When Someone Cuts Through the Windows on my Soft Top...

[cedxc2005]

One of my initial questions still stands though, if I need to buy replacement windows, where would I get them?

Dealer or Bestop would be my guess.

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[COBoarder]

How about getting on the facial recognition bandwagon and beneath the "Don't Touch....Protected By the 2nd Amendment" sticker put a "Use Caution Around Jeep ..... Facial Recognition Monitoring Is Activated" sticker.

 

[RussJeep1]

I have a JLUR arriving in a couple of weeks and it just hit me; I live in the New York Metropolitan area and I have ordered a soft-top only vehicle. I am not concerned about the wind noise or the temperature inside the vehicle in the winter.What does concern me is that someone will eventually try to get into my Jeep. It was an almost weekly occurrence with my 2003 Wrangler soft top. I was very lucky that no one ever tried to cut my roof or windows. I think that was primarily because the windows on that Jeep had zippers. With the new zipperless windows, does anyone have any suggestions? I saw someone mentioned just leaving the vehicle unlocked and not leaving anything inside. Does anyone else have any unique approaches? If not, anyone know where to inevitably buy replacement windows when mine get cut?

I agree that the best idea here short of a hard top is keeping your Wrangler visibly demonstrating the absence of valuables.

But occasionally you may have to put stuff into it that you bought, and park it while you do other errands: stuff others may want.

Consider order a cargo cover. https://www.gpca.us/shop/gpca-jeep-wrangler-jl-unlimited-cargo-cover/ I'https://www.gpca.us/shop/gpca-jeep-wrangler-jl-unlimited-cargo-cover/ I've heard that GPCA is the only player right now with one for the JL, and they're only taking orders for shipping in the summer. I'm getting one.

Until then I bought a small black tarp on Amazon. I cut it 8" bigger on the width dimensions tha the cargo area, and to dimension on the depth. This caused it's grommet sides to end up in the trash, which was just as well as the hole placement didn't meet my placement needs.

I bought a grommet kit at Harbor Freight, folded over the width at 2" from the end, on each side, twice, and put enough grommets in places on the width sides to line up with the bolts holes in the tub that keep the hardtop on, also keeping the folds in place. I have those bolts because of my dual top order, but you can get them from FCA, or from a bolt supplier if just for my cargo cover. Others on the board know the size and thread count of these. They keep the cover on by being screwed through the grommets. Additional I put neodymium magnets in these folds, which adhere to the same place.

Finally you need to cut each with side at the center point, front to back, where the sports bar resides, and then cut out the place where the sports bar is positioned

Will idiots be deterred from breaking into your rig...no.

I'm willing to guess for now that FCA may be the only ones selling replacement windows, eventually (I don't think you can even get them yet without buying a soft top, itself so backordered.) Over time, more vendors will carry them, and parts will become more atomized: in other words today you may have to buy (I'm making this up to make a point) all 3 windows, but in a year they'll be broken down into several parts.

IF the JK is any indication, the aftermarket will also make hard tops. If it is any consolation, or at least something to look forward to--because you of course spent so little for your JL leaving so much money left over for accessories (not) Bestop, the makers of FCA's soft top, has some really cool designs they will eventually bring to market.



I am working on a project, if it's successful I will post it in the DIY section of the forum of soft top windows made from tarp/thick mil plastic sheeting, with clear plastic sheeting for windows. I was inspired by another poster who wants to protect his JL's interior from the elements but doesn't want to have to keep on removing the windows to put his top completely down. Best case scenario: not a winter month solution.

Finally, and I say this tongue in cheek, turn your rig into a mini jail by adding addition pipes on top and the back/sides to my DIY roof rack

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/diy-no-hole-roof-rails.10580/

 

[MikeJenkins]

Had a YJ in college (Ohio State) and some mofo cut one of my soft windows and stole my parking pass (they were hang tags from the rear view mirror back in the day). I was parked on top of an iced over snow bank. Man I miss my old YJ!

 

[RussJeep1]

There is something ironically sad for me that in the high tech dash cam which might write its content to not merely mini SD cards but the cloud and document such break in and theft lies the motivation for the burglar to expressly break in because of said hardware, to confiscate and pawn it.

Many years ago there was a famous Supreme Court case where a man set up an electrictrified barrier to his property that the court ruled as unconstitutional in the device's inability to discern friend from foe.

Technology is getting closer to discerning friend from foe. A part of me loves the case to be revisited. Break into my Wrangler and prepare to get Tazed.

And in case you haven't gleaned this from context, I do NOT mean Tazed as in "reprograming the ESS start up default," for example.

I mean the Police finding you on the ground doing a horizontal dance from the effects of the high current.

I am all about individual freedoms, yet in a bizarre way look fondly on Singapore, where you are caned for littering, and the streets are immaculate--wondering if it is they who got their laws right.

 

[MikeinMD]

Trunk Monkey is the answer to all of your needs...

 

[Covfefe]

I've street parked my soft tops for over 5 years all over NYC, and not once has it ever been cut. Don't know if it's luck, blinking alarm light, or just the fact that I black out all my cars to a point you can't even see inside or notice that it's a soft top because all the black just blends in together.

One night, a Z4 owner was standing right outside my door asking me questions about my car, and when I pressed the button to drop my top, he literally jumped back, because he didn't even realize it was a convertible. We both laughed pretty hard at that.

Morale of the story? Murda Murda

 

[ajasper6579]

I agree that the best idea here short of a hard top is keeping your Wrangler visibly demonstrating the absence of valuables.

But occasionally you may have to put stuff into it that you bought, and park it while you do other errands: stuff others may want.

Consider order a cargo cover. https://www.gpca.us/shop/gpca-jeep-wrangler-jl-unlimited-cargo-cover/ I'https://www.gpca.us/shop/gpca-jeep-wrangler-jl-unlimited-cargo-cover/ I've heard that GPCA is the only player right now with one for the JL, and they're only taking orders for shipping in the summer. I'm getting one.

Until then I bought a small black tarp on Amazon. I cut it 8" bigger on the width dimensions tha the cargo area, and to dimension on the depth. This caused it's grommet sides to end up in the trash, which was just as well as the hole placement didn't meet my placement needs.

I bought a grommet kit at Harbor Freight, folded over the width at 2" from the end, on each side, twice, and put enough grommets in places on the width sides to line up with the bolts holes in the tub that keep the hardtop on, also keeping the folds in place. I have those bolts because of my dual top order, but you can get them from FCA, or from a bolt supplier if just for my cargo cover. Others on the board know the size and thread count of these. They keep the cover on by being screwed through the grommets. Additional I put neodymium magnets in these folds, which adhere to the same place.

Finally you need to cut each with side at the center point, front to back, where the sports bar resides, and then cut out the place where the sports bar is positioned

Will idiots be deterred from breaking into your rig...no.

I'm willing to guess for now that FCA may be the only ones selling replacement windows, eventually (I don't think you can even get them yet without buying a soft top, itself so backordered.) Over time, more vendors will carry them, and parts will become more atomized: in other words today you may have to buy (I'm making this up to make a point) all 3 windows, but in a year they'll be broken down into several parts.

IF the JK is any indication, the aftermarket will also make hard tops. If it is any consolation, or at least something to look forward to--because you of course spent so little for your JL leaving so much money left over for accessories (not) Bestop, the makers of FCA's soft top, has some really cool designs they will eventually bring to market.



I am working on a project, if it's successful I will post it in the DIY section of the forum of soft top windows made from tarp/thick mil plastic sheeting, with clear plastic sheeting for windows. I was inspired by another poster who wants to protect his JL's interior from the elements but doesn't want to have to keep on removing the windows to put his top completely down. Best case scenario: not a winter month solution.

Finally, and I say this tongue in cheek, turn your rig into a mini jail by adding addition pipes on top and the back/sides to my DIY roof rack

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/diy-no-hole-roof-rails.10580/

Wow, that's a lot to digest. Thank you for putting in the effort. I do not intend to use a trunk cover as I think that that will only arouse the suspicion of passing miscreants. I think the real solution here is just not keeping anything valuable in the car and leaving the doors unlocked. I considered doing dual tops when I bought the Jeep but decided against it as I have limited room to store a hard top. And making a mini-jail sounds like the opposite of the freedom I seek in my new vehicle. I just need to be careful and trust the universe. If some dick wants to walk buy, cut my window and find nothing to take in the car, then some day he or she will get their's.

 

[ThirtyOne]

Wow, that's a lot to digest. Thank you for putting in the effort. I do not intend to use a trunk cover as I think that that will only arouse the suspicion of passing miscreants. I think the real solution here is just not keeping anything valuable in the car and leaving the doors unlocked. I considered doing dual tops when I bought the Jeep but decided against it as I have limited room to store a hard top. And making a mini-jail sounds like the opposite of the freedom I seek in my new vehicle. I just need to be careful and trust the universe. If some dick wants to walk buy, cut my window and find nothing to take in the car, then some day he or she will get their's.

Exactly. There is a little bit of attitude adjustment that has to go with this. You may lose a pair of sunglasses along the way or even have a window cut. If it happens, it happens. That's just a trade-off you accept. F*ck-it.

 

[johnnymiz]

in nyc, they will steal anything. years ago, had my car broken into in the village for a crumpled pack of cigarettes on the dash.
take your car seats with you if you want to keep them.
oh, the joys of living in the big apple

 

[ThirtyOne]

in nyc, they will steal anything. years ago, had my car broken into in the village for a crumpled pack of cigarettes on the dash.
take your car seats with you if you want to keep them.
oh, the joys of living in the big apple

Oh cigarettes are asking for it for sure. I had a friend leave some cigarettes in my Jeep one time. For about 2 years after that the bums rummaged through my Jeep almost every night just in case there were more.

You might as well just leave a 12-pack in there.

 

[ajasper6579]

Oh cigarettes are asking for it for sure. I had a friend leave some cigarettes in my Jeep one time. For about 2 years after that the bums rummaged through my Jeep almost every night just in case there were more.

You might as well just leave a 12-pack in there.

So what concerns me most is the 8.4 inch screen on the dashboard

 

[johnnymiz]

where in nyc?
if it's plainview, you have less to worry about than in the city
if you take it to the city overnight, id put it in a lot

 

[ThirtyOne]

So what concerns me most is the 8.4 inch screen on the dashboard

I'm not an expert but I don't think OEM infotainment systems are very desirable. They are VIN-locked and generally more trouble than they are worth. But I'm not in a big city any more so I would defer to others on this.

 

[ajasper6579]

where in nyc?

I live on Long Island but we go all over. Visit my sister in Riverdale, visit friends in Brooklyn, go to Coney Island...I think the rule here will probably be to park in a lot or a garage when parking in an "area of concern".

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