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Honest Question: What's the big deal with half doors?

YJdude

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Half doors are wonderful ONLY because I can be anywhere and have everything with me to button it all up. The looks are pretty great too and they are solid built. I agree they're more like 3/4 doors, but they line up level to the tub. Adding factory half doors to my Willys was the last thing I really "had to have", and after using them for a while I can now say I will never put the full doors back on.

YES, YOU CAN CARRY IT ALL BEHIND THE REAR SEAT IN A TWO DOOR.
1. Place one side window and one door upper against the rear seat, drop the roof (the rear of the roof will push the window and upper against the seat).
2. Place the other side window and upper in next (they will happily fit in between the folds of the roof where they stick up a bit).
3. Remove back window from window bar and roll it up left to right, return window bar to where it lives above the tailgate. There's still enough room to place the rolled up window in the cargo area.
4. Run straps around the folded top and under the window bar to cinch it all down if desired. The top still clicks into lock position like normal, I have always cinched it down because it never truly locked down like I wanted.

It takes some trial and error to make it all fit right, but hey what else is new in the 2-door world. I intend to do a formal how-to on this with pics when I have some time. Yes, the panels probably rub together, but I haven't noticed any new scratches from transporting (every soft window I've ever had eventually turned cloudy and degraded over time).

I will say, if I weren't able to squeeze all that shit behind the rear seat I would really hate these new soft tops. They're super easy to operate, but I'd never want to travel long distance without the windows on board.
Thanks!
Jeep Wrangler JL Honest Question: What's the big deal with half doors? 20220425_093125
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JP29

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I love the look of the half doors and it feels like driving with out the doors. BUT, I wish there was a few more inches of room behind the rear seats cuz the top won't go down if the window bag and upper door halves are in the back. Have to hang the window bag behind front seats.

Jeep Wrangler JL Honest Question: What's the big deal with half doors? IMG_3696


Jeep Wrangler JL Honest Question: What's the big deal with half doors? IMG_3696
Unrelated to the thread, but I put my windows behind the rear seat when I bring them with me. They'll fit with the top down, you just need to fold the rear seat forward with the window bag up against it before lowering the top.
 

BrierPatch

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I am surprised no one has pointed out the fact that the factory half doors are not really a 4-5K option. I was going to get half doors for my jeep one way or another. I had already priced out bestop 2pc fabric doors like I had on my TJ and they were going to be 2-2.5K. This was before the factory option was available when I tried to order a 19 & then a 20. When the factory half doors became an option in 21, I was so glad my previous orders didn't go thru. When you look at the bestop 2pc fabric doors compared to the factory half doors its definitely worth the extra 2K. I do get it that it is still an expensive upgrade, heck the jeep its self is already expensive. I decided to give up the rubicon package for the half doors. The truth is I would probably only use the extra capability of the rubicon a couple of times in my ownership of the jeep (we don't do really difficult trails). We plan on keeping our jeep for a very long time. We get the benefit and use of the half doors every time we drive the jeep whether on the trail or around town. I got the half doors because it's a more open experience and I can carry the uppers with me to close the jeep up for weather. It's sad that I have to say I didn't get them to show off my money, I didn't get them to just look cool, I didn't get them to look different than others. I got them because they are a very useful and functional option that works great for me and the way I use my jeep. I have gone 3 years at a time before and never put the top up on my old TJ. So the value of half doors is different for everyone.

I have to say, after reading thru this thread a sad thought came to my mind about so many of the comments. Here I am on a dedicated jeep forum with all jeep owners and the phrase that came to my mind was:

"It's a Jeep thing, you wouldn't understand" 😞
 

MZ77

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I agree with BrierPatch 100%! I also downgraded to a sport to afford the half doors. Waiting on delivery. I feel like it was a great decision. We’ll see….
 

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Res68

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You're losing the entire frame for the windows, plus a percentage of the door height. The difference actually feels pretty dramatic.

Now, I'm more of a "Sunrider for Hardtop flipped back and windows down" kind of guy. Don't need the Big Open experience. But for some people, it really pushes their enjoyment button. Really cool that we have so many options, isn't it?

PS: Jeep should offer half doors without full doors. They did this on the JK -- a $500 option. I think you'd see a lot more takers if they offered them this way on the JL.
I absolutely would have opted for this option had it been available. They are finally offering half doors but I believe it’s in addition to, not in place of, full doors. Haven’t seen any on the road yet either.
 

Photoflow

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One other note. I have two kids and we live in California. We have the top off nine months of the year. I used to run with no doors but it made my wife nervous that the kids could slide out. Silly but we all have our issues. A set of half doors fixed the issue and everyone is happy. Plus I don’t have their toys flying off into traffic nearly as much.
Ok! I’m in Los Angeles too and have been on the fence about ordering a new Jeep with the half-door combo. Even when I bought my TJ back in the day, I really wanted half-doors but scored a great deal on an in-stock Wrangler with the full doors. I also have two kids, hence the reason I originally sold my TJ and traded for a Subaru. Now that the kids are a little older and I want back into a Wrangler, your comment solidifies my thinking that half-doors are the way to go because it‘s super damn fun and I don’t wanna miss it again. Thanks! :like:
 

MZ77

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Since I have not gotten my ordered JL yet, do the uppers and/or 1/2 doors come with a storage bag of any type?
 

JLJeepn

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Since I have not gotten my ordered JL yet, do the uppers and/or 1/2 doors come with a storage bag of any type?
I bought my half doors new in box from a member here on this forum and they did not come with a storage bag. What I have been using are the freedom top bags for the half door uppers and the fit perfect. I have two bags to hold all four uppers. Sometimes on trips I just take the two front uppers and they fit in one bag. You can find freedom top bags on this forum and they are easy to ship if there is nothing in your area. Hope this helps.
-Pete
 

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BrierPatch

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Since I have not gotten my ordered JL yet, do the uppers and/or 1/2 doors come with a storage bag of any type?
Here is a thread about the storage bags. I have the freedom panel storage bags and then got the mopar JK upper half door bag. Not sure which I prefer. Sometimes I just put the 2 front upper half doors on when it's a cool late night trip home and not all 4. I'm trying the 1 bag for all 4 this year to see how it goes.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/half-door-upper-bags.77887/#post-1659049
 

MattT69

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Can someone order just 2 half doors for those impractical 2 door JLs...
Asking for a friend 😉
Also will they be half the cost 🤔
 

Ketamingo

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The new 2023 order guide (posted yesterday) now has half doors available without the uppers. Just another option to help reduce cost if you don't think you'd ever use the uppers.
 

LOBBS

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Can someone order just 2 half doors for those impractical 2 door JLs...
Asking for a friend 😉
Also will they be half the cost 🤔
In the AllMoparParts vendor section there was a thread that broke down the entire parts list if one were wanting to buy and assemble them after the fact and not having luck finding a set that came with someone's order. I'm still not sure why Mopar hasn't offered them whole thru the parts department yet.
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