Birty Dastards Jeep Club
Tech Forum => Workshop => Topic started by: Wreckless on October 22, 2010, 12:32:34 PM
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OK, so I've decided I might get a TJ (http://www.birtydastards.com/frm/index.php?topic=13857.0), but I'm not sure about the best roof options.
My immediate thought is that I'll need a hard top and a soft top. But am I really likely to actually use both? Or will one or other just sit festering in the garage getting in my way?
The Jeep will live on the street, so I think I'd be happier if it didn't just have a soft top year all the time. If I have a hard top on it, is it a hassle to take it off for a sunny day then put it back on again at the end of the day? Is it realisatically an every day thing, or not worth the hassle more than once a week/month/year?
Can I get a tonneau cover for when it's parked up with no roof or doors?
I've had a search around and can see plenty of people have bought and/or sold various roofs, but don't really know which option would be best.
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Any Tj or CJ type Jeep is not exctly the most secure thing in the world.
If its gonna live on the street then I would have to say hard top. Less likely to tempt a brainless opportunist to try his luck & far less prone to a dickhead with a stanley knife.
We have a hard top on all year round, would like to run a soft top but having the dog in the back when laning / playing, just feel better about having the hard top on.
Really its down to where its going to live & what you plan to do with it. If its in a garage & used as a fun time vehilcle go soft top. If living on the street & used more regularly & likely to be left parked up in a car park etc, go hard top :icon_jook:
Just my 2 pence worth
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i would rather risk gettin broken into than use a hard top, PITA gettin off and on, especially if u aint married to a russian weightlifter! Cant see the point of havin a roofless truck that u never get to use roofless coz the hardtop is a bugger, so i binned mine.
yes to tonneau cover
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Roofless......and doorless when possible.........
BUT...it depends where you live?? Round here in the fens of East Anglia its 'Green Oval" Land and the local 'dids' treat it like a spares department!
The Jeep is never locked and doesn't have a roof and in summer no doors......... it has no radio or stuff cos I can't hear it..... You find the more you alter modify etc the less chance they will go near it, cos its a bit obvious driving it around........ that said watch out for your winch if electric they are 4 bolts and a bolt cropper away from liberation :jpshakehead:
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whats the solution to the winch then? im pretty well covered in makin everything else hard to thieve, but hadnt thought of that
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Metal Glue :icon_twisted:
Weld the bolts heads to the winch mount plate and oval/round them off with a grinder........ means you'll have to weld bolts for the taking off routine but to be honest once the winch is on its usually there a few years before the need to take it off occurs..... like I did 3 nights ago :jpshakehead:
I'm sure there's a high zoot spendy option to my 'billy bob' solution....... which I guess is why avoided it :icon_super:
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The factory soft top is the best in my eyes, easier to take down etc than a bestop, i have had both. Never had a hardtop so cant comment but major factor for me is where to store it when you have the soft top on or bikini.
The soft top takes around 10 mins, not an easy task and you always get filthy hands
i have a TJ with a Bestop half top, so its only a 2 seater now. I love the look of it but it does leak a fair bit and makes the Jeep even worse in the storage front. Mind you i have a 33" tyre in the back which could be fixed with a swing away carrier.
So overall id say soft top and as for security i leave mine open, its better than having your soft windows slashed etc
For all the available options look on 4wd.com or the besttop web sites
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truck cab best of both worlds easy
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Soft top ..... :icon_super:
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Don't limit your options; get a TJ but don't limit your search to either hard or soft top!
Then make whatever you buy work & if necessary but the other type of roof.
Soft tops actually leak less than the hardtop.
On the security front you just need to get into the habbit of not leaving anything of value on display. My TJ lived outside for 6 years in softtop form (safari top or half top in the summer & conventional softop in the winter) with no bother.
From my experience people don't tend to mess with them when parked up; perhaps they think the security is better than it is or maybe they leave them alone because they like them!
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:iagree:
its just a mind set, get a lockable cubby and don't leave anything in the car, I don't even have door locks and the the only that been taken was my winch rope :banghead: and that was while it was on my drive way.
i got a hard top within months of first getting the CJ and the only time i used it was while i was working on the screen frame and couldn't use the soft top
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Well that's a fairly comprehensive range of opinions!
Is it generally cheaper to buy a Jeep that already has both hard and soft tops with it?
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As a rule yes but dont get paying over the odds for the privalage.
Condition of the soft top for rips, holes & tears & the like. Check out the cost to get one from the USA, Quadratec, 4WD.com etc & go from there, simples :003:
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Well that's a fairly comprehensive range of opinions!
Is it generally cheaper to buy a Jeep that already has both hard and soft tops with it?
That's a loaded question!!!
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If your after a stock TJ: you may find a Sahara that was supplied new with dual tops (both hard & soft with all the frames etc for the soft).
Hit gold and you'll get one where the owner has never used the softop but kept it in the garage.
If you buy a hardtop (that has never had a soft) you will need to buy the door frames, softop including frame & rear window bottom rod. Which aren't that common second hand.
You can reckon on paying £450+ for a used TJ hardtop on its own; but they are in demand around this time of year.
Used softops £100+ canvas only but can be scraggy (wear around the door frame) so easier to buy new from the states.
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That's really useful, thanks. I really don't need to spend all my budget only to discover that I haven't got what I need!