SOT & Hardtop Together?

[yarmo]

Does anyone routinely swap between a sky one touch top and a hard top? I’m piecing together what parts I need to make this happen, but I'm wondering if anyone out there does this.

For anyone asking why - I ordered mine with the SOT, and while I love it in the summer, I want to more comfortably run a low profile roof rack in the winter like the rhino rack backbone system. I’ve found a good deal on a hard top, so I’m going to see if I can make this work.

Parts I think I need so far:

• Windshield trim panel for a JL with a soft / hard top
  • This has necessary cutouts for the freedom panels to latch into
• Both the left and right latch brackets
  • Where the freedom panel latches grab onto
• Hard top mounting brackets
  • These are where the rotating clips on the freedom panels slot into place
• Hard top & Freedom panels
  • Color matched hopefully!

What I actually want to try and do is use that windshield trim panel 100% of the time; I don't want to swap that out every time I change tops. What I'll do is use the wiring harness that I have (sits under the trim panel and contains the button to open/close the SOT top) on the new trim piece.

Problem I foresee:

After doing some research, I found out that every windshield trim panel Jeep made for the JL comes with an outline to cut out a hole for the SOT button. This is good because I can swap my open/close button onto the new trim piece easily, but where that button goes is right underneath where one of the hard top mounting brackets will sit. Looking at this youtube video of an install of those brackets, you can see the square cutout for the button is right in line with the bracket to mount the hard top. I'm not sure the wiring behind the button will fit under the bracket.

I'm going to try this, and worst case I just have to swap more components every time I switch tops. But less work is better so we'll see what I can do.

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[Jeep Wick]

I don't have an answer, but have you thought about an exoskeleton like the Gobi rack? You could keep your SOT intact.

 

[yarmo]

I don't have an answer, but have you thought about an exoskeleton like the Gobi rack? You could keep your SOT intact.

Yeah I have. The problem I have with running any rack on the SOT is the wind noise. I’ve tried a couple of different options, and it’s too loud for me. I even used to have a KC Pro6 light bar, and that was awful over 40 mph. I regularly drive cross country, so a quiet ride is important to me.

 

[Jeep Wick]

Yeah I have. The problem I have with running any rack on the SOT is the wind noise. I’ve tried a couple of different options, and it’s too loud for me. I even used to have a KC Pro6 light bar, and that was awful over 40 mph. I regularly drive cross country, so a quiet ride is important to me.

Unless there is some magic to Rhino rack, I'm not sure even the hard top will meet your criteria. Having run both twill and hard tops, I found little difference in noise. Anything up top will add to that that, what are planning to put up there?

 

[yarmo]

Unless there is some magic to Rhino rack, I'm not sure even the hard top will meet your criteria. Having run both twill and hard tops, I found little difference in noise. Anything up top will add to that that, what are planning to put up there?

Skis mostly, but possibly also a rooftop tent. The RTT will be loud no matter what, but small things will be better. My buddy has a hard top and it’s drastically different in wind noise from his to mine. The SOT ripped and pops with whatever I’ve tried putting up there.

Have you run an SOT or just a soft top vs hard top?

 

[Gregj]

Does anyone routinely swap between a sky one touch top and a hard top? I’m piecing together what parts I need to make this happen, but I'm wondering if anyone out there does this.

For anyone asking why - I ordered mine with the SOT, and while I love it in the summer, I want to more comfortably run a low profile roof rack in the winter like the rhino rack backbone system. I’ve found a good deal on a hard top, so I’m going to see if I can make this work.

Parts I think I need so far:

• Windshield trim panel for a JL with a soft / hard top
  • This has necessary cutouts for the freedom panels to latch into
• Both the left and rightlatch brackets
  • Where the freedom panel latches grab onto
• Hard top mounting brackets
  • These are where the rotating clips on the freedom panels slot into place
• Hard top & Freedom panels
  • Color matched hopefully!

What I actually want to try and do is use that windshield trim panel 100% of the time; I don't want to swap that out every time I change tops. What I'll do is use the wiring harness that I have (sits under the trim panel and contains the button to open/close the SOT top) on the new trim piece.

Problem I foresee:

After doing some research, I found out that every windshield trim panel Jeep made for the JL comes with an outline to cut out a hole for the SOT button. This is good because I can swap my open/close button onto the new trim piece easily, but where that button goes is right underneath where one of the hard top mounting brackets will sit. Looking at this youtube video of an install of those brackets, you can see the square cutout for the button is right in line with the bracket to mount the hard top. I'm not sure the wiring behind the button will fit under the bracket.

I'm going to try this, and worst case I just have to swap more components every time I switch tops. But less work is better so we'll see what I can do.

I switch between three tops, SOT, Hardtop and Softtop so what I did was move the open/close switch to two momentary switches in an auxiliary panel in the cubby at the bottom of the dash. The signal is just a momentary ground on the wire to trigger the open/close of the SOT.

You have a solid plan together, but you are right the SOT switch and the Freedom panel latch want to occupy the same space which is why I relocated them.
Gregj

 

[yarmo]

I switch between three tops, SOT, Hardtop and Softtop so what I did was move the open/close switch to two momentary switches in an auxiliary panel in the cubby at the bottom of the dash. The signal is just a momentary ground on the wire to trigger the open/close of the SOT.

You have a solid plan together, but you are right the SOT switch and the Freedom panel latch want to occupy the same space which is why I relocated them.
Gregj

That’s a great idea thank you! So you keep the same windshield panel for all 3? That’s perfect.

 

[Gregj]

Yes, same panel I just notched it for the SOT striker brackets and drilled two holes so I could access the nut that holds the striker bracket on and got a plastic plug to cover the holes. Now swapping tops is no more difficult than swapping hardtop to softtop.
Gregj

 

[Jeep Wick]

Skis mostly, but possibly also a rooftop tent. The RTT will be loud no matter what, but small things will be better. My buddy has a hard top and it’s drastically different in wind noise from his to mine. The SOT ripped and pops with whatever I’ve tried putting up there.

Have you run an SOT or just a soft top vs hard top?

I've only had the traditional soft and hard tops.
Sounds like @Gregj has the trifecta.

 

[yarmo]

I've only had the traditional soft and hard tops.
Sounds like @Gregj has the trifecta.

Yeah the three tops is crazy I’m jealous! But from my experience the ranking from quietest to loudest with wind noise is

1. Hard top
2. Sky one touch
3. Soft top

2 and 3 are much closer together than 1 and 2. It’s a pretty big jump in quietness to a full hard top. Still love the SOT though which is why I’d like to keep it.

 

[2019JLUS]

https://adventureracksystems.com/jl-wrangler-4door-pro-rack-system-sky-top-edition.html

 

[yarmo]

https://adventureracksystems.com/jl-wrangler-4door-pro-rack-system-sky-top-edition.html

For the cost of that (or the gobi) I can buy a used color matched hard top, a separate roof rack that mounts on it, have some cash left over, and not deal with the wind noise.

I think it’s probably a great setup and might not be that loud, but the hard top will be quieter and cheaper for me.

 

[Deleted User 38384]

Does anyone routinely swap between a sky one touch top and a hard top? I’m piecing together what parts I need to make this happen, but I'm wondering if anyone out there does this.

For anyone asking why - I ordered mine with the SOT, and while I love it in the summer, I want to more comfortably run a low profile roof rack in the winter like the rhino rack backbone system. I’ve found a good deal on a hard top, so I’m going to see if I can make this work.

Parts I think I need so far:

• Windshield trim panel for a JL with a soft / hard top
  • This has necessary cutouts for the freedom panels to latch into
• Both the left and rightlatch brackets
  • Where the freedom panel latches grab onto
• Hard top mounting brackets
  • These are where the rotating clips on the freedom panels slot into place
• Hard top & Freedom panels
  • Color matched hopefully!

What I actually want to try and do is use that windshield trim panel 100% of the time; I don't want to swap that out every time I change tops. What I'll do is use the wiring harness that I have (sits under the trim panel and contains the button to open/close the SOT top) on the new trim piece.

Problem I foresee:

After doing some research, I found out that every windshield trim panel Jeep made for the JL comes with an outline to cut out a hole for the SOT button. This is good because I can swap my open/close button onto the new trim piece easily, but where that button goes is right underneath where one of the hard top mounting brackets will sit. Looking at this youtube video of an install of those brackets, you can see the square cutout for the button is right in line with the bracket to mount the hard top. I'm not sure the wiring behind the button will fit under the bracket.

I'm going to try this, and worst case I just have to swap more components every time I switch tops. But less work is better so we'll see what I can do.

You got a photo of your SOT?

Namely this section...

The channel on the edge.

Because if hardtops have that channel for the flow of rainwater away from the vehicle, and soft tops have it to use as a channel for the soft top to sit in, I wonder if the SOT has a channel as well?

If you do, I don't see any reason you can't run a roof rack just as I do on my soft top channel.

I wouldn't necessarily trust 600 lb up there, but as long as you evenly distribute it, it seems to hold a spare tire and my high lift jack with zero issues, which in total comes to about 200 lb that I've put up there.

 

[Gregj]

The SOT has the same channel as a hardtop, it’s just the disruption of airflow that a rack produces makes the canvas portion of the SOT a flapping mess.
Gregj

eta a sun shade or the Hotheads liner for the SOT makes a big difference in heat/noise.

 

[Bill_BCNtoNY]

The SOT has the same channel as a hardtop, it’s just the disruption of airflow that a rack produces makes the canvas portion of the SOT a flapping mess.
Gregj

eta a sun shade or the Hotheads liner for the SOT makes a big difference in heat/noise.

absolutely the hotheads headliner makes quite the difference! @yarmo , if you don’t have it installed yet, maybe that’s a good place to start before investing in a new top?

also, if you decide to go Greg’s way and re-route the SOT button panel, maybe you can:
(1) order and repurpose the 4xe mode selector panel that goes next to the driver’s left knee
(2) have custom vynils made for the buttons - I think forum sponsor @pixeldecals has done sth similar before for the aux switches?

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