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Should I spend the money on a soft top for Summer??

joec63

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From NE Ohio so same issue with crappy weather for half the year and went with the hardtop. Bestop has $100 rebate on the Sunrider until end of month. A little more palatable for a quarter top.
 

shekmark

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I found an OEM soft top used for $1200. Installed an inexpensive hoist in my garage. Can’t wait till spring. Just do it! Love 2 doors, but really needed the extra space.
 

snide

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When I had my '13 JKU, I kept wishing I had bought a soft top instead of a hard top. Get the soft top.
 

Kraty1

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In 2002, I was driving my TJ through Chicago rush hour traffic and was hit by a heavy thunderstorm. I was without my hardtop and had the wife and kids with me. Jeep took on about 1-2 inches of water in the floorboards and the next overpass was miles ahead, so I could not get under it. Having other people wave and smile at us on the interstate while we looked like drowned rats was in my opinion fun, and a unique Jeep experience. It was very memorable for my family, and we still laugh about it today. However, from that point on, wife and I decided to always have a top and windows with us. So, we switch out hard top for soft top each year as many do. A soft top is a no-brainer to us. Search the forums, there is always one for sale cheaper than a new one.
Almost the same thing happened to us but we were able to throw the safari top up to save us from the brunt of the rain. Still got wet but quite the experience and my daughter to this day remembers the day “it’s raining in the Jeep!” °IIIIIII°
 

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BBDOC

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I know that some people think the safari top looks weird. I love it! I get compliments on that top all day and it’s the perfect compromise for my wife and three daughters with long hair. Find your joy where you can! Just Empty Every Pocket
 

Hulk

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The only problem is carting around the windows when you put it down. They’re fairly big and scratch just looking at them.
Now that is funny as hell but so true.
 

chilly_one

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In 2002, I was driving my TJ through Chicago rush hour traffic and was hit by a heavy thunderstorm. I was without my hardtop and had the wife and kids with me. Jeep took on about 1-2 inches of water in the floorboards and the next overpass was miles ahead, so I could not get under it. Having other people wave and smile at us on the interstate while we looked like drowned rats was in my opinion fun, and a unique Jeep experience. It was very memorable for my family, and we still laugh about it today. However, from that point on, wife and I decided to always have a top and windows with us. So, we switch out hard top for soft top each year as many do. A soft top is a no-brainer to us. Search the forums, there is always one for sale cheaper than a new one.
I love this.;):rain: One of my reasons for buying a Jeep was to use it as a convertible. I know that's not everyone's thing, but it was a primary selling point for me. My Sahara came with the hardtop, but I found a brand new premium OEM soft top on the forums for a great price. I highly recommend you looking there for an OEM top. And do your research. I know a lot of people love their BesTop, but I don't believe all the models can fold all the way down like a Mopar OEM top.

I'll be building a power hardtop hoist for my garage in the next month or so. Then the soft top will go on and will probably stay on until November. :sun:
 

BrandonB00

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I didn't read through the whole thing but the premium soft top ESPECIALLY ON A 2 DOOR is really the best top to get. The engineers at bestop (where it's made) did an amazing job with the top this time. It is WAY WAY better than my TJ and even JK soft tops. Its just as quiet as the hard top with the top up and the amount of configuration is wonderful. you can leave all the windows on and pop the top back in under 20 seconds to have "sunroof mode" which actually gives open air completely to you and almost completely to passengers in the back, you can take the windows out and drive around in Safari mode and its very stable also very warm if you put the heater on, If you have the windows out it folds back from safari to fully down in under 30 seconds and goes back up just as fast.

If you buy the 2 door without the soft top I think you're missing out on the full potential of the jeep experience.
 

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misanthrope

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Rick, love my Dual Tops though I do, as I suspect you may realize, asking whether you should get a piece of gear for a vehicle on a forum devoted to its love is like asking a forum on "love of parachuting" if you should take your first skydive.

Rather, let's talk about pros and cons. And these aren't question for you to answer here, as they are for you to ponder.

First, what kind of discretionary funds do you have for this purchase? If you're financing a non-necessity that depreciates: let's just say I hope you don't.

Second, let's assume you have these funds, what other gear might you want to purchase for your JL that buying the soft top will defer you getting?

Third, outside the JL space (gasp), might these funds go to other things that interest you?

Fourth, is there room for compromise? The Bestop Sunrider product is much cheaper than the entire soft top. Especially if you're not carrying around too many people in the back seat of your 2 door, you may find this product a more than adequate compromise. Maybe you want to exchange hard top for soft, paying for the latter with the former.

Fifth: are you willing to wait for an aftermarket that may produce a 2 door top that's cheaper than the OEM/Bestop Soft top, or pick one up used?

There's no right or wrong answers here, only that which is right or wrong for you.

As for me, and a lot of us, opening the soft top on a nice day on open road offers similar serenity to sailing, and hard to put a price tag on.
SUCH an objective, Gee-pah type of answer. Can't you just pick a side (and a fight) and stir the pot? I mean, the interweb need more dischord...;)
 

Gee-pah

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SUCH an objective, Gee-pah type of answer. Can't you just pick a side (and a fight) and stir the pot? I mean, the interweb need more dischord...;)
I get the tongue-in-cheek with which this is said.

My angle is to do away with the Confirmation Bias so often found in forums that goes along the lines of:

"get the XYZ lift kit bro, it's f_ing awesome" lines of someone who's more about confirming their purchase than bothering to understand the OP's need, and how buying in kind might be right or wrong for them because of differing needs.

Often an OP doesn't even know what factors are commonly considered, or options are available. We are at our best here when OP's make informed decisions, not our decisions.
 

J14188

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I would like to mention, for those recommending to buy the bestop sunrider. The difference between just the panels/sunrider off and the entire top off is huge, a completely different experience and feeling. Freedom panels come off really easily imho. Yes sure the bestop sunrider makes it a breeze and you don't have to pull over to take it off, but is that worth $700 to you? if it is, by all means, buy it. But why not save a bit more and buy the whole soft top?

This is how I personally thought about it, and decided to just go with a top lift pro. I live in So Cal and it almost never rains, now in "winter" it is a weekend thing, no rain in the forecast? temps over 60? top comes off and back on by the end of the weekend. During summer it wont be much of an issue to leave it off for weeks since it is always dry.

I have been considering however buying a softop because if I am going for a roadtrip, I won't be able to take the whole thing off, but at least I got freedom panels.

The sunrider doesn't really seem worth it to me.
I agree. The freedom panels take 2 minutes to take off.
 

Lil Punk'n

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Thank you for all the input...To answer some of your questions...Money is not the issue at all, I have been saving for one. I need a Hardtop in northern Pennsylvania...I do run with the doors off most of the Summer and can park my Jeep in the garage every night. I have a few months to make a decision (See aforementioned Northern PA), So I can make a solid decision...I am currently leaning toward the BestTop Twill Soft top for the look. The cost differential is about $600 cheaper than the OEM Twill.
We are very pleased with our Trektop.
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Centurion07

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Just installed this last week. Helpful hint: installing with zero experience, in the dark, at <50 degrees is not optimal. It's all pretty easy until you nearly get a hernia trying to stretch the twill to wrap it up.
Since installing, it's has been below 30, above 80, and rained fairly heavily (thanks bipolar Texas weather). Thus thing is awesome. I'm not going back to the hard top anytime soon.
As for what manufacturer/model to buy, take a look at what features you want and go from there.

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