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Premium Soft Top, Winter, Ice? A Problem?

johndan

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Anyone living in seriously wintery regions with the premium soft top: Is ice on the rear window a problem? If so, how do you deal with it? Letting the Jeep heat up until the ice falls away? Or does ice just not form?

I've read scattered but conflicting info here (and elsewhere), so I'm looking for some first-person experience reports.

I'm ordering a 2020 JLR and the dual-top option isn't available for two-doors. I've run hard tops on my previous Wranglers in the winter and often had to scrap ice off the back window in the winter ("often" as in "four or five times a week" for some stretches). I assume using an ice scraper on a soft top rear window in -20F is a bad idea.

I can order a hard top JLR and the premium soft top separately (not cheap—around $2k, I think). If I can run the soft top year round, I'd prefer to just do that.

Thanks,

- Johndan
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robaw

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Anyone living in seriously wintery regions with the premium soft top: Is ice on the rear window a problem? If so, how do you deal with it? Letting the Jeep heat up until the ice falls away? Or does ice just not form?

I've read scattered but conflicting info here (and elsewhere), so I'm looking for some first-person experience reports.

I'm ordering a 2020 JLR and the dual-top option isn't available for two-doors. I've run hard tops on my previous Wranglers in the winter and often had to scrap ice off the back window in the winter ("often" as in "four or five times a week" for some stretches). I assume using an ice scraper on a soft top rear window in -20F is a bad idea.

I can order a hard top JLR and the premium soft top separately (not cheap—around $2k, I think). If I can run the soft top year round, I'd prefer to just do that.

Thanks,

- Johndan
Personally I run dual tops so hard top in the winter, but plenty of people run soft top in harsh winter climates and are fine. I know @GreyFox runs soft top year round in Ohio, and pretty sure @stil2low does too in Ontario. Winters don't get too much worse than in either of those locations.
 
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johndan

johndan

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Personally I run dual tops so hard top in the winter, but plenty of people run soft top in harsh winter climates and are fine. I know @GreyFox runs soft top year round in Ohio, and pretty sure @stil2low does too in Ontario. Winters don't get too much worse than in either of those locations.
Yeah--my first Wrangler came with dual tops and my current Wrangler is only hard top, so I've run hard tops in the winter.

I know people in the north run soft tops, but I can't find good info on how to deal with ice on the rear window or if it's even an issue. I appreciate the shoutouts--I'll follow up with @stil2low if they don't reply to this thread.

I should have added this: I'm in way, way upstate New York in the Adirondacks. North of most of the population of Ontario. I can see the lights of Montreal's suburbs on my drive home in the winter.
 

Dawn Patrol

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I'm in PA and I ran a soft top last winter; I didn't have any issues with ice at all. Obviously, you can't scrape the ice off but when the inside warms up the ice melts very quickly. It is very warm inside the Jeep regardless of how cold it is. We went on a snowboarding trip to VT in February and got hammered with snow and ice and my wife kept commenting about how much nicer and warmer it was than my last Jeep.
 

OldGuyNewJeep

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Anyone living in seriously wintery regions with the premium soft top: Is ice on the rear window a problem? If so, how do you deal with it? Letting the Jeep heat up until the ice falls away? Or does ice just not form?

I've read scattered but conflicting info here (and elsewhere), so I'm looking for some first-person experience reports.

I'm ordering a 2020 JLR and the dual-top option isn't available for two-doors. I've run hard tops on my previous Wranglers in the winter and often had to scrap ice off the back window in the winter ("often" as in "four or five times a week" for some stretches). I assume using an ice scraper on a soft top rear window in -20F is a bad idea.

I can order a hard top JLR and the premium soft top separately (not cheap—around $2k, I think). If I can run the soft top year round, I'd prefer to just do that.

Thanks,

- Johndan
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/soft-top-only-in-northern-climate.1641/

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/running-a-soft-top-all-winter.17051/

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/snow-with-soft-top.18416/
 

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johndan

johndan

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I'm in PA and I ran a soft top last winter; I didn't have any issues with ice at all. Obviously, you can't scrape the ice off but when the inside warms up the ice melts very quickly. It is very warm inside the Jeep regardless of how cold it is. We went on a snowboarding trip to VT in February and got hammered with snow and ice and my wife kept commenting about how much nicer and warmer it was than my last Jeep.
Great--thanks. I think I'll go with just the soft top.
 
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johndan

johndan

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Gropax

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M0ondogy

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I'm not the full answer your looking for, but it's AN answer.

I live in central Maryland. Not exactly a cold place, but we have a week or two that holds in the 30s here and there. This is the definition of cold for a guy from the gulf south where 80 isn't hot.

My neighbor has a JK. Soft top. He leaf blows his soft top then brushed (no scrapers) the top. The layer of ice is still there. He drives off. From talking to him, he drives and hour to work, and says by the time he gets to the main highway, the ice is all gone. Frederick to DC for those wondering.

I'm only a few weeks into my JL, so I can t give personal winter advice. Sorry. Hope this helps.
 
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johndan

johndan

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johndan

johndan

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I'm not the full answer your looking for, but it's AN answer.

I live in central Maryland. Not exactly a cold place, but we have a week or two that holds in the 30s here and there. This is the definition of cold for a guy from the gulf south where 80 isn't hot.

My neighbor has a JK. Soft top. He leaf blows his soft top then brushed (no scrapers) the top. The layer of ice is still there. He drives off. From talking to him, he drives and hour to work, and says by the time he gets to the main highway, the ice is all gone. Frederick to DC for those wondering.

I'm only a few weeks into my JL, so I can t give personal winter advice. Sorry. Hope this helps.
Awesome. Leaf blower is now officially the top contender!
 

betsy

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Hi , I live in Maine ,lots of snow and ice I`m on my 7th jeep , 4 of them only had soft tops , parked outside all winter , the only problem I had was not being able to unzip the back window . As for dual top option , it was available when I ordered my 2019 JL , and as you know Maine has about 9 months of winter. Also , the sunrider for hardtop is an excellent option , an better security than a full soft top ,which is what I opted for on the JL .
 
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johndan

johndan

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Thanks. Related question: Was heavy snow an issue in terms of bowing the soft top? We occasionally get 12" - 18" of snow during a 24-hour period. (I'm not worried about clearing that much snow off the top; I'm worried about damage to the top.)
 

betsy

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Sorry , yes , we get heavy snowfall ,upwards of 12" per storm ,I have a dedicated soft push broom to knock off the worst of it , and let the heater do the rest .
 

SmoothJeepOperator

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I did have done ice build up on top that I couldn't get off with a broom. As the jeep heated up it would melt and I would run my hand along the inside of the soft top pushing it off. The windows never had ice on them.
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