NEWBIE QUESTION - JL premium soft top - putting top down / back and leaving windows in

[DG917]

@DG917 have to remove them to put all the way back. I tried with back window in but did not want to crease it. I got a window bag off Amazon works great.

Thank you, can you link me to that bag

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[thecritter]

Thank you, can you link me to that bag

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001OMRK4M/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_track_package_o0_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I put back window in first. Then layer the protective cloth between the side windows and fold the extra part of the back window over the side windows so it is a larger radus bend.

 

[xtopherm]

Hey
Newbie question.
I have a 2019 Wrangler w/Premium Soft top.
Is it okay to put the top back/down, without removing the rear window and quarter panel windows?

Manual says you have to remove them in "sunrider position" but there is another thread on the forum about how many people don't bother to and successfully run at highway speeds with no damage to their windows. I do it all the time around town, but I'd probably take at least the rear window out if I was doing a highway trip. It think it is possible that the manufacturer's advice about this is less about damage than it is about liability. The windows are pretty rugged and don't seem to be stressed or flapping if you drive with them in and the top in sunrider position, but it is possible that one could work its way down the track and fly off and land on another car and cause them to crash and well... liability. So proceed with appropriate caution.

 

[JerseyJLUnlimited]

If you lose a window while driving, then it probably wasn't secured to begin with. However, do as you see fit. Myself, I drive in Sunrider position all the time with my windows still in

Definitely this.

 

[noreserve]

Hey
Newbie question.
I have a 2019 Wrangler w/Premium Soft top.
Is it okay to put the top back/down, without removing the rear window and quarter panel windows?

Yes, but you should be going at least 40 MPH so that you get the "aerodynamic assist" that will automatically bring the top back to the Sunrider position without having to exit the vehicle. Roll down all windows to obtain maximum airflow into the interior so that you achieve a proper bulge and leak test on the plastic bits. Check the rearview mirror nervously to ensure that the leak test was a success.

Kidding aside, it's just fine and lasts a long time. Roll the windows down and put the top back. The amount of wind that enters the interior from the top is negligible compared to the windows. As has been stated previously, with the windows down, that is what is stressing the rear and rear quarter plastic panels the most anyhow.

I drive a lot with the windows down and the top in the Sunrider - aka "The Broiler" - position without taking the rear and rear quarter panels out. I haven't had a problem yet. Now, that being said, I don't drive on the highway like that just because it's too damn windy and noisy.

 

[Rahneld]

Here's the law. Don't shoot me. Bestop makes the top exclusively for FCA, who sells, services and supplies parts for it to the consumer. It is FCA's top in all ways, except they don't make it.

Then again FCA doesn't make a whole lot of the Wrangler: specialist ns transmissons, and brakes, and axles do...no differently than other vehicles. Also key, Bestop neither sells any aspect of this top to the consumer or other automakers.

If there's a defect lawyers will name not only FCA but Bestop in the litigation because they are allowed to and there's nothing to lose in doing so (everyone in the top's profit chain gets named.) .

But the court will drop Bestop as a litigant as FCA owns the top.

With said ownership comes FCA's right to make the rules on its usage. They differ from Bestop's which are irrelevant here and more stringent as per the one official legal contract, the owner's manual, as long as 1) the owner's manual refers to no other for vehicle operation (not service), and 2) supplemental materials say to refer to the owner's manual for complete details.

If Bestop sold the top privately, and especially if you bought it from them, THAT might be a different story.

This is no smoking gun. This is just FCA making the rules more stringent then Bestop so they can't be named in warranty or liability cases of the soft top getting damaging or causing damage to other vehicles should the windows be kept in while the top is in Sunrider mode.

The expected cost of keeping windows in (cost of damage multiplied by probability) is, I believe low. Cost of damage could be as high as property or occupant damage in a high speed mishap could be astronomical, but likeliyhood, I've always conceded was low.

This is why I often keep my windows in while in Sunrider mode. But know these actions are on each owner/operator do judge their own tolerance to risk.

Had FCA made this video, and not said to refer to the owner's manual for full/complete details, THEN, liability might be able to be attached to FCA, but again not Bestop.

Let the hate begin how my quoting legal fact is really just my inability to admit error, when my only goal is that novices walk away with correct information on which to apply their own risk assessment regarding soft windows in or out.

 

[Rahneld]

One more quick thing. Could FCA subrogate the costs of lost litigation on soft top product defect on to Bestop? Absolutely, as long as FCA's rules for the top's use are at least as stringent as Bestop's.

But the end user successfully litigating Bestop?: not likely.

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