If you had to choose…

[cgagnon99]

For owners of both hard and soft tops (preferably mopar “official” soft top)- if you had to get rid of one, which would it be and why?
I have the soft top, and thinking about getting the hard too but at $2k bucks (marketplace) is it really worth it?

Why do you want to get rid of the soft top? I have both in MD and that's a really tough question. I love the hard top from November to March, but once there is a chance for a 50+ day the soft top goes on, and is mostly down until the hard top goes back on.

However, if you don't take the top off much the hard top may be a good fit. The Sunrider for Hardtop is an awesome addition too. I've seen them on the forums but saw my first one in action last weekend and I may have to get it for my hard top as well.

My $0.02 is if you're thinking about it try and make room to keep both!

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[Philly_]

I think it depends on where you live. Now that I am in Texas, if I could only have one, I would get the soft top. I am now fully remote for work and haven't put the windows back in my soft top for about a month, and the uppers only go in my half doors for drives over an hour or in rain.

I run in "safari mode" 99% of the time to keep the sun off of me and the interior and still get the open air. For short trips, I take the extra 2 minutes to flip the top back and get a little sun and I don't have to worry about getting cooked.

If I still lived in Michigan and could only have one, I would likely go hard top. The soft top windows get stiff in cold temperatures and the road salt is brutal on them causing them to haze, and you can't go through a regular car wash without scratching them. This is critical if you don't live near a touchless wash, because salt could be sitting on your jeep for extended periods of time and these things LOVE to rust. Also, if I were hard top only, I would replace the freedom panels with the Bestop sunrider. I was very close to doing this in my current Jeep, but decided if I am spending close to 1k for part of a top, I might as well spend the extra couple hundred to get the full benefits of a soft top.

Right now my biggest issue is finding someone to help me swap tops! My friend I recruited last time underestimated the weight and we scratched it a bit... oh well! I have touch up paint and it's a jeep thing.

 

[ejewels]

I think it depends on where you live. Now that I am in Texas, if I could only have one, I would get the soft top. I am now fully remote for work and haven't put the windows back in my soft top for about a month, and the uppers only go in my half doors for drives over an hour or in rain.

I run in "safari mode" 99% of the time to keep the sun off of me and the interior and still get the open air. For short trips, I take the extra 2 minutes to flip the top back and get a little sun and I don't have to worry about getting cooked.

If I still lived in Michigan and could only have one, I would likely go hard top. The soft top windows get stiff in cold temperatures and the road salt is brutal on them causing them to haze, and you can't go through a regular car wash without scratching them. This is critical if you don't live near a touchless wash, because salt could be sitting on your jeep for extended periods of time and these things LOVE to rust. Also, if I were hard top only, I would replace the freedom panels with the Bestop sunrider. I was very close to doing this in my current Jeep, but decided if I am spending close to 1k for part of a top, I might as well spend the extra couple hundred to get the full benefits of a soft top.

Right now my biggest issue is finding someone to help me swap tops! My friend I recruited last time underestimated the weight and we scratched it a bit... oh well! I have touch up paint and it's a jeep thing.

the soft top would rust? Or you mean in general? I don't see why a modern new jeep would rust anymore than another modern car nowadays?

 

[Philly_]

the soft top would rust? Or you mean in general? I don't see why a modern new jeep would rust anymore than another modern car nowadays?

The soft top shouldn't rust, but the salt seems to dry out the clear vinyl windows and cause hazing to occur. Happened to the soft top on my JKU when I left it on a little longer than usual and ended up with some road salt on it. Perhaps cleaning them immediately would have prevented it, but I drove too often on salty roads for it to be worth the time to wipe them down without scratching every time I drive.

As far as vehicles rusting, I find that Jeeps and Toyotas rust faster than anything else on the road. I have no idea why, perhaps the quality of steel used, or inconsistent/cheap coatings, but I used to give my old neighbor (high level frame engineer at Stellantis) a very hard time about it while I had my JKU. Supposedly they have increased their corrosion resistance in the past couple years, but only time will tell for me! Haven't had this one in the salt yet.

Also, some say I'm crazy when it comes to my regular rust prevention and maintenance. I climb under my Jeep after every off-road trip to clean and respray scrapes even though in Texas it will take forever to rust. When I lived in Michigan, I also climbed under every spring and every fall (in addition to after off-road trips) to make sure all surface rust was removed and recoated. This took hours and was a never ending battle, but to me it was worth taking care of.

Some people aren't bothered by the surface rust or don't keep their vehicles long enough for it to eventually become a problem. This is all based on my personal experience and preferences.

 

[Heimkehr]

Not sure I understand, I have heat/AC and they work fine with soft top.

I can only speak for myself, but when it's 95 degrees and above, and it's nasty-high humidity (Pretty much July and August where I live), when I have the soft top on it struggles to get the cab cool and sufficiently de-humidified. There's a constant heat radiating from above your head (and I have the premium top).

I configured my JLU order with the soft top.

PA winters can be cold. E.g., just a few years ago, New Year's Day started off at 0°F/-18°C. The Jeep's nuclear-grade heater never kept me less than warm while I was out and about. As was the case with my soft-topped YJ, the standard disclaimer is that the fan speed just needs to be a bit higher than what one would require in a hard top. So, that covers the Cold. My experience with the YJ allowed me to choose the soft top option for the newer Jeep with confidence.

As for the Heat of summer, cabin cooling can indeed be an issue when the ambient temps reach the high 80s or above. Maybe that's because I don't like hot days, but even with the AC on Recirc and the fan speed near or at its maximum speed, I'm just comfortable. The cabin doesn't feel cooled in the same way that it feels heated when the mercury goes way south. There it is.

85°F/29°C is our average high daily temperature in the summer, so I get by well enough with the soft top. Were these daily numbers recurringly higher, I might've chosen the hard top out of sheer pragmatism.

 

[ejewels]

The soft top shouldn't rust, but the salt seems to dry out the clear vinyl windows and cause hazing to occur. Happened to the soft top on my JKU when I left it on a little longer than usual and ended up with some road salt on it. Perhaps cleaning them immediately would have prevented it, but I drove too often on salty roads for it to be worth the time to wipe them down without scratching every time I drive.

As far as vehicles rusting, I find that Jeeps and Toyotas rust faster than anything else on the road. I have no idea why, perhaps the quality of steel used, or inconsistent/cheap coatings, but I used to give my old neighbor (high level frame engineer at Stellantis) a very hard time about it while I had my JKU. Supposedly they have increased their corrosion resistance in the past couple years, but only time will tell for me! Haven't had this one in the salt yet.

Also, some say I'm crazy when it comes to my regular rust prevention and maintenance. I climb under my Jeep after every off-road trip to clean and respray scrapes even though in Texas it will take forever to rust. When I lived in Michigan, I also climbed under every spring and every fall (in addition to after off-road trips) to make sure all surface rust was removed and recoated. This took hours and was a never ending battle, but to me it was worth taking care of.

Some people aren't bothered by the surface rust or don't keep their vehicles long enough for it to eventually become a problem. This is all based on my personal experience and preferences.

yeah I hear you. It actually reminds me to go clean off surface rust underneath mine, as I just like to spray some fluid film to keep things at bay once or twice a year.

 

[JLUandCJ-7]

I configured my JLU order with the soft top.

PA winters can be cold. E.g., just a few years ago, New Year's Day started off at 0°F/-18°C. The Jeep's nuclear-grade heater never kept me less than warm while I was out and about. As was the case with my soft-topped YJ, the standard disclaimer is that the fan speed just needs to be a bit higher than what one would require in a hard top. So, that covers the Cold. My experience with the YJ allowed me to choose the soft top option for the newer Jeep with confidence.

As for the Heat of summer, cabin cooling can indeed be an issue when the ambient temps reach the high 80s or above. Maybe that's because I don't like hot days, but even with the AC on Recirc and the fan speed near or at its maximum speed, I'm just comfortable. The cabin doesn't feel cooled in the same way that it feels heated when the mercury goes way south. There it is.

85°F/29°C is our average high daily temperature in the summer, so I get by well enough with the soft top. Were these daily numbers recurringly higher, I might've chosen the hard top out of sheer pragmatism.

Glad I'm not the only one. I will admit, I like my cabin cold, and it just can't do that in the 95+ degree summer with a soft top, especially in stop-lighted, slow-going traffic.

 

[Opus]

I configured my JLU order with the soft top.

PA winters can be cold. E.g., just a few years ago, New Year's Day started off at 0°F/-18°C. The Jeep's nuclear-grade heater never kept me less than warm while I was out and about. As was the case with my soft-topped YJ, the standard disclaimer is that the fan speed just needs to be a bit higher than what one would require in a hard top. So, that covers the Cold. My experience with the YJ allowed me to choose the soft top option for the newer Jeep with confidence.

As for the Heat of summer, cabin cooling can indeed be an issue when the ambient temps reach the high 80s or above. Maybe that's because I don't like hot days, but even with the AC on Recirc and the fan speed near or at its maximum speed, I'm just comfortable. The cabin doesn't feel cooled in the same way that it feels heated when the mercury goes way south. There it is.

85°F/29°C is our average high daily temperature in the summer, so I get by well enough with the soft top. Were these daily numbers recurringly higher, I might've chosen the hard top out of sheer pragmatism.

Granted, it's produced by Bestop which sells soft tops, but their conclusion is that the soft top actually stays slightly warmer in winter than a hard top...

 

[Rubi SoHo]

I have both, I prefer the soft top, but winters here are fairly long and brutal, I definitely have use for the hard top too.

for that reason, I’d probably get rid of the soft top if forced to choose.

but man it’s nice to button the jeep up on a moments notice for inclement weather, parking etc. The soft top has a LOT of advantages.

But hard top is practical enough that I can’t really imagine not having one around. My son is in the market for a YJ or early model year TJ at the moment. We’re considering passing on a mint condition, rust free, beautiful Navajo Turquoise 94 that will probably fetch twice what the seller is asking if we flipped it, for a $1600 more expensive, trail worn, but otherwise good shape 93 because the 93 comes with hard and soft top, while the 94 is soft top only.

 

[spenat]

I have a hard top with a sunrider, best combo for me.

I live in los angles and use to live in NYC

no reason to have a soft top in a big city unless you wish for someone to constantly try to steal your stuff

 

[J.Ferreira]

Yes, another reason why I might pass on it as I live in a condo with no storage for it. Unless it could fit through a basement door. And I’m in New England so curious about that too. I hear conflicted things on a soft top in winter.

Bestop, who manufactures the factory soft top, has YouTube videos on running soft tops in the winter. The interior temperature differences between hardtop and soft top were negligible in all the tests they did.
The only true advantage to a hardtop in the winter I could see is having a rear window defroster.

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