Towing with hard top vs soft top

[NachoRuby]

It has been U-Haul policy forever, I think before jeeps had structural roll cages even. It's a dinosaur policy that they've just never reviewed, and they still enforce. Soft top jeeps and hard top ones are structurally identical nowadays, and interestingly, it doesn't ask the same thing if I try to rent one with a gladiator, which obviously makes no sense, but it does with a Bronco.

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[MrGneissGuy]

I rented a trailer a month ago, guy said if I had a soft top they wouldn’t allow. Something about if trailer flipped and landed on the Jeep it would be serious injuries and uHaul just doesn’t allow it. I have a hardtop so didn’t have to worry. But was good to know for future.

I asked at a UHaul once when I was returning a truck we had rented. Similar, but overly general answer. She did tell me they'll rent one if it's a hard top. I'm no expert, but I can't figure out how a relatively thin fiberglass hard top provides any more protection than the soft top, with all of it's support structure.

 

[Steemax]

I have the One-Touch roof and tried to rent a from U-Haul last year. There's no option for my roof so I entered "hard top." I got to the final step of the booking process and it told me I had to schedule time with my local U-Haul spot so they could inspect my Jeep before allowing me to complete the reservation. I get liability/insurance issues, but DAMN...

It said the same thing for my Tacoma, it was just to make sure I had the right height hitch ball and my wiring was working. Maybe they would say something if they saw the soft top though.

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