JL Hard Top Design changes vs JK (leak issues)?

[sandtrooper]

Hey everyone, I have a JK and I park on an inclined driveway and live on a steep street. In my first year of owning when it would rain really heavy on my parked Jeep I would get a ton of leakage when I’d drive down my steep street (so water would seep into seams while parked on the incline and then pour onto me and the passenger’s outer shoulders when the Jeep was facing down at a decline)... dealer tried to mess with the seals and fix the issue 4 times and never succeeded. I ended up buying a Bestop soft top and leaving that on the last 4 years straight.

That being said, I know the weight and locking devices are new in the JL, are there other design changes that may fix the JK top issue on the new JL? Has any JK owner had this same issue?

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[cmb]

Had the same issue with my JK. Dealer looked at it a few times, would just end up telling me "it's a jeep, they leak"

 

[Notty]

Hey everyone, I have a JK and I park on an inclined driveway and live on a steep street. In my first year of owning when it would rain really heavy on my parked Jeep I would get a ton of leakage when I’d drive down my steep street (so water would seep into seams while parked on the incline and then pour onto me and the passenger’s outer shoulders when the Jeep was facing down at a decline)... dealer tried to mess with the seals and fix the issue 4 times and never succeeded. I ended up buying a Bestop soft top and leaving that on the last 4 years straight.

That being said, I know the weight and locking devices are new in the JL, are there other design changes that may fix the JK top issue on the new JL? Has any JK owner had this same issue?

Here is a link to another thread where the improvements are discussed/shown.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...p-water-seals-are-way-better.3349/#post-60641

I haven't been in any downpours yet, but from washing the new JL a few times now I have noticed absolutely no water getting through the seals.

 

[maguro]

There's a new thread in the "Issues, Repairs, Warranty, TSB & Recalls" subforum about a leaking hardtop.

 

[DenMVCA]

Anyone with a new hardtop, I have a question. On my old JK, I could remove the hardtop, then put the "Freedom" panels back on. That gave me shade while the rest of the interior was open. Not that different from a soft top with the windows out. Can anyone tell me if this is still possible?

Thanks

 

[mjaffe13]

My JK use to leak just like that. I ordered a new JL and it's taking a little bit of extra time because the new hard tops are leaking. I'm not 100% sure of that but that's what I've been hearing around the dealership I work at.

 

[sandtrooper]

My JK use to leak just like that. I ordered a new JL and it's taking a little bit of extra time because the new hard tops are leaking. I'm not 100% sure of that but that's what I've been hearing around the dealership I work at.

I’m 99% sure I’ll just get a soft top and save some money... my JK hardtop has sat under a tarp for like 3 years straight. I like the hardtops in the Massachusetts winter until I get ice water pouring all over my shoulder when I’m driving downhill!

 

[Direwolf]

I’m 99% sure I’ll just get a soft top and save some money... my JK hardtop has sat under a tarp for like 3 years straight. I like the hardtops in the Massachusetts winter until I get ice water pouring all over my shoulder when I’m driving downhill!

Hey sandtrooper, fellow MA resident here. I've been debating going soft top only this time as well, but never ran my soft top in the winter... How is it? It's really the lack of rear defroster/wiper that concerns me. Also I've heard that salt isn't good for the fabric. But on the other hand, switching tops is a huge pain when you don't have a private garage.

 

[sandtrooper]

Hey sandtrooper, fellow MA resident here. I've been debating going soft top only this time as well, but never ran my soft top in the winter... How is it? It's really the lack of rear defroster/wiper that concerns me. Also I've heard that salt isn't good for the fabric. But on the other hand, switching tops is a huge pain when you don't have a private garage.

The back soft window will get dirty from all the salt and stuff so I just got used to just seeing through blur but the new JL has a backup cam for backing up which will be much easier. My soft top has held up great, it’s faded a little over 3 years but not hugely. I don’t have a garage and I wasn’t going to deal with leaking so soft top was my only option. If it’s going to snow a lot I do clean it off every few hours so it doesn’t end up being a foot of packed snow weighing down on the top. It might be a tad colder inside the Jeep too but I honestly don’t remember how much less cold it was in winter with the hard top. Just make sure when you clean snow off the soft windows don’t use a snow brush as they can scratch the plastic a little. I have a foam “SnoBrum” I got on Amazon that I use to tap ice off/clear snow away. It’s so much easier to clear all the snow off the top too since it’s a block of foam that you can push/pull snow off and it’s retractable. I just make sure when it’s nice and sunny I’ll clean the soft windows with a microfiber cloth and water to get the cloudy salt residue off the back. When I get a JL I just don’t think I want to spend the extra money for both tops just for a hard top to leak and also be a hassle to switch and turn into something to take up more space on my deck. If I had a garage and some pull system where I could suspend the hard top from the ceiling and lower it maybe I’d do it haha.

 

[Direwolf]

The back soft window will get dirty from all the salt and stuff so I just got used to just seeing through blur but the new JL has a backup cam for backing up which will be much easier. My soft top has held up great, it’s faded a little over 3 years but not hugely. I don’t have a garage and I wasn’t going to deal with leaking so soft top was my only option. If it’s going to snow a lot I do clean it off every few hours so it doesn’t end up being a foot of packed snow weighing down on the top. It might be a tad colder inside the Jeep too but I honestly don’t remember how much less cold it was in winter with the hard top. Just make sure when you clean snow off the soft windows don’t use a snow brush as they can scratch the plastic a little. I have a foam “SnoBrum” I got on Amazon that I use to tap ice off/clear snow away. It’s so much easier to clear all the snow off the top too since it’s a block of foam that you can push/pull snow off and it’s retractable. I just make sure when it’s nice and sunny I’ll clean the soft windows with a microfiber cloth and water to get the cloudy salt residue off the back. When I get a JL I just don’t think I want to spend the extra money for both tops just for a hard top to leak and also be a hassle to switch and turn into something to take up more space on my deck. If I had a garage and some pull system where I could suspend the hard top from the ceiling and lower it maybe I’d do it haha.

Thanks for the info! My hard top only leaked if I parked facing downhill and it was torrential rain. Even then it was a slow leak and the resulting puddle in the all-weather mat wasn't too bad. I just never found the freedom panels gave enough open air feeling. And they were so bulky, that after a long day of work sometimes I'd be too lazy to remove them. I at least have covered parking in an underground garage shared with all my neighbors. But I have to rent a storage unit to store the hard top over the summer months. Good point about the backup camera in the JL. Thanks for the input, I'm still torn, but leaning towards soft top only now.

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