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Sunrider or full soft top?

Pauliegirl

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I have a JL Sahara and I live in the northeast. Wondering if I should get a softop (would likely be the twill fastback kind) -- or just a sunrider? Just wondering how easy it is / or tough it is to use a soft top - and if sunrider is a better ootion. Has anyone tried both?
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Jeeper Fever

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I have to climb up in my cabin to close the sunrider soft top on my JLR, can't do it from outside, the angle is wrong and mechanism wants to bind. Gotta put my knee on the center console, and climb up to get a good grip with leverage, so as to pull on the center of the top. Maybe if I was over 6' tall and not scrawny, but no, still not going to be ideal. Two people could do it easy, unless they are really short, in which case they would need to climb up.

Soft top is awesome thou, worth it.
 

Rahneld

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Biases: none. Dual top owner and Sunrider owner.

Soft Top Pros:

  • Ability to completely take down and remove side back windows

Soft Top Cons:

  • More expensive. Takes up more room to store when not in use than Sunrider.
  • Must be opened/closed from exterior of JL; one must pull over and get out for rapid onset thunderstorm; not so easily on highway driving into a thunderstorm.
  • More involved in installing and taking off for the season: but by no means anything but doable; especially with two people.
  • Implies hard top removal, which involves purchase of a device to do, or two people, and storage space.

Sunrider Pros

  • Cheaper than full soft top.
  • Easier to install and take off for season.
  • Opening and closing doesn't involve exiting the JL
  • Most people who have Sunriders in four seasons run them longer than soft tops, although either can be run year round.

Sunrider Cons

  • Front seat coverage only. Clearly you have a four door because you have a Sahara, which only comes in 4 doors (right now?).

As for me: Jan - April: hard top, April - May: Sunrider, May - September, soft top, September - October, Sunrider, October - Dec, hard top, but YMMV.
 

ChrispyJL

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Full soft top...is the only top, go topless or go buy a Toyota.

All joking aside...I am not joking.

New soft top is very easy to put up and down, get a sunshade to go under it, neither ever have to come off the jeep.

Soft top is perfectly adequate in winter, spring, summer and fall for every reason you can think of.

It's a Wrangler, get the soft top, don't listen to anyone else's nonsense and enjoy topless driving whenever the desire hits you...for me it is all year, no rain? top down. 30 degrees? blast heat, wear ear muffs. #topdown365 lol

Actually, get the soft top and sell all other tops and buy better jeep things.

Changing tops 4 times a year is more of a hassle than it is worth, ain't nobody got time for that shit, less time I can drive topless.

The noise and heat argument is as dumb as shit flavored potato chips.

Never have I been cold in my soft top while jeep is running, you can cook an egg on the vent in the shell ( try it)
Noise? if you can hear anything but music, your music isn't loud enough.
Conversation? no thanks, don't need that while I am driving a jeep.
 

RichD

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Full soft top...is the only top, go topless or go buy a Toyota.

All joking aside...I am not joking.

New soft top is very easy to put up and down, get a sunshade to go under it, neither ever have to come off the jeep.

Soft top is perfectly adequate in winter, spring, summer and fall for every reason you can think of.

It's a Wrangler, get the soft top, don't listen to anyone else's nonsense and enjoy topless driving whenever the desire hits you...for me it is all year, no rain? top down. 30 degrees? blast heat, wear ear muffs. #topdown365 lol

Actually, get the soft top and sell all other tops and buy better jeep things.

Changing tops 4 times a year is more of a hassle than it is worth, ain't nobody got time for that shit, less time I can drive topless.

The noise and heat argument is as dumb as shit flavored potato chips.

Never have I been cold in my soft top while jeep is running, you can cook an egg on the vent in the shell ( try it)
Noise? if you can hear anything but music, your music isn't loud enough.
Conversation? no thanks, don't need that while I am driving a jeep.
Agree with ChrispyJL ! I ran my soft top all winter. No problem. Dropped it to sunrider position a few times on sunny days. Anything else is just another bland suv.
 

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digitalbliss

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I have a JL Sahara and I live in the northeast. Wondering if I should get a softop (would likely be the twill fastback kind) -- or just a sunrider? Just wondering how easy it is / or tough it is to use a soft top - and if sunrider is a better ootion. Has anyone tried both?
Use the Jeep as it was intended, get the soft top. On a side note, the fastback style isn't made to be completely topless, it doesn't fold back like the OEM version. Better make sure you know what you're getting before you buy.
 

OldGuyNewJeep

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Fellow CT resident, here. I only have the premium soft top and it’s perfect. No desire for a hard top and all the work that goes along with putting it on , taking it off, and storing when not in use.

Full disclosure: I have a house with a garage, so I don’t leave my Jeep outside in the elements 24x7. If I had to do that I’d probably have a hard top for winter.

Anyway, for your use - definitely a soft top for spring/summer/fall! It’s awesome to drop it when nice, and simple to put up when unexpected rain moves through. (The factory PST has a great “Safari” mode, too, which is the best of both worlds.)
 

tyresmoker

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Fellow CT resident, here. I only have the premium soft top and it’s perfect. No desire for a hard top and all the work that goes along with putting it on , taking it off, and storing when not in use.

Full disclosure: I have a house with a garage, so I don’t leave my Jeep outside in the elements 24x7. If I had to do that I’d probably have a hard top for winter.

Anyway, for your use - definitely a soft top for spring/summer/fall! It’s awesome to drop it when nice, and simple to put up when unexpected rain moves through. (The factory PST has a great “Safari” mode, too, which is the best of both worlds.)
Totally agree with the premium soft top. Here in CT as well. I have a brand new one that is sitting in my garage that I bought off of the forums here for $1k last month. It was that or we keep the hard top on all the time. Had the roof panels out last week when the weather was nice (simulated sunrider experience) while fun, nothing like going topless. Soft top going on next month for the summer.
 

robaw

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+1 on what pretty much everyone else said. I have dual tops, running hard top without freedom panels (basically same as sunrider open) is not the same as soft top down, although sunrider would be quicker. I've become a fan of safari mode, going between that and all the way down takes like 5 seconds. I don't bother with the windows unless I know it'll rain, but messing with them (being careful to not scratch or crease them) only adds a few minutes.
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