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Would You Do it Over - Soft Top or Hard Top?

olmectech

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I'm in LA and for me that one is easy to answer: I get skin cancer.
I love the idea of driving around topless around here but I'm under doctor's orders to cover up (gotta love the irony of my living in SoCal).

I love my Jeep though, it what I do with it not what's on the top that counts :)

(and that said, A/C is damn nice the 110+ plus days we've been getting this past month.
Thank you for the enlightenment!
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olmectech

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You're welcome - and at least I have a good answer right? ;)
Yes very good answer. I'm out in the Palm Springs area, so sometimes I forget. I can't drop my top here until fall it's so damn hot. When I'm in the coastal areas and its 82 degrees I'm wondering why every car is not convertible. hehe!
 

Jeepers!

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Would like to hear from SoCal hard top owners. Was driving around OC yesterday saw 3 or 4 hard top JLs.

Why?
I used to be in LA and have a YJ with a hard top. You can keep it off for almost the entire year and put it back on when it gets "cold." Given the choice I would've preferred a soft top though.

I see a ton more hard tops now; pretty much everywhere. I think some people just never take them off. ĀÆ\_(惄)_/ĀÆ
 

olmectech

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I used to be in LA and have a YJ with a hard top. You can keep it off for almost the entire year and put it back on when it gets "cold." Given the choice I would've preferred a soft top though.

I see a ton more hard tops now; pretty much everywhere. I think some people just never take them off. ĀÆ\_(惄)_/ĀÆ
Yes I agree.
 

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rallydefault

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Tough question, but honestly I think I would still get the hard top first and then install the soft top later. It's good to get the wiring/plumbing for the back window with a hard top if you have any desire to go that route for winters or if the freedom panels are enough air for you. Also, it was another nice project that I got to spend time with my dad installing the soft top; little things like that are important!
 

Gill

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I got a JL Rubicon, Firecracker Red with Fenders and Three piece top painted to match. I did not get the soft top because at the time of purchase, the tops were not available.

For me if you take the top off you need to take the doors off too, I love that look and the feeling you get driving it. My new JL is like driving one of my CJ's with modern creature comforts.
 

RubenZ

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I'm on a very very very very tight budget and as much as I would like a Hard Top, I must purchase a JLU Sport with Soft Top. I plan to either trade to a hard Top or just see how much I like the Soft Top. The only thing I don't like about Soft Tops is how the WINDOW panels get after a few years of use. They get that scratch look. But then again the Last Wrangler I owned was a TJ. I do miss the HALF DOORS and the ability to have the TOP almost tuck below the BODY Line. I kind of don't like how the new TOPS just angle back and sit there blocking the back view.
 

RichD

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For me it was easy. I love the look of the soft top - on this or any vehicle! I'm pleasantly surprised that it's fairly quiet with minimal wind noise. For long trips, or that whisper quiet sealed-in feel, I'll drive my wife's SUV.
 

swozey

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Hard top w/ a toplift pro/hoist. I don't like the look of the oem JL softtop at all, I doubt I'll ever even install it.

If I need it I can throw my hardtop on in 20 seconds and the rest of the time I just run no top and maybe my sunshade.
 

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BradyAntebellum

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For me the decision was an easy one since I bought my Jeep as a weekend warrior- not using it for much of anything other than doors-off fun. It spends 97% of the time in the garage too, which I feel like is a factor in choosing a soft top vs. a hard top.

Soft top all the way. Never considered a hard top for a second.

If I had bought my Jeep as a daily driver then no question Iā€™d have made the other choice. Then again.. Iā€™d never chose a Wrangler as a daily driver. As ā€œrefinedā€ as the JL is (and it really is), itā€™s still a recreational vehicle.
recreational vehicle? Out of curiosity...how old are you?
 

RussJeep1

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Just a simple question here, but I know I am going to get killed with the sheer amount of replies as this applies to ALL JL owners.

Knowing what you know now, and with what you have, would you keep your current soft top or hard top or would you switch it out if you had to do it over again.

I will start.

I have the premium soft top (came with) and after having a TJ with a hard top, there is NO WAY I would switch back to a hard top now. The sheer strength you had to have *Flexes* to get that bitch off of their is ridiculous. I actually used to lift the hard top off by myself putting it on my back. LOL. Neighbors would wonder WTF I am doing.

Not only that, with the newer JKU,JLU, and how pricey those hard tops are, I will give you another 2 reasons I wouldn't switch to a hard top.

1. You have to build a winch lift to raise it up in the garage, meaning you have to store it, which also means you have to watch the weather to make sure it doesn't rain that day :). (I've seen jeeps pass me with hard top off and it be POURING.
2. I would be afraid I would scratch the hell out of it, or my clumsy ass would drop it.

With that said, The hard top does look rather awesome though.

Disclaimers: I own a Freedom Jack, which IMHO makes, for my own personal willingness to tolerate work (everyone is different here) trivial to change tops.

So for me there is little about the work involved in changing tops (I'm a Dual Top Owner) that factors into my calculus of only going the 1 top route for ease reasons.

That said, I would need to face at least 1 decent NY winter with solely the (Premium) soft top on before I'd feel knowledgeable enough of my own preferences to answer this question.

Would the absence of the rear defogger and wiper, getting snow off the top, etc. lead me to pick the Hard Top as the lessor of both tops? I just don't know.

Let me get some post snowfall and removal highway mileage under my belt and see how that rear window fairs, from a visibility, insulative, and water tight metrics perspective.
 

Wanderingwheelz

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recreational vehicle? Out of curiosity...how old are you?
Iā€™m 47 and my wife is 40. We share all of our cars so we donā€™t have ā€œhisā€ and ā€œhersā€.

A recreational vehicle is something that is just used for fun- not as a means of transportation. If you were thinking ā€œRVā€ you missed my point.
 

LowCountry

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I went hardtop being that i have a garage to store it and being a 2 door it is easy to remove by myself and just slide onto a table behind the jeep. Also I like the clean look when topless and not having the all the extra mechanism and fabric bunched up behind the rear seat. I do have to keep an eye on the weather but normally ill strip it down friday after work and leave it off all weekend. I probably would have considered a softop if I had the ability to carry the rear and side windows with me but with a 2 door it seemed like there was no room for that so with either top something has to get left at home. I am looking forward to some aftermarket options for soft tops/ bikini tops
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