soft tops in the snow

[superj]

i have a question guys, do soft tops need to be treated any differently when you are in the snow? not so much the vinyl black part but the windows? do i need to be particularly careful when its very cold or the windows will split or crack?

we have had lots of wranglers over the years, i suppose, though only this four door and the 07 four door had soft tops when we purchased them. and we immediately bought a hard top for the 07 so we didn't have to deal with the soft top. i did put a softopper on my 87 but when it got to about november, i would put my hard top back on since i knew winter was coming and it would be cold (relative to our 100 plus summers) and rain would be enough that it sucks driving not having wipers on the inside.

so anyways, we are heading to nebraska in the middle of november and have a soft top on the 2019 so i am wondering how it will be with a soft top in the cold and how to handle the windows in possible freezing weather?

as you can tell, the wife and i have only ever lived in warm climates. south texas, about as warm as you can be year-round, ha ha ha. i mean, i can ride my bicycle to work year round so that tells you how cold it gets.

 

[Jeepergeo]

In cold weather, the soft tops are really stiff and more difficult to collapse if you want to take it off or fold it down, or to put it back up or on after sitting in the cold while off the Jeep. I mean really stiff. That's based on direct experience down into the low 40s F...I'd bet it gets much worse in really cold weather.

IDK if the plastic windows would be subject to cracking once they get stiff from the cold.

 

[mark sr]

My wife wanted a soft top when we bought our jeep. I didn't but the only 2 door hard top they had on the lot was a manual - ok by me but not her. Once she found out the hassle of putting the top on we've not taken it off.

When it gets a few inches of wet snow on it I sweep it off the top. Overall my 15 yr old top is in good shape except for a crack/split in the back window.

 

[superj]

that is how ours have been. my wife loves wranglers but she doesn't do anything in it that it is made for. she uses it like a civic or mini van. her old 07 jku was the best wrangler for her, ever. it was 2wd, ha ha ha. she didn't even know it wasn't 4wd nor ever noticed the transfer case shifter was missing.

 

[mark sr]

it was 2wd

It blows my mind that they'd put the jeep emblem on any 2wd vehicle. 4 wheel drive made jeep's name. If there are folks out there that like the body style why not put the dodge label on the 2wd models. Seems like most of the jeep pickups they used to make were 2wd.

I don't do a lot of off roading unless you consider my winding mountain driveway.

 

[superj]

i found an article on the 2wd wrangler but i don't think its 100% correct. it says only 2wd was available from 2007-2010.

Autotrader - page unavailable

maybe they say that because it was available at the dealerships to anyone purchasing a wrangler? there have been other model wranglers that came 2wd though.

here is a post from jeepforums on the yj 2wd models. i knew i had seen this discussion before when the wife and i both had yjs. hers might as well have been a 2wd since it didn't have a front driveshaft the whole time she owned it, ha ha ha.

"There were 2wd yj's. They were a dealer option. I talked with a service tech a while back about this. He remembered ACTUALLY REMOVING the 4wd stuff and installing a similar truss axle like the 2wd XJ gets."

and then this one on the cj side:

"2wd drive jeeps came out of the factroy for years. There are 2wd that goes all the way back to the cj2a's. Yes there where 2wd cj s They used a straight axle on the front. "

so it looks like only tj and jl did not have 2wd version available from the dealership.


i think the option for 2wd is fine on wranglers since "most" people who buy them are buying them for just the looks and to say they have a jeep. it would help the 4wd guys because more wranglers would show up in the junkyard to get other parts from (interiors parts, body panels, bumpers). like the cherokee and grand cherokees have tons of donor vehicles in the junkyard that are 2wd.

 

[JPNinPA]

If you take the soft top down or off in lower than ~65 deg it shrinks and needs to be heated to go back on. Possible splitting and cracking . If that happens find a heated garage or sit it in the sun.
Do not scrape or clean snow off windows in winter. Let it melt. Lightly brush from the top.

My factory top made it 12-13 yrs. I replaced it because something hit the back window in the winter. And i didn’t think you could replace just one window and color match.


Never look down on anyone unless you are helping them up - Jesse Jackson

 

[superj]

Ok. Good info