Hardtop without defrost

[DakotaTJ]

Anyone use a hardtop in the winter months without rear defrost and/or wiper? My TJ came with a soft top, so is not wired for rear defrost. Found a hardtop but it seems like a huge pain to wire this. I’m in ND, so winters are brutal. I know the TJ heater rips. So I’m wondering if I can go without.

 

[Chris]

Without the defrost you'll want to use Rain-X Anti-Fog or similar.

The defrost is a very nice thing, but that Anti-Fog really does work.

 

[DakotaTJ]

Without the defrost you'll want to use Rain-X Anti-Fog or similar.

The defrost is a very nice thing, but that Anti-Fog really does work.

Nice. Thanks for the tip. I’ll give it a season and see how it goes. Going to be 80 here until November anyway .

 

[Strizzo]

Mine also came with a soft top and no hard top wiring. After a rollover, the soft top was replaced with the current hard top. I've driven it in the winter but Houston is not anything like ND. Haven't really noticed the rear window being an issue but the rear side windows definitely were a little foggy until the heater got up to speed on a couple colder mornings.

 

[DakotaTJ]

Mine also came with a soft top and no hard top wiring. After a rollover, the soft top was replaced with the current hard top. I've driven it in the winter but Houston is not anything like ND. Haven't really noticed the rear window being an issue but the rear side windows definitely were a little foggy until the heater got up to speed on a couple colder mornings.

I don't want to hear about winters in Houston !

 

[KennethS]

I don't want to hear about winters in Houston !

Well then how about winters in Phoenix?

My present hardtop doesn’t have defrost (but the wiring is there) and I haven’t had any issues the times I have traveled up north in Flagstaff, Show Low, and other 7500ft + elevation areas where they actually have cold temperatures.

 

[Snukulu]

Anyone use a hardtop in the winter months without rear defrost and/or wiper? My TJ came with a soft top, so is not wired for rear defrost. Found a hardtop but it seems like a huge pain to wire this. I’m in ND, so winters are brutal. I know the TJ heater rips. So I’m wondering if I can go without.

Even if you get it wired up, there might still be breaks in the lines that you would need to repair before the defroster works.

 

[DakotaTJ]

Well then how about winters in Phoenix?

My present hardtop doesn’t have defrost (but the wiring is there) and I haven’t had any issues the times I have traveled up north in Flagstaff, Show Low, and other 7500ft + elevation areas where they actually have cold temperatures.

Even better . Thanks for the info. We’ll see how it goes.

 

[Gilaguy23]

when its gets that cold Id be worried about the plastic windows cracking if nothing else.

 

[Dan The Video Man]

Mine wasn't wired for a hardtop either. I did do the dash and tub harness swap to get all of the controls, but they weren't really necessary this past winter. I also park in the garage overnight so I don't need to de-ice in the morning.

 

[Wheeling diver]

Mine is not wired up either and I have had no problems in NC, but that doesn't compare to where you are located.

 

[DakotaTJ]

Mine wasn't wired for a hardtop either. I did do the dash and tub harness swap to get all of the controls, but they weren't really necessary this past winter. I also park in the garage overnight so I don't need to de-ice in the morning.

Yeah. I park in a heated garage. So should be fine. Days get pretty damn cold though. So who knows what'll happen while it's sitting outside of my office all day.

 

[Dan The Video Man]

Yeah. I park in a heated garage. So should be fine. Days get pretty damn cold though. So who knows what'll happen while it's sitting outside of my office all day.

I think it would be less of an issue due to the glass being vertical vs. a sedan which has a flatter rear windshield.