Hard top or suspension

InOmaha

InOmaha

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Or both of course.

I can potentially get an LJ hardtop, which are rare. For the same cost, I can get a ZJ steering update, adjustable track bars, new Rancho shocks, and new OME springs.

Nebraska gets cold, but is it that cold to make it worth a hard top? The soft top is noisy above 60 mph or with 30 mph winds.

I could buy the hard top then wait or buy the suspension part now.
 
I do a good bit of highway driving and I have both hard and soft tops. I wouldn't be without my hard top on drives longer than an hour even if I had to do without my suspension lift. But my jeep doesn't do technical trails much here in South La

Really depends more on what you are trying to do with the rig. If you plan on doing a bunch of trails, suspension gets my vote. If it's a DD with occasional trail use, hard top all the way.
 
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So long as your soft top is the OE Bestop top and not a cheap aftermarket one you can make it substantially quieter. Zip all the windows completely shut and turn the fan up to about the #2 speed setting which will 'inflate' the top enough to make a nice reduction in noise. Any HVAC setting except the off or recirculate mode.
 
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My Twill soft top was slightly quieter than my hardtop.
This year I insulated the hardtop with a few different materials (EPDM foam, hydrophobic melamine foam, CCF, polyfill) and it made a major difference. The whole vehicle is much quieter now than before.

I didn't do it primarily for noise, though. I insulated it for thermal insulation. Warms up much more quickly and I can keep it hotter hopefully well below zero. I did add some vibration absorbing mat (constrained layer damper) material to further reduce noise, though.

Next up is to insulate and CLD the door.
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
So long as your soft top is the OE Bestop top and not a cheap aftermarket one you can make it substantially quieter. Zip all the windows completely shut and turn the fan up to about the #2 speed setting which will 'inflate' the top enough to make a nice reduction in noise. Any HVAC setting except the off or recirculate mode.
Click to expand...


Yep, this works great. Twice a year my wife and I make about an 800 mile round trip to the Outer Banks of NC in the Jeep with a soft top. Most of it's interstate or highways with 60-70 MPH speed limits. It helps a lot.
 
Boy, I'm gonna have to respectfully disagree. You can, at any time upgrade your suspension. But to find another LJ hardtop might take a while. And the prices will only go up. I'm in upper NY where it gets good and cold too. And I can say that a hardtop will hold heat in a LOT better. New coils and arms will always be available. I haven't driven my TJ with the soft top in winter. But have for years in my CJs and YJs. They suck! Frost on plastic windows. Look at them and they scratch. Or crack. Or split. Top loaded up with ice and snow after work. Have to get it off without harming the fabric. No way would I want to go through all that again. No, I vote for the hardtop!
 
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I believe my top is the original. The side velcro around the top doesn't hold well and I get a substantial flapping and pulsing noise above 55. I admit I've always had sensitive and good hearing.

Next on the list is to look at the top and see if opening it, cleaning, and reseating will help. I think it's not quite centered in the middle.

LJ hardtops aren't as easy to find and there is one 40 miles away. But it's more expensive then a regular TJ hardtop and my Jeep wasn't wired for one. So I'm likely looking at $1500 to get it and get it working.

It's basically a DD with a short trip, but I have relatives 2 to 3 hours away at interstate speeds and would take the Jeep in bad weather conditions. Summer I'm not worried and will likely open it up.
 
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I noticed little noise difference with a bestop softtop and OE hardtop. Not very scientific but a decibel app showed same levels between the two. Depends on what you plan on doing with your jeep.
 
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I agree with @Goatman. It sounds like you see the need for both and given the limited opportunities to get an LJ hardtop, my vote is to get one while you can. You will definitely benefit from it with the upcoming winter. Suspension upgrades can be had at any time.
 
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Hmmm. It's a DD for me, but I'm certain it was someone's night or weekend toy and garaged. Around 5000 miles a year driving.

There aren't any mountains in my state so serious off roading would require a trip. I do need new shocks since they are the originals. The PO put larger tires on and I probably couldn't do much off road without at least a mild lift without rubbing. I was going to inspect everything, upgrade components, and check articulation at the same time before doing anything.

Then this hard top popped up and winter started.

I may just do both. The kids don't really need to go to college this year. :unsure:

Having a house full of girls gets expensive. :D
 
For me, a big deciding factor would be storage. As much as I would like a hardtop, I have nowhere to put it when the weather gets warm. If you’ve got a perfect spot for it, I think it makes the decision a lot easier. Factory wiring would also be a consideration for me. It’s might not be just plug and play.

Lastly, I think LJs look perfect with the Trektop NX vs any other Wrangler so that’s what I would go with.
 
Winter and summer pictures, I was lucky enough that when I bought my TJR it came with a hard top and a brand new factory soft top still in the box. I have since bought 1/2 doors and a Safari Top. My hard top and full doors will be going on next weekend and will be on until spring. I agree if you can find a LJ hard top I would be all over it, worst case you can always sell it w/o a loss.

I would ask other like me that have both tops this question. " How many of you with both hard and soft tops do not use their hard tops in winter and just run a soft top" I would bet most change out tops

Also storage for me is not a big deal I have a deep garage and use the Hoss Rack System from Bestop. It will hold both sets of doors and windows for the half doors. The rack fits behind the the top stand

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Steel City 06 said:
My Twill soft top was slightly quieter than my hardtop.
This year I insulated the hardtop with a few different materials (EPDM foam, hydrophobic melamine foam, CCF, polyfill) and it made a major difference. The whole vehicle is much quieter now than before.

I didn't do it primarily for noise, though. I insulated it for thermal insulation. Warms up much more quickly and I can keep it hotter hopefully well below zero. I did add some vibration absorbing mat (constrained layer damper) material to further reduce noise, though.

Next up is to insulate and CLD the door.
Click to expand...
Any write up or pics of where u put the insulation? It gets cold here too.. I sprayed rubberized under coating in the inside of the tub and that made a huge difference..

But I need the hard top done now.. I don't know if any voids on the hard top to fill in
 
I wouldn't go through winter without my hard top...

You won't notice the new ride when your teeth are chattering and your freezing.

And as u said the hard top is rare, when u gonna find another?
 
Based on where you live, A hard top would be a must. I have both tops, and just swapped to my hard top last week for the season. My soft top is factory, and IMO, is much noisier than with the hard top on. My vote, get the hard top.
 
Leinhit said:
Any write up or pics of where u put the insulation? It gets cold here too.. I sprayed rubberized under coating in the inside of the tub and that made a huge difference..

But I need the hard top done now.. I don't know if any voids on the hard top to fill in
Click to expand...
Boom mat makes a premade kit for TJs. I'm not sure if they have one for LJs.

The hard top actually has quite a few voids. To name a few:
  • Front header - look for small holes under the header. You'll only see them with the hardtop removed
  • Rear curved section - remove the trim panel from behind the header and you'll notice several small holes leading to a void that connects all the way down to where the hardtop wiring harness is. Also you can insulate between the trim panel and the attached panel.
  • Side voids - these connect to the rear void and run all the way from the rear void to the front right about the height of the roll bar. These are almost impossible to stuff unless you drill holes from the inside.
I stuffed everything with polyfill except the side voids, because I didn't want to drill holes.

The biggest impact, however, will be made by adding a 1" layer of insulation across the entire top panel of the hardtop, which has no voids. The Boom mat achieves most of this. Hydrophobic melamine foam is a little more difficult to work with, but will give excellent results and look great with a headliner. You will need to leave cutouts for the speaker pods (03-06 only) and the middle rollbar. Wherever the Boom Mat didn't cover, I filled in with melamine foam where it would fit without interference.

The last step is to take the areas that aren't covered with thicker material like the areas above the speaker pods and cover them with thin insulating/decoupling material like 1/8" closed cell foam. This provides a small boost of insulation in these areas, but more importantly it decouples the two hard surfaces so they don't rattle and don't transmit vibrations between each other.
 
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