would love to understand the difference.

The hard/soft tops only takes 4 bolts to fold the windshield down. How does the power top option change that?
 

RussJeep1

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The JL hard top, particularly in its rear portion, achieves its connection to the Wrangler, like in the JK, by in part via the screws in the back rear windows that connect to the vehicle.

These windows, integral to and irremovable from the back of the hard top play a role in keeping the top of, the rear of the hard top, in place.



In the yet to be released JL power soft top, these rear windows can be easily removed and as a result of this, I can only assume FCA felt were not suitable candidates to help keep the hardtop in place. Even when these back side windows are not removed, the mechanisms that connect the bottom of these windows to the vehicle, and top of these windows to the top rear of the hard top are more designed to facilitate easy removal of the windows, than keep the rear top of the power top in place.



So in this power top, FCA's attachment points are to the sports bar.

I don't think that vehicles that ship with this new power top get a different front windshield so much as the nature of the power top, and its connection to the top of the vehicle make its removal, along with the downplacement of the windshield more difficult. To rephrase, were an owner with such a power top to decide to switch to one of the other FCA tops, I would imagine ease of top removal and windshield drop would be restored. From what I read, FCA is suggesting that removal of the power soft, let alone replacement best be a dealer service. I think this may have to do with bolt alignment and the nature of this being at minimum a 4 hand job, if not 6 or 8

I hope that helps.
 
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nikialexander13
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The JL hard top, particularly in its rear portion, achieves its connection to the Wrangler, like in the JK, by in part via the screws in the back rear windows that connect to the vehicle.

These windows, integral to and irremovable from the back of the hard top play a role in keeping the top of, the rear of the hard top, in place.



In the yet to be released JL power soft top, these rear windows can be easily removed and as a result of this, I can only assume FCA felt were not suitable candidates to help keep the hardtop in place. Even when these back side windows are not removed, the mechanisms that connect the bottom of these windows to the vehicle, and top of these windows to the top rear of the hard top are more designed to facilitate easy removal of the windows, than keep the rear top of the power top in place.



So in this power top, FCA's attachment points are to the sports bar.

I don't think that vehicles that ship with this new power top get a different front windshield so much as the nature of the power top, and its connection to the top of the vehicle make its removal, along with the downplacement of the windshield more difficult. To rephrase, were an owner with such a power top to decide to switch to one of the other FCA tops, I would imagine ease of top removal and windshield drop would be restored. From what I read, FCA is suggesting that removal of the power soft, let alone replacement best be a dealer service. I think this may have to do with bolt alignment and the nature of this being at minimum a 4 hand job, if not 6 or 8

I hope that helps.
That helps a lot for the other question. Didn’t know that about the windshield. Thank you!
 

cyberdan

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Thanks Russ for your detailed reply. I’m still a little bit unclear since Jeep has actively promoted the ease of opening the windshield without saying that exclusions apply for the power top. It wasn’t until the tfl guys pointed it out that I had any idea it was any different than the other tops. Since the folding windshield was something I was looking forward to, I hope to learn how much of a hinderance the power top introduces. Will it be not recommended like the power tops complete removal? I hope Jeep clarifies or more details emerge. Otherwise, it will need to be no powertop for me since I want the easy fold windshield.
 

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word302

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Thanks Russ for your detailed reply. I’m still a little bit unclear since Jeep has actively promoted the ease of opening the windshield without saying that exclusions apply for the power top. It wasn’t until the tfl guys pointed it out that I had any idea it was any different than the other tops. Since the folding windshield was something I was looking forward to, I hope to learn how much of a hinderance the power top introduces. Will it be not recommended like the power tops complete removal? I hope Jeep clarifies or more details emerge. Otherwise, it will need to be no powertop for me since I want the easy fold windshield.
The hard top and in turn, the power top, has to be removed in order to lower the windshield.
 

cyberdan

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So let me get this straight....if I elect for the regular hard top, with the freedom panels, having taken those out, there is more to the windshield than the 4 bolts? Does the 4 bolt and fold only really apply to the soft top models?
Thanks everyone for the replies, very useful
 

word302

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So let me get this straight....if I elect for the regular hard top, with the freedom panels, having taken those out, there is more to the windshield than the 4 bolts? Does the 4 bolt and fold only really apply to the soft top models?
Thanks everyone for the replies, very useful
Sorry. With the freedom top, all that is needed is to remove the freedom panels and the 4 bolts. For the power top, the entire top would have to be removed.
 

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RussJeep1

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Thanks Russ for your detailed reply. I’m still a little bit unclear since Jeep has actively promoted the ease of opening the windshield without saying that exclusions apply for the power top. It wasn’t until the tfl guys pointed it out that I had any idea it was any different than the other tops. Since the folding windshield was something I was looking forward to, I hope to learn how much of a hinderance the power top introduces. Will it be not recommended like the power tops complete removal? I hope Jeep clarifies or more details emerge. Otherwise, it will need to be no powertop for me since I want the easy fold windshield.
Let me give you what I think happened at some FCA meetings. It is only a hunch.

Boss: "OK, this new power top is awesome but since we're making the soft and hard tops easier to remove, these new added features to hard and soft tops will complete with our high margin power top.

What can we do to make this top stand out more? What can it do better than say the conventional hardtop in addition to open with the press of a button?"

Marketing: "We could make the side rear windows removable boss."

Enginering: "Woa, hold on just a second. If we do that, what's going to keep the rest of the power top on the dang Jeep?"

Boss: "Engineering, proposed ideas by next meeting in two days..."

===Two days later====

Engineering: "Ok boss, we can make the rear windows removable but we've got to bolt the top on to the sports bar and the rest of the vehicle such that taking down the front windshield is going to be unable to happen."

Boss: "Quant guys, did you run the numbers..?"

Quant: "Sure did boss. Our market research shows the mall crawlers are most likely to buy the power soft top. Having just visited the mall's nail salon, our numbers show that 87.2% of these owners don't even know the windshield comes down, let alone would do it, but that 76.54% of these 87.2% would like the Wrangler to come in pink."

Boss: "so we'll just keep hush, if not lie about a windshield drop feature many of these owners don't know about, let alone use."
 

Demonic

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Yeah, I’m sure they did think like that, because it’s smart. As said before, most people on this forum think that Jeep is somehow ethically obligated to produce the exact vehicle they personally desire. They aren’t. It’s a business. If for every 1 person who is actually going to fold down their front window, there are 50 who would rather have a power top instead, guess which they’re going to sacrifice? And rightfully so in that case. The company offers multiple options, and now people complain because they can’t have their cake and eat it too.
 

RussJeep1

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Exactly Austin.
 

2stoned

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I think there is plenty of support for the power-top through the sport cage.
I really can not see why there should be a problem with tilting the windscreen.
The front seals by the windscreen is maybe different since it is a whole different construction from the freedom top.
Those different seals and mountings might be the culprit for the current lack of option to fold the windscreen.
Since it is not out in the real world yet, we may still see this option coming, with a final revision when ready for sales.
Sure hope so.
 
 



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