Running doorless and topless for most of the summer questions

gg1

gg1

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 3, 2018
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Location
Pittsburgh, PA, United States
Here are my thoughts and I wanted to run this by you experts before I start buying stuff. In my area it can rain at any time, so I need to be ready for that.

I was thinking while parked I would use this cover. Can I lock it down so it doesn't get stolen when on? I have to park in a crappy area, but not too crappy and the idiots that are stealing aren't very smart. They might not even know what the heck is going on with a cover on it. Is this a good product?

https://www.extremeterrain.com/bestop-all-weather-trail-w-tj-8103709.html

I was just going to unzip the rear window and the sides and leave them in the garage along with my doors, but leave the soft top there, so I have a top with no sides. Is this too crazy? Do I need waterproof seats covers. I know not to get the wetsuit crap. Jerry B it would be nice to hear from you.

Do I really need to bed-liner my floor? I love my carpet, but I could just paint the floor boards with POR.

I have a sub in the back, but the top down covers it. Can I just throw a garbage bag over it? I guess I could just keep some garbage bags for the seats if it gets too crazy as well. I drive over 70 miles from home on my commute.

Any other thoughts? I can't wait to take the doors off for the warm weather. Thanks in advance!
 
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gg1 said:
Here are my thoughts and I wanted to run this by you experts before I start buying stuff. In my area it can rain at any time, so I need to be ready for that.

I was thinking while parked I would use this cover. Can I lock it down so it doesn't get stolen when on? I have to park in a crappy area, but not too crappy and the idiots that are stealing aren't very smart. They might not even know what the heck is going on with a cover on it. Is this a good product?

https://www.extremeterrain.com/bestop-all-weather-trail-w-tj-8103709.html

I was just going to unzip the rear window and the sides and leave them in the garage along with my doors, but leave the soft top there, so I have a top with no sides. Is this too crazy? Do I need waterproof seats covers. I know not to get the wetsuit crap. Jerry B it would be nice to hear from you.

Do I really need to bed-liner my floor? I love my carpet, but I could just paint the floor boards with POR.

I have a sub in the back, but the top down covers it. Can I just throw a garbage bag over it? I guess I could just keep some garbage bags for the seats if it gets too crazy as well. I drive over 70 miles from home on my commute.

Any other thoughts? I can't wait to take the doors off for the warm weather. Thanks in advance!
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I am in a similar boat but in a nice neighborhood so no crackheads to worry about. Took the doors and roof entirely off and the car lives under the same cover you linked all day every day. I have gotten pretty good at putting on the cover and it takes me about 2 minutes to do it. My advice regarding rain is to check forecast twice before heading out of the house. I also lock up my head unit faceplate in the center console every time I’m not in the car. One piece of advice with that cover, water usually pools in the center so you need a stick or something in place to avoid that situation. I used a curved up pvc pipe


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schmoupe said:
I am in a similar boat but in a nice neighborhood so no crackheads to worry about. Took the doors and roof entirely off and the car lives under the same cover you linked all day every day. I have gotten pretty good at putting on the cover and it takes me about 2 minutes to do it. My advice regarding rain is to check forecast twice before heading out of the house. I also lock up my head unit faceplate in the center console every time I’m not in the car. One piece of advice with that cover, water usually pools in the center so you need a stick or something in place to avoid that situation. I used a curved up pvc pipe


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Click to expand...

Thanks. I am pretty sure I am getting that top ASAP. I mean, it is pretty reasonable and bestop seems to have a very good rep, so maybe I can get it before Friday? lol I don't think I can go wrong with that top. I could just keep my top in tact I guess and be doorless with a top. I don't think that much rain will roll in unless it is very windy? Ah, it is only water.

I wish I could convey how excited I am. Got married and really stopped living. That has to end and this Jeep is my savior. I need something and this is it.

Thanks again.
 
Don’t keep anything in the Jeep you aren’t willing to have stolen. Put in a tuffy console so you can have real security. Put in a kill switch so your Jeep can’t get stolen. Done!
 
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Bestop's vinyl seat covers are waterproof and pretty comfortable, I had a couple sets of them and really liked them. Most aftermarket speakers have polyurethane or mylar cones so moisture doesn't affect them. I don't know if the OE Mopar speaker cones are made from either of those or paper which doesn't survive much exposure to water. Probably a good idea to check that out.

Enjoy those days with the top and doors off! :)
 
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Be careful with water specially if your carpets get wet and the car sits a while. That will promote rust real fast. I paid top dollars for a low rust car and intend on keeping it that way.

Either way good luck with the car! I’m 2 months in my ownership of my first wrangler and totally in love with it. So much that my BMW z4m which was my dream car for years hasn’t seen any action in a month. [emoji51]


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JMT said:
Don’t keep anything in the Jeep you aren’t willing to have stolen. Put in a tuffy console so you can have real security. Put in a kill switch so your Jeep can’t get stolen. Done!
Click to expand...

Thanks. I do have a Tuffy console and love it. Hmm, a kill switch might be smart. Thanks!
 
gg1 said:
Thanks. I do have a Tuffy console and love it. Hmm, a kill switch might be smart. Thanks!
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There’s a good kill switch write up on the forum somewhere. For now you can pull the fuel relay in the relay box in front of your battery.
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
Bestop's vinyl seat covers are waterproof and pretty comfortable, I had a couple sets of them and really liked them. Most aftermarket speakers have polyurethane or mylar cones so moisture doesn't affect them. I don't know if the OE Mopar speaker cones are made from either of those or paper which doesn't survive much exposure to water. Probably a good idea to check that out.

Enjoy those days with the top and doors off! :)
Click to expand...

Thanks Jerry. I have aftermarket speakers that are Pioneer. They were there when I bought it, so I don't know much about them. The sub is an Alpine of high quality, but it was out of a different car I owned. I could probably bolt it down. I'll look into the covers. Seems Bestop is pretty solid.
 
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schmoupe said:
Be careful with water specially if your carpets get wet and the car sits a while. That will promote rust real fast. I paid top dollars for a low rust car and intend on keeping it that way.

Either way good luck with the car! I’m 2 months in my ownership of my first wrangler and totally in love with it. So much that my BMW z4m which was my dream car for years hasn’t seen any action in a month. [emoji51]


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Click to expand...

Wow, what an interesting statement about your BMW. I have an Audi S5 that is pretty sweet, but I just want to drive my Jeep all the time. Just so much fun! Newer high performance cars are so good, that they are just uninteresting in a way unless you are willing to go WAY over the speed limit and that can land you in jail. I might have had mine.... MIGHT going over 140mph and it was nothing. Hard to get excited if you have to push that kind of speed to make your heart beat a little faster.

Anyway, I am in the same boat. Can't wait to pull the doors!

My Jeep has a little surface rust, but nothing really. That being said, I want to keep it clean. It will probably sit most of the winter months. lol I find that kind of funny in a way considering how capable that thing is in the snow.
 
gg1 said:
Wow, what an interesting statement about your BMW. I have an Audi S5 that is pretty sweet, but I just want to drive my Jeep all the time. Just so much fun! Newer high performance cars are so good, that they are just uninteresting in a way unless you are willing to go WAY over the speed limit and that can land you in jail. I might have had mine.... MIGHT going over 140mph and it was nothing. Hard to get excited if you have to push that kind of speed to make your heart beat a little faster.

Anyway, I am in the same boat. Can't wait to pull the doors!

My Jeep has a little surface rust, but nothing really. That being said, I want to keep it clean. It will probably sit most of the winter months. lol I find that kind of funny in a way considering how capable that thing is in the snow.
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Yup. Believe it or not my TJ is a summer car. Winter time, I prefer my wife’s X5 since it has all sorts of creature comfort bells and whistles


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schmoupe said:
I...the car lives under the same cover you linked all day every day. I have gotten pretty good at putting on the cover and it takes me about 2 minutes to do it.
Click to expand...

I ordered from Summit. They were a couple of buck more, but damn they ship FAST and I mean FAST. I love Summit!

Thanks for your response. Should be here by friday and knowing them it will be early. lol
 
Crap, I just forgot I need mirrors. Quadratec has them that seem simple and nice enough. I could rig something temporary I guess, but want something that is okay and foldable so the cover fits over them easy enough. lol
 
I live in NE Florida and run 9 months out of the year with my doors and all soft top windows off. I like the safari top look and feel. My interior is bedlined and I have a marine radio (waterproofed). When I’m not I. The Jeep, I collapse the seat forward so it doesn’t get rained in as much, and I typically leave a towel in the Jeep in case the seat is wet. I use the quadratic mirrors, but threw the crappy hand tightening bolts in the trash after replacing them with bolts from Lowe’s. The hand tightening bolts sucked.
 
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I had my TJ for 2 maybe 3 years with the top on but no back and side windows. I also had a deck cover at times. Because of the high humidity here in Florida the seat hardware got rusty and hard to tumble. The rust issue is because every morning the inside of the Jeep was wet because of the dew. Radio volume control is also starting to go bad.

Keeping it covered with that Bestop cover will be good to avoid humidity and overnight dew to take hold of the inside of the Jeep on a daily basis.
 
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gg1 said:
Crap, I just forgot I need mirrors. Quadratec has them that seem simple and nice enough. I could rig something temporary I guess, but want something that is okay and foldable so the cover fits over them easy enough. lol
Click to expand...
Be careful with most of the doorless mirrors. They are not all they are cracked up to be. Most shake so badly they are unusable or blow out of adjustment. Research a bit. I think last time I researched I concluded some Harley Motorcycle mirrors would work best. There’s also the stock relocation bracket, but the passenger side becomes pretty much unusable. Also, check your state laws. We’re not required to have them in TX
 
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Thanks for all the replies. Now researching mirrors. I think I want them to be rectangle like stock ones or something similar. I don't want to relocate them I don't think as that bracket seems to rust that I have seen.
 
I am glad to see this picture since I don't want to remove my mirrors every time I put my cover on. I am leaning towards this type of mirror. They get mixed reviews for the most part, but I am sure I can modify them to work well regardless. The round is growing on me a little. No rush I guess.

263421_D6D0124F.jpg
 
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