Sunrider for Freedom top, give me the good, the bad and the ugly.

[ajkitebrder40]

my biggest regret is selling the sunrider.. to install my rhino rack.. i should've shortened the rack to make it work

I see people say this and it makes me interested. I'm definitely on the fence with it. I get the convenience of it, I'm running a hard top roughly half the year. The other half it's topless/bikini if it rains. The main thing that is stopping me is the looks of it when closed, I like the full hard top. That and storing my freedom tops in the garage year-round, and the sunrider another 6 months (although I could probably put it all on top of my hard top hoisted to the ceiling when off.

Talk me into it, ha.

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[four low]

They are on sale, but be aware, when a Rebate is offered, you buy it at regular price, then send in paperwork, receive a Rebate. If sales tax is charged, you are paying based on the regular price, not the eventual Rebate price.
Point of Sale price "should" be the lowest price, not having to wait weeks on a Rebate.

 

[ConqSoft]

I just ordered mine yesterday. Recently switched from a soft top to the hard top and this will complete the picture to meet my needs.

 

[four low]

If I can get mine on this weekend, I'll test it out !

 

[Bestop]

my biggest regret is selling the sunrider.. to install my rhino rack.. i should've shortened the rack to make it work

We have more!!

Lee
- the Bestop team
www.bestop.com

 

[Dusty78]

I had the Sunrider for Hardtop on my 2019 JLU Altitude sport. I’m a big convertible guy. I have probably owned 15 in my life. The Sunrider was very practical but it just didn’t really do much for me in terms of open air feel. It was more like having a sunroof open. Now I have a 2021 Willy’s with the twill soft top (also made by Bestop) and I just love it so much more. I also found the buffeting from the Sunrider for hardtop to be a lot more then with the full soft top with the much larger Sunrider section. That could have something to do with the fact that my last one was a 4 door and my Willy’s is a 2 door. Either way it’s very practical but don’t expect a ton of open air feel.

 

[EXPFDR]

I have to say, one of the best mod I bought was the Sunrider. Lesson learned if anyone is a Veteran, call Bestop when ordering it. They will give you the Military 10% off ( of course I learned that after the fact). Its so easy to install and even take off when you want to go topless. Winter came and not afraid to leave it on and it even survived an unexpected blizzard.

 

[four low]

Poster #81, I appreciate your point, but I prefer the " Sun Roof " feel.
Fell snug and secure, with just enough " open air"
Soon, I hope

 

[ConqSoft]

I had the Sunrider for Hardtop on my 2019 JLU Altitude sport. I’m a big convertible guy. I have probably owned 15 in my life. The Sunrider was very practical but it just didn’t really do much for me in terms of open air feel. It was more like having a sunroof open. Now I have a 2021 Willy’s with the twill soft top (also made by Bestop) and I just love it so much more. I also found the buffeting from the Sunrider for hardtop to be a lot more then with the full soft top with the much larger Sunrider section. That could have something to do with the fact that my last one was a 4 door and my Willy’s is a 2 door. Either way it’s very practical but don’t expect a ton of open air feel.

Yeah if you want open air convertible feel, the hard top isn't for you in any format. Soft top is the way to get that.

 

[four low]

I installed the Mopar Sunrider today, just ahead of the wind and rain. Preassembled, easy install. I prefer the Jeep Logo to the Bestop logo. It is quiet, but my speeds are 55-60 max, rural driving. The Rains came before I could open it, but no leaks . I bought it new in the box, at a substantial discount, from a JT owner who has no use for it, an early Christmas present to my Jeep.
The Jeep and I are both very pleased...

 

[Rhinebeck01]

I installed the Mopar Sunrider today, just ahead of the wind and rain. Preassembled, easy install. I prefer the Jeep Logo to the Bestop logo. It is quiet, but my speeds are 55-60 max, rural driving. The Rains came before I could open it, but no leaks . I bought it new in the box, at a substantial discount, from a JT owner who has no use for it, an early Christmas present to my Jeep.
The Jeep and I are both very pleased...

@four low

Good to see you have finally gotten it installed. You will find that speeds over say 65 mph and when you have cross winds is where you will find cabin noise level changes..

As for the logo..... both the Bestop and the Jeep logo detract from the look of the SR in my opinion.
Fortunately, either logo peels right off and after peeling you can not tell it was ever there.

.

 

[miweber929]

You will find that speeds over say 65 mph and when you have cross winds is where you will find cabin noise level changes..

This. It’s not awful but it’s there. After installing mine this fall we had a number of extremely windy days and I was surprised to hear as much noise as I did based on so many people saying how it’s so quiet. It’s not a bad thing, and it certainly doesn’t outweigh how just damn cool it is and makes the Jeep that much more fun, but know a full hard top is quieter by a big margin, especially with the sound deadening panels installed.

The other plus I’ll mention is after a pulled my Sunrider in prep for the long Minnesota winter we had a surprise nice weekend so I pulled off the freedom tops and realized how much (in a good way) the Sunrider folded open “controlled” the wind blasting in all over and the overall noise the open top had. We much preferred the open Bestop over the removed freedom panels for driving on the highway.

 

[Rhinebeck01]

Wit the Bestop or Jeep Sunrider for hardtop you will normally see increased cabin noise when running over say 65 mph, especially if there are cross winds.....

IF, if you suddenly hear more noise, a bit of flapping for lack of a better word..... happening more often... DO check to be sure one of the z-clips has not broken... IF, a z-clip breaks, the SR will still function, look pretty much the same but if you look closely you will see the z-clip is broken.... and of course hear the more noise then you normally do...

I have over 50,000 miles of use with the SR in place..

I use / open and close the SR lots.... an awful lot...

I have found that if the SR stays dry for many days and does not get a soaking and then allowed to dry thoroughly, that I can actually hear a tad bit more cabin noise.... a slight increase..

SOooo, with that in mind..... I do if my JL sees a long dry spell..... I wash the SR and rinse real real well...

Then, I unlatch the SR and lift it up say 6". I place a towel under it to hold it up.. Now, I let the SR dry thoroughly while it is in that raised position.. Then after dry, I close and latch the SR.

I have found that the SR, after it drys out when not latched and raised is much much tauter.. SO, then when in use, it is even quieter..

.

 

[Pinky Tuscadero]

All our Jeeps only had the hardtop option being RHD but this thing looks pretty dang cool. We do have the top and doors off for the summers so... Can this be used with the hard top completely off ?
Please help and Thank You in Advance

 

[psdtime]

I think the last few posts answer my questions, but just to confirm, I'm planning a trip to the snow, and was thinking of going back to the freedom panels, mainly for more insulation. To be honest, I vaguely remember installing the Sunrider. I remember it not being hard, but maybe there was one tricky part of getting the cable lug in a hole or something like that. If I remember correctly, this should come off with just like 6 bolts, right? I don't have my Jeep with me to check it out, but I think it's easy, right?

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