Dual Top or Hard Top?

[Capt_Beard]

So I'm new to #WranglerLife so please excuse my ignorance.

I'm looking at a JLU Sahara with hard top.
My garage doesn't have a lot of clearance above the Jeep (2-4") so I won't be able to remove it inside.

In addition to that, I don't have a great place to store the hard top. I might have to hang it on the garage wall.

Anyway... I definitely want the hard top, but for the summer months, would the dual top option be better?

My thought is, remove the hard top for all the warm weather months and remove/attach the soft top inside during inclement weather?

Would an aftermarket soft top be better for my scenario?

Is it also possible to keep the soft top with you when you're out and about to hurry up and put on when it rains?

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[$uicide$hift]

I have only had the soft top and this go around I was contemplating the dual top group. Ultimately I realized that at no point did I wish I had the hard top over three years. I decided to just stick with the soft top instead of having to remove / install / store the hard top.

Attaching the soft top may not be done with the clearance you are saying you have. First of all you would need to install the rails on top of the roll bar and you don't have much room to do that inside. If those are already installed, the top is down, and you are inside the garage you won't have enough room to flip the top up.

An aftermarket is a possibility but in the long run the dual top group may be cheaper. You also won't have much choice in aftermarket soft top until mid summer possibly with this new release.

When you run with the soft top it folds down to back of Jeep and stays attached so if out and about yes you can quickly raise it.

 

[goracers]

So I'm new to #WranglerLife so please excuse my ignorance.

I'm looking at a JLU Sahara with hard top.
My garage doesn't have a lot of clearance above the Jeep (2-4") so I won't be able to remove it inside.

In addition to that, I don't have a great place to store the hard top. I might have to hang it on the garage wall.

Anyway... I definitely want the hard top, but for the summer months, would the dual top option be better?

My thought is, remove the hard top for all the warm weather months and remove/attach the soft top inside during inclement weather?

Would an aftermarket soft top be better for my scenario?

Is it also possible to keep the soft top with you when you're out and about to hurry up and put on when it rains?

You will not need much room to store the hard top above the jeep in the garage. I have the pulley system linked below. Once you remove the bolts, just pull up and you'd only need it above a foot or so. I like the dual top on my existing and ordered it on the JL.
https://www.quadratec.com/products/12020_1000_07.htm

 

[pennsoxfan]

Get the dual top. I'm already regretting only getting a hard top.

 

[Capt_Beard]

You will not need much room to store the hard top above the jeep in the garage. I have the pulley system linked below. Once you remove the bolts, just pull up and you'd only need it above a foot or so. I like the dual top on my existing and ordered it on the JL.
https://www.quadratec.com/products/12020_1000_07.htm

Sorry, but as I mentioned the clearance I have doesn't allow for anything above the Jeep.

 

[Specter491]

How loud are the soft tops? I'm really considering it but the jeep will also be my daily driver

 

[RussJeep1]

So I'm new to #WranglerLife so please excuse my ignorance.

I'm looking at a JLU Sahara with hard top.
My garage doesn't have a lot of clearance above the Jeep (2-4") so I won't be able to remove it inside.

There are some good threads here on devices, some homemade, some purchasable, and some whose parts are purchasable that you can then put together yourself to facilitate single operator removal of the top when the Wranglers outside of space with ceiling access. Besides, you back the Jeep in, lift the top every so slightly off the Wrangler, drive out, then reverse the direction of the way you park the Wrangler in the garage (i.e. now hood first) and viola, you have enough room.

In addition to that, I don't have a great place to store the hard top. I might have to hang it on the garage wall.

Restated: If it's of any help, many people put their tops in the reverse direction above where they'd drive the vehicle into the garage and have the hood be just below it. So if your Wrangler fits, likely your top can too, unless you have stuff on the garage ceiling that blocks being able to rig the cabling that keeps the hard top suspended.

Anyway... I definitely want the hard top, but for the summer months, would the dual top option be better?

Yes. But it's more than that. You may not realize this, but your basic soft top that comes with the Wrangler, when upgraded to the Dual top, results in your (a good thing) essentially surrendering this basic soft top to FCA for a premium one. In other words the Dual Top option costs what it does because it is represented by this equation:

Dual Top = Hard Top + Premium Soft Top - Basic Soft top

My thought is, remove the hard top for all the warm weather months and remove/attach the soft top inside during inclement weather?

Brilliant minds think alike!

​

Would an aftermarket soft top be better for my scenario?

This is, respectfully, the wrong question for you to ask. I say this because it seems your main issues with having a hard and soft top are not money, (which would make your question relevant) but places to store the hard top and ways of installing and deinstalling it: problems that aren't going away regardless of whose soft top you buy, if in fact you buy one at all.

The question is--is the premium top that comes with the FCA Dual Top package worth it?

And the answer to that question lies in two factors: your bank account and your patience: factors only you can quantify.

Down the road, aftermarket manufacturers will eventually develop a wide variety of soft tops for the JL at more competitive prices--much that any of the JL softtops are so much of any improvement in ability to get up and down, (notice I didn't say "on and off" see below) compared to the JK versions.

I really like the premium soft tops from FCA and am getting the Dual Top. Had I been willing to wait, better deals might have been had by me down the road--but I figure I can always sell either or both of the Dual tops if aftermarket solutions make me regret my initial decision to go with the Dual top option at purchase.

​

Is it also possible to keep the soft top with you when you're out and about to hurry up and put on when it rains?

I don't mean to be pedantic but it seems you may lack knowledge in this area. The hard top has two front panels (Freedom panels) that can be easily and temporarily removed and taken with you.

But the rest is "removed" (i.e. taken off the vehicle, detached from the vehicle, left in a garage while you drive your Wrangler) to be in open air and stored apart from the Wrangler and its travels. It takes devices to do this install/deinstall of the back of the hard top, or extreme strength and height to do it solo, or a friend helping.

For Dual Top owners, often the soft top is "removed" when winter approaches (done easily by yourself), stored, and the hard top put on in its place. But in the Middle of July, the soft top is "taken down," folded, but very much attached to the vehicle, and is taken down and put back up with ease as compared to hard top removal. It goes with the Wrangler, wherever you drive it, like the glovebox, for example.

So of course it is also possible to keep the soft top with you, folded down if you like, when you are out and about to hurry up and put it on when it rains.

Let me merge two thoughts. This is the only product I know--taken from the top removal thread that I suggest you examine on this forum, that allows you to take your hardtop off as you travel with it, leaving it at, say, some "base camp" (camping site, a friend's house, a hotel: theft not withstanding) location:




An example of one of many threads that deals with hardtop removal:

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...dtop-to-premium-soft-on-jlur.4198/#post-82620

 

[Specter491]

I don't understand the pricing of the dual top option. The hard top is $1100. The premium soft top is $600. But the dual top is $2200????

 

[Flyguy81]

I don't understand the pricing of the dual top option. The hard top is $1100. The premium soft top is $600. But the dual top is $2200????

It’s the cost above the standard soft top. The premium is a $600 change to switch. The hard top is a $1100 change. Not sure what the std top costs but just buying the premium soft top from Mopar is around $1800. So the dual top saves you about $1000

 

[Capt_Beard]

@RussJeep1 Thank you for the thorough and very informative reply. All my concerns have been addressed. For now, I'm going with dual top.

 

[RussJeep1]

I don't understand the pricing of the dual top option. The hard top is $1100. The premium soft top is $600. But the dual top is $2200????

Let me explain it Dan. Choosing the Dual Top option is as much about what you're getting as what you are giving up. Effectively, you give back to FCA the basic soft top that comes with the rig: a credit on your account if you will, that applies to defraying the cost of the Dual Top option, which features the premium soft top.

Dual Top = Hard Top + Premium Soft Top - Basic Soft top

Restated another way, the Hard Top is not really what you buy when you choose this top exclusively. What you are getting is a pretty darn expensive (hard) top whose cost is reduced for you because you returned to FCA the basic soft top you were guaranteed to get when you purchased your rig.

 

[sadass]

@RussJeep1 Thank you for the thorough and very informative reply. All my concerns have been addressed. For now, I'm going with dual top.

I agree with your choice and selected that as well, Although I did not want to spend the money on both. I had my reasons for wanting both. Being both Hard tops and Soft tops and frame work appear not interchangeable with JK. No deals are around to find . I had to bite the bullet fearing the cost would be at least doubled down the road to purchases the one that was not during order. Good luck with you JL

 

[RussJeep1]

I agree with your choice and selected that as well, Although I did not want to spend the money on both. I had my reasons for wanting both. Being both Hard tops and Soft tops and frame work appear not interchangeable with JK. No deals are around to find . I had to bit the bullet fearing the cost would be at least doubled down the road to purchases the one that was not during order. Good luck with you JL

We Wrangler owners, if nothing else, are resourceful people. If there's a way to remove or store a top when space is limited, we find it:

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-write-ups-39/hard-top-removal-alone-17481/

 

[Parkers39]

The soft top is a necessity for Wrangler life. Trust me, leaving your house without any cover at all will make you a little paranoid. It's nice to have the added benefit of being able to flip the top up and keep the interior locked and dry when running errands or leaving it in your work parking lot. I know some people who only have the hard top and they, essentially, never use their wrangler as a wrangler. They just leave the thing covered at all times because a) the hard top takes about 35 minutes to remove and b) they don't know if they can trust the weather long enough to leave it open while they're out.

Also, keep in mind that some of the best weather to go topless in is pre-rain summertime. It will be hot with a cool breeze and full cloud cover. You'll be on top of the world. Don't let the lack-of-soft-top be the reason you can't fully embrace that.

I went with just the soft top on my Sahara. I might, someday, get a hard top for it. But the priority is having the flexibility to flip the top down whenever the weather is nice.

 

[Specter491]

The soft top is a necessity for Wrangler life. Trust me, leaving your house without any cover at all will make you a little paranoid. It's nice to have the added benefit of being able to flip the top up and keep the interior locked and dry when running errands or leaving it in your work parking lot. I know some people who only have the hard top and they, essentially, never use their wrangler as a wrangler. They just leave the thing covered at all times because a) the hard top takes about 35 minutes to remove and b) they don't know if they can trust the weather long enough to leave it open while they're out.

Also, keep in mind that some of the best weather to go topless in is pre-rain summertime. It will be hot with a cool breeze and full cloud cover. You'll be on top of the world. Don't let the lack-of-soft-top be the reason you can't fully embrace that.

I went with just the soft top on my Sahara. I might, someday, get a hard top for it. But the priority is having the flexibility to flip the top down whenever the weather is nice.

Thanks for the advice. It's true, the hardtop is a lot harder to take off than the soft top so I may hardly ever use the wrangler topless if I went the hardtop route.

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