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Top choices... hard top (with or without liner) or soft top?

Eric S.

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I'm trying to decide on the top I want, or is it worth it to order both tops on a 2 door?

To give a little better perspective on where and how I will use it;
I live in upstate NY, so winters get cold up here.
This will be my first jeep.
It will be parked in an attached garage at home, outside in the elements while at work.
I don't do a lot of highway driving (work is only about 8 miles away), and when we travel we will take my wife car most of the time.
I'm planning on driving as many days as possible in the spring/summer/fall with the doors and top off completely so the soft top would live on it during those seasons as soon as it is warm enough (at least for the heater to keep up).
The hard top would only be on during the cold months, but is it even worth it for the hard top? does it make that big of a difference for heat retention? Also, does the hard top liner make much difference at all?

Any help from you all would be much appreciated.
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Jrbrannan

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I'm trying to decide on the top I want, or is it worth it to order both tops on a 2 door?

To give a little better perspective on where and how I will use it;
I live in upstate NY, so winters get cold up here.
This will be my first jeep.
It will be parked in an attached garage at home, outside in the elements while at work.
I don't do a lot of highway driving (work is only about 8 miles away), and when we travel we will take my wife car most of the time.
I'm planning on driving as many days as possible in the spring/summer/fall with the doors and top off completely so the soft top would live on it during those seasons as soon as it is warm enough (at least for the heater to keep up).
The hard top would only be on during the cold months, but is it even worth it for the hard top? does it make that big of a difference for heat retention? Also, does the hard top liner make much difference at all?

Any help from you all would be much appreciated.
I can not talk to the heat retention but I will say the Premium Soft top is really amazing compared to the old soft tops. Very quite, even at highway speed. Keep in mind that it is a Jeep so even the Hardtop will probably not be as warm as many other cars you could drive. I would recommend buying the dual top option for ultimate flexibility and sell the hard top if the soft top is the best option for you.
 

Thrive

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I always liked hardtop in winter as it’s easier to load and unload stuff through the gate and raised window then fighting the plastic window of the soft top. I had a 2013 JKUR with dual top. My hard top hung on a shelf from maybe April to October. I had the premium twill soft top on or a bikini and duster cover. I also added the insulation to the underside of the hard top which looked cool but did nothing.
If you only plan to have the soft top on for a couple months a year and don’t mind the difficulty with the window or don’t load or unload many items in the winter I don’t think you’d have any issue at all with cold. It’s really a fantastic top.

My favorite and most versatile tops are in this order:
Premium twill top
Hard top
All other versions of bikini’s etc....
 

EJ3CTA

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I'm trying to decide on the top I want, or is it worth it to order both tops on a 2 door?

To give a little better perspective on where and how I will use it;
I live in upstate NY, so winters get cold up here.
This will be my first jeep.
It will be parked in an attached garage at home, outside in the elements while at work.
I don't do a lot of highway driving (work is only about 8 miles away), and when we travel we will take my wife car most of the time.
I'm planning on driving as many days as possible in the spring/summer/fall with the doors and top off completely so the soft top would live on it during those seasons as soon as it is warm enough (at least for the heater to keep up).
The hard top would only be on during the cold months, but is it even worth it for the hard top? does it make that big of a difference for heat retention? Also, does the hard top liner make much difference at all?

Any help from you all would be much appreciated.
From what I was told, if your Jeep doesn't come with a hard top you don't get the wiring harness or the line for the wiper fluid. So, if you want to buy a hard top later on, you may have to do that part of the installation yourself. Just something to think about.

I'm in NY, too. My Jeep didn't come with the soft top and I'm kind of wishing it did. The topliftpro makes getting the top on and off easy, but the soft top would be great for long road trips.
 

Shooting or Jeeping

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I’m a hardtop person. I don’t like the effort it takes to remove them, but with a Racor lift it really makes it easy. 200 bucks and you don’t have to worry about rips or damage, plus I have a morbid fear of random bad weather. Hard tops seem like the best option in that case.
 

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ChattVol

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I’m a hardtop person. I don’t like the effort it takes to remove them, but with a Racor lift it really makes it easy. 200 bucks and you don’t have to worry about rips or damage, plus I have a morbid fear of random bad weather. Hard tops seem like the best option in that case.
How do you like the racor lift...Did you look at the Lang lift? Do you think it could damage your hardtop if you left it hanging for 6 months?
 

Jrbrannan

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How do you like the racor lift...Did you look at the Lang lift? Do you think it could damage your hardtop if you left it hanging for 6 months?
I have the Harken Lift and I love it.
 

Ribixcon

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I'm trying to decide on the top I want, or is it worth it to order both tops on a 2 door?

To give a little better perspective on where and how I will use it;
I live in upstate NY, so winters get cold up here.
This will be my first jeep.
It will be parked in an attached garage at home, outside in the elements while at work.
I don't do a lot of highway driving (work is only about 8 miles away), and when we travel we will take my wife car most of the time.
I'm planning on driving as many days as possible in the spring/summer/fall with the doors and top off completely so the soft top would live on it during those seasons as soon as it is warm enough (at least for the heater to keep up).
The hard top would only be on during the cold months, but is it even worth it for the hard top? does it make that big of a difference for heat retention? Also, does the hard top liner make much difference at all?

Any help from you all would be much appreciated.
I would consider a few things:
1. The heater in the Jeep is very good. You won’t be cold.
2. There is a real mental barrier to take off the hardtop: you need to store that thing in your garage and it will sit or hang there the whole summer.
3. For the money of the hardtop you can buy a replacement soft top after x years, making it financially similar but it will feel like having something new on the car.

I had a hard and soft top on my current. And bought a soft top only on my JL.
And I live in he same area :)
 

Shooting or Jeeping

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How do you like the racor lift...Did you look at the Lang lift? Do you think it could damage your hardtop if you left it hanging for 6 months?
I love it. Seems to be a much more secure and forgiving option if paired with the Topsy brackets.

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