Factory Soft Top negatives?

[Pig-Pen]

ive used velcro strips around the top when its down but i like the bungee idea. ill try that as well.

i had my windows off for a week and had to rush out to put them on when it started raining at night. it was a pain trying to get the back of the side windows all clamped up. i left one side as closed as i could. a few days later i was able to pull it enough to close it up. when theyre not out in the sun they seem to shrink a little. same with when theyre brand new out of the box. a pain to close up the windows. they need heat to relax the material.

i think the premium top absorbs heat on HOT days. my a/c can barely keep up. didnt seem as hot with my standard top, which is not jet black like the premium. meanwhile my friends with hardtops say their cabins are nice and cool.

i took the soft top off the jeep once. it was a pain to put back on by myself with the side legs flopping around. i scratched the side of the jeep a little with one leg that was dangling down. definitely get a second set of hands to help. its pretty unwieldly when its off the vehicle.

i thought about getting a hard top next time, or even the one touch sky roof. i just like the openness when the top is down. its perfect for so cal.

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[Hennessey17]

Im waiting for my first jeep to be built, as a family man, this made me so happy I got the soft top.

I grew up with three brothers. My dad always dropped a deuce anytime he wanted alone time. Not a chance anybody was going in that room for at least a half hour.

 

[Bzinsky]

I grew up with three brothers. My dad always dropped a deuce anytime he wanted alone time. Not a chance anybody was going in that room for at least a half hour.

I try that too, nobody cares. It’s almost like me taking a dump signals to the kids it’s time to party in the bathroom. Going to have to switch my diet.

 

[Ratiogear]

My garage is too small for me to raise the soft top. So if it's raining and I need to head out, I have to pull out to lift the soft top canopy. This is also true when you are in most parking structures or garages in the city.

The up and down of the soft top is a bit finicky and can take some getting used to. That being said, I can pop the latches and push up, disassemble the windows and get them into the trunk, then pull the latch, engage the locks, and get the soft top velcro stripped down in about 90 seconds. So on hot days here in TX, I will do that after work instead of boiling alive the first 5 minutes of the drive home while I wait for the AC to work.

Putting it back up is where the finicky-ness comes in. Recently, if it's not thunderstorming and I'm going into the main office instead of a site, I drive top down to work and put the canopy up before I go in so a random shower doesn't hit any electronics in the front. If I have a lot of site trips scheduled, I take the top down Friday after work and put it back up with windows on Sunday. Doing it that frequently keeps me practiced with it and I can get it put back up in under 5 minutes.

It's definitely miles ahead of the old zips, but it's still going to be something that fits at an awkward difficulty of being really easy to take down vs somewhat annoying to put back up.

It's incredibly loud as well, so I don't recommend it without some aftermarket speakers or the alpine upgrade. But just blast the speakers and it's fine--if you're not an audiophile.

My wife also struggles getting the top back on because of the angle because of her height/upper body strength. It's easy to push up from the back, but then she has to climb onto the rear door sill to push it down. But from there, she lacks the reach/leverage/strength to push it all the way flat. So then it's another climb onto the driver's sill to pull it down fully. I don't have the issue and can pull it flat from the rear sill. I imagine this would be easier with a step, which I'll probably get when I find one I like.


All that being said, most of those issues are solved by just planning ahead. I don't regret the pick and I frequently drive straight past my house to just keep enjoying the ride.

 

[Hennessey17]

I try that too, nobody cares. It’s almost like me taking a dump signals to the kids it’s time to party in the bathroom. Going to have to switch my diet.

steak and eggs...

 

[Nitehawk92]

This-TJ soft tops are loud (not CJ LOUD, but loud). A JL is noticeably quieter than what you are used to.

I am not concerned about the soft top being noisy, most of the time in the summer the soft top is down so wind noise with the soft top up is nothing. If it is too loud, you don't have the music load enough.

 

[Heimkehr]

If it is too loud, you don't have the music loud enough.

Precisely my approach when doing the shakedown drive after installing tube doors (and with the soft top lowered.) Infinity speaker upgrade for the Win.

 

[Lizziewizzie]

Living with two tops is great. You do have to have the hard top removal and storage sorted out but once you do, it's easy. I built a hard top cart from plans found on this forum. Grabbed some extra hands and quickly lifted the top off and onto the cart.

Installing the soft top is straightforward. I recommend having a friend help, too. When I bought my Jeep it was a soft top delete. I found a deal on a premium Mopar top with only 3 months use. I recommend watching the YouTube videos on how to install (Extreme Terrain has the best example) to speed the process. Worth it!

Now that I'm running the soft top I've noticed how much sound the hard top blocked. The soft top is remarkably quieter than I expected. The other side of that is you can hear everything around you and them you, too. I don't consider any of this to be a trade off. Sure, the back window is a different experience but not unexpected. Heck, even my wife was cool about it. She gets it...

Being able to use any of the optional positions of the soft top is great! It poured rain here the last couple of days and not one leak! Sure beats the old CJ soft tops! And NO zippers, too! One last thing...all of the parts for the soft top are available - that includes the rubber seals between the front section and the rear top frame. $4.95 each. Easy to replace, too.

Do you have the link to the plans for the cart? Just picked up my Sahara yesterday, and need to make one and get that soft top on! Thanks!!

 

[El Zilcho]

Soft top is louder than hard top and noticeably hotter in summer. In winter its really hard not to scratch the windows and keep the rear window clean. But since I live in San Diego I'm thinking really hard about selling my hard top. I did not put it on for over a year.

 

[Cutterone]

After more CJs, TJs, LJs & JKs than I'd care to count, I would agree what everyone else has said...

Big Plus: Ease of use. Up and down in seconds with no zippers. Can't overstate enough how great this is.

Minor Negative: Looks when folded. There's no denying it's not a great look, but I'd say the ease of use more than outweights it... Form following function.

Negative: Probably the loudest soft top since my non-sailcloth TJ top. There just isn't enough tension in the cables that hold it tight through the door surrounds to prevent it from flapping if you're going above 50-55 mph.

I have a 2021 Sahara premium ST, never any flapping at any speed. Is there a big difference in the construction of the standard top vs the premium that would allow such flapping?

 

[en480c4]

It's not a standard top versus premium top issue, for me anyway. I have the premium top. IMO It's that there is no attachment between the last 12" of the top of the windows (on the 2-door, anyway), or that the section above the doors is secured down by a small square of velcro and there's no positive attachment between the top and the top of the door surrounds. The JL top is very good up to 55 or so, but at highway speeds, the "thrumming" sound from the top above the seats picks up because it won't pressurize. I haven't tried blocking the tailgate vents for soft top season yet, but I may try as this was the key to quieting down the TJ/LJ tops. And those little squares of velcro won't hold it down if you get a big pressure change from a big rig or cross wind. I went from an LJ (my 3rd, and my 5th TJ-era Jeep) directly to my JL. With the top fully secured, the tailgate vents taped over for the summer and the fan on 2 or 3, the internal pressure on the LJ made the top quieter than the JL. Of course, EVERYTHING ELSE about the LJ was louder, and everything that made the top tighter made it a pain in the ass to put up and down. So I would say it still is a net positive.

I recognize I'm in the minority here, but IMO, the TJ/LJ top was quieter than my standard or premium JK soft tops (JK & JKU standard, JKU premium) or the JL premium top due to that inability to build up the interior pressure and the lack of attachment between the top and the top of the door surrounds.

 

[Grooster]

Do you have the link to the plans for the cart? Just picked up my Sahara yesterday, and need to make one and get that soft top on! Thanks!!

Hardtop Cart / Holder DIY | Jeep Wrangler Forums (JL / JLU) - Rubicon, Sahara, Sport, 4xe, 392 - JLwranglerforums.com

 

[El Zilcho]

I have a 2021 Sahara premium ST, never any flapping at any speed. Is there a big difference in the construction of the standard top vs the premium that would allow such flapping?

I had standart soft top for a while. No flapping at all. Same tension as premium.

 

[Bejer]

I had standart soft top for a while. No flapping at all. Same tension as premium.

Same. Going on the third summer with my standard soft top. No flapping. The seat belts on the other hand…

 

[Grooster]

Just wrapped up 300 miles on business with the Jeep in crosswinds both directions. The soft top was good. No flapping, just the expected wind noise at 75 mph. That's what the radio is for. Everything stayed tight. Factory Mopar top.

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