Someone talk me out of going with the Sky One-Touch roof..

[SoCalRider9]

I think generally you aren’t going to buy it unless you like the features/can live with the negatives. As such you would expect those that bought it to have an overwhelmingly positive response to it and those that didn’t to lean the other way. OP seems to want people to talk him out of it…. Which is exactly the feedback those that considered purchasing it but didn’t in the end can give as well.

This is true, and the feedback has been raw and and very helpful on both ends which has been tremendously helpful, love this forum.

Before this thread I was leaning 70% SOT, now I'm up to 90% hah. A lot of my concerns have been essentially squashed. And very good points that I hadn't really considered in that if it does fail 5+ years down the line.. just replace with a HT and call it a day.

 

[xylodan]

It's a thing that can, and will eventually break and will be a pain in the ass to fix.
When I researched it, it wasn't a simple process of replacing it with a hard top and that there would need to be modifications made. Perhaps they're simple mods, but I try to pretend my Jeeps aren't wear items.

 

[Ratbert]

@SoCalRider9
My current JLURD we went back and forth on if we wanted the SOT or color matched hard top, ended up getting the hard top. We were planing on adding a pioneer rack with backbone mounts, so far still no rack lol.
Ended up getting a Bestop sunrider, It works great and is super fast and easy to use less than five seconds.
I first got a premium soft top, while the top is still easy to use it requires you to be out of the jeep to flip the top back. Also I really missed the convenience of opening the rear glass vs undoing the rear soft window.
The 392 I have on order we opted to get the sky one touch for the ease of use. The rear quarter windows coming out will be a plus for the dogs. If your worried about insulation and sound you can get the hot head headliners for the SOT. As far as I know there is not yet a insulated solution for the sunrider. You’ll probably want insulation living in SoCal lol. Mine lets in a lot of heat and sound at high speeds. You can remove the SOT completely if you really want to, as long as you take your time aligning it. That’s all they do at the factory anyway as it’s moving down the line. Nothing special or difficult about it.
As far as racks go, if you want to haul alot of weight up there get the hardtop with a proper supportive base. If you want to haul something light go with the SOT with gutter mount cross bars. Just incase you see hauling something up there.

Doesn't installing that headliner require folding the windshield down? I was under the impression that you weren't supposed to do that with the SOT.

 

[Covet]

Also wait hold up.. am I hearing this right? SOT quieter than a hard top? Say it ain't so!
Pretty much sounded like someone was jackhammering into my head lol

LOL!!! Truth (with the Hot Heads liner installed) and @ the jackhammering!

 

[TJJL19]

Everyone keeps saying security, but I’m fairly sure that if two Jeeps were sitting side by side, one with a hard top and one with the SOT the thief would just break both Jeeps windows and move on.

The likelihood of him trying to stand on top of the SOT Jeep while he struggles to cut through the thick panels and then having him dive through the top in-between the support bars seems laughable vs just taking a hammer to the window and grabbing what he wants.

If someone is about to disregard your rights and break into your Jeep I’m fairly certain they don’t want to showcase it by standing on top of a vehicle advertising to the world what they are about to do.

Also, has a single owner of the SOT on this forum ever reported a break in where the fabric panel was cut? I haven’t seen one. I have seen plenty of posts where hard top owners reported smashed windows. So unless there is some evidence that I haven’t seen I’m fairly sure the security arguments are bupkis.

https://thealphagroup.us/news-media/a-deep-dive-into-car-break-ins-and-what-you-can-do-to-p

Well I'm sure, nobody can use a knife, to cut their way, into my hardtop.

 

[foxredlab]

Wife talked me into the SOT in lieu of the Sunrider. I believe this is the first time she has been right since we met back in high school.

Seriously, I love the convenience of the SOT and don’t think I’d buy another without it.

 

[Deleted member 72291]

Doesn't installing that headliner require folding the windshield down? I was under the impression that you weren't supposed to do that with the SOT.

Nope, you don’t have to fold down the windshield to install the Hotheads SOT headliner. I just did two installs last week and it was super easy!

 

[Ratbert]

Well I'm sure, nobody can use a knife, to cut their way, into my hardtop.

There's a chance that they'll be cut, but the butt-end of a knife could definitely be used to break your window.

It seems extremely unlikely that someone would climb up on top of a Jeep to start cutting through an SOT, especially since it's probably not obvious that it's a cloth top to the casual thief. Put on 37s or larger for 2+ more inches, plus a 3" lift and you reduce that visibility even more.

 

[Apexcars]

I have never owned a Jeep but just ordered my first. I went SOT. Yes, I also wish you could remove the rear hatch and it does look a little weird. My wife and I like to go stay in AirBnBs out in the woods and go hiking and fly fishing. During the drive out I would want a hard top both for the wind noise reduction and for the security. Once I get there I would want a soft top so that we can cruise around open. I can take the doors off and carry them into the cabin, I don’t think that would be easy with the hard top. Also, if our kids or friends are riding with us, the back seat with just the freedom panels off doesn’t really give you much of an open air experience. If the rear seats also had freedom panels (ala the Bronco) I might have gone that way. Given the fact that I haven’t owned a Jeep yet I may be wrong about the open air feeling of the SOT vs truly naked but I don’t really see the couple of inches of extra framing above the doors cutting down on that freedom too much.

 

[Friedrich]

First, welcome to the forum.
The SOT is a great option. It has done me wonders. I live out here in Chicago with very cold, snowy, and heavy winters. No problems at all with the roof. I know it's expensive but it's worth the money. The convenience of it was really the selling point for me. For example, It's warm and sunny but it's supposed to rain. Open the roof when it's warm and sunny, then when it's about to rain, I just press the button and shut the roof. If I had a hard top I couldn't do that because the roof would be stored in the garage. It is a matter of convenience and value. I think it's going to work in 8-10 years. But if it breaks in-between then, it's covered under warranty. But overall, it's a great feature and definitely worth it. Take it from someone who lives in Chicago.

 

[Blanco802]

If you can afford it then the convenience of it is well worth it. My 21 had the soft top. I sold it and got a 22 so I can get the SOT. Well worth it.

 

[SoCalRider9]

LOL!!! Truth (with the Hot Heads liner installed) and @ the jackhammering!

How was your experience installing the hot heads liner?? And no issues with it messing with the integrity of the SOT when it opens and closes?

 

[Slippery Pete]

I won't try to talk you out of it considering I just ordered one minutes ago.

 

[seanpublic]

I'm doing a bad job of just lurking.. Everyone seems to say that a power top breaking means you'll take it off and swap it with a totally different top, but that's unnecessary and more expensive. You can buy parts to repair the power top. If you check out your favorite OEM internet parts dealer, you'll see reasonable costs for these parts. Definitely less money than buying a whole new top, if you're willing to spend the time and have a desire to repair something yourself. Pick up a service manual and it'll explain the process.

Left-side motor ~$100
Right-side motor ~$240
Canopy top ~$400

I tried finding these parts on a site sponsor allmoparparts.com, but their page didn't have it under the Roof category for a 2021 Sport S, so I'll point you to another dealer (no affiliation, just for reference): https://www.bamwholesaleparts.com/v...6l-v6-gas/body-sheet-metal-except-doors--roof

Disclaimer: I have no experience repairing this top, since I've said before, it works for me.

For those saying that they'll keep their Jeep for more than 10 years, you can always buy spares you might need before the 10 year mark of the last model year equipped with this roof option.

Off-topic:

Frankly, I have a difficult time believing people will be driving a gas powered Wrangler when regular goes over 10/gal. That was the price of gas in European countries 20 years ago. What about 15/gal or even 20/gal? Although, if you're one of those people, then I'll be the idiot right there with you. ;-)

 

[Pinky Tuscadero]

Top off it definitely isn't as pretty as the other 2 but probably worth the convenience most of the time. If I hadn't been stuck with the hard top because of the RHD I would have gotten the new soft top with the current deal.... but last year when you got the Alpine system free on several models if you got the new sky top I would have taken one for sure. It looked like a mistake but were shipping like that and cataloged like that.
Oh yeah, a couple posts showing how to remove the rear window make it look very easy so don't worry about that
Just do it !!!

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