Hard top vs. soft top (or to switch or not to switch?)

The most common TJ configuration I see is full hard doors and and soft top.

The TJ soft top system evolved from the YJ top, that eclipsed the wagon covers called tops before them.

I love my full doors and soft top.
I love my hard top.
I love it topless with half doors.
I love it topless with no doors.

Hard tops are only good for one thing $750-900.

AndyG said:

Ok, I’m gonna spill the beans and tell him the rest of the of the story now- he has to fill out the application with all his information and climate data and we( The Counsel of Regional Directors) review and make a decision in 90 days, no seasonal exemptions are allowed and once he makes the change (if approved) he has to run it on that vehicle 12 months before reapplying for another top.

I know ya’ll think all that will scare him off but people need to know up front we have a lot of rules. We can’t just have people running around doing whatever, the next thing you know he will have an angry bird grill and dash full of ducks.

Makes me want to sand my nipples off with a die grinder.

Click to expand...

I gave you a thumbs on this. For everything except the nipple sanding.

MikekiM said:

I gave you a thumbs on this. For everything except the nipple sanding.

Click to expand...

There are other ways

https://nypost.com/2022/10/19/my-nipple-fell-off-breastfeeding-nearly-choking-my-baby/amp/

Manly = hard top
Girlyman = soft top







"smells like....victory !!"

Ours had a factory hard top when my wife bought it 10+ years ago.
Adding a soft top was her first and only mod.
She always had to get friends to help swap it twice a year and it was a PITA to store, etc.
I made a rack that stored it vertically, and we ran the soft top only for the past 4-5 years.
Here in SoCal, we run w/o a top or doors for most of the summer.

Recently sold the hard top for $1500 and we are planning to put that $$ towards a twill, Bestop Supertop soon.

TheBoogieman said:

Hard tops are only good for one thing $750-900.

Click to expand...

Hardtops only go for about $300 to $400 in Canada. That's about $225 to $300 US. We have fields of them.

I have owned my Jeep since new-Jan of '98-just turned 300k miles in September. Both tops from new. I switch to the soft top generally around last week of April, back to the hard top around first week of November. I like the hardtop in the winter for the rear defroster and wiper, and the ease of opening the tailgate glass to put in and remove items. I like the soft top in the summer for obvious reasons. I drive my Jeep about 50% of the time, depending, all year long.

Something to consider: unless you add insulation to your hardtop, it's not warmer than the soft top from a heat retention perspective. In the winter, when it's cold out, the hair on the top of my head is downright cold on a long drive. The hard top is more wind-tight, but it's not much quieter than a soft top. Not the same type of noise; differently noisy. Again, you could add some heat and noise insulation to the hard top and address both of these issues, and that is a rabbit hole to fall down.