So why do I need a hard top?

[BEM-S4]

Take a look at Best Top's site....pretty cool if you want to keep a hard top and roll back the front anytime you want.

Thanks, that's awesome and looks like it would be perfect for my warm weather needs. I am just figuring out all this aftermarket stuff, I know next to nothing. Right now if I want a hard top I take my station wagon, if I want a semi-open experience I open the moon roof, then for open air motoring I drive my convertible.

My main concern is spending $1K on something then realizing a few weeks later there's something better I should have gotten. I can absolutely see myself not buying anything for fear of buying the wrong thing, then 2 years from now I still have no soft top option.

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[Silver-Bolt]

Is this a legit thing? I've worked for 2 different auto manufactures, and I can't figure out why they would have 2 different wire looms, 1 for a soft top order, and 1 for a hard top. I don't understand why they would source 2 different parts, as well as limiting the ability of a customer down the road to add a hard top.

It will be wired. They are not going to have multiple harnesses and have to select the correct harness based on which top it gets.

 

[Headsong]

It will be wired. They are not going to have multiple harnesses and have to select the correct harness based on which top it gets.

You'd think, but we seem to have had it confirmed that it won't be...seems weird to me.

 

[RLW]

In places with colder winters, snow/salt/ice etc, I would think a hard top would be the way to go. Also if this is your only vehicle/daily driver and you are use to a "normal car" you may want a hard top.

I'm going soft top only. I may add a hard top later. (I don't care about the defroster or rear window washer)
I live in Chattanooga, TN. Very mild winter compared to Chicago.

This isn't my daily driver, so noise and other mild discomforts aren't an issue.
Top will be down in some fashion anytime the temp is above 65ish. Which it was the last 2 days here.

 

[Karl_in_Chicago]

In places with colder winters, snow/salt/ice etc, I would think a hard top would be the way to go. Also if this is your only vehicle/daily driver and you are use to a "normal car" you may want a hard top.

I'm going soft top only. I may add a hard top later. (I don't care about the defroster or rear window washer)
I live in Chattanooga, TN. Very mild winter compared to Chicago.

This isn't my daily driver, so noise and other mild discomforts aren't an issue.
Top will be down in some fashion anytime the temp is above 65ish. Which it was the last 2 days here.

Don't disagree with what you say, but everybody's different. A friend/co-worker drove his Wrangler from the south suburbs (Homewood) to our downtown Chicago office every day for years and years with only a soft top, and a beat to hell one at that. He only bothered with putting it up and fastening it if it was really hard rain or for the hard core part of winter. He loved that Jeep. Ended up treating himself a couple years before retirement and bought himself a first-gen CTS-V . . . and earned himself the nickname of Cadillac Man.

 

[Daktari]

You'd think, but we seem to have had it confirmed that it won't be...seems weird to me.

My dealer got confirmation from Ford, if you order soft top only the wiring, plumbing and switches for the wiper/washer will NOT be there. Same as with Wranglers.
Disappointing and costing me what dual top costs extra. If it were there I'd just get soft top now.

Is the info he got from Ford accurate? Who's to know, but it's not the only confirmation I heard. It seems silly, can't cost that much more to install it all the same, but apparently enough to save Ford money now and increase income down the road. Not an easy thing to install on Wranglers, probably same PITA on the Bronco.

 

[RonM0710]

I would pay extra to have the hardtop wiring on my soft top 4dr if was a factory installed accessory.

 

[Panaran]

I have the dual top option ordered with the MOD top so I can pull rear windows....but after seeing the new video of how easily the soft top works, and driving around today, I'm wondering if I want to go to the trouble of switching tops twice a year. I'm in Chicagoland, and for 5 months we won't have a top down! But just beginning to think I don't need the MOD top...yes, it would be quieter when it's on (5 months), warmer (for 5 months) and probably a bit better against winter elements (but I have a garage!)...

What am I missing?

This thread is not about cupholders.

I live in Chicago too, and I'm only getting the MIC top. I just don't like the look/quality of the OEM soft top. Pics online have been kinda baggy, and I hate the flimsy plastic windows. My plan was to get the MIC top and wait a while to see if Bestop comes out with anything. IMO, it's just as easy for me to fold half the seats down and get the 3 roof pieces in the back if I want to go full open top.

EDIT: I mean to add, that the reason I won't get the flimsy plastic windows is because I have to park outside, and in my experience those types of windows don't hold up very well to the elements.

 

[ilkhan]

Hard top plus bimini is my plan. If I'm in soft top weather I don't care about the sides, just the sunshade.

 

[1IH]

My dealer got confirmation from Ford, if you order soft top only the wiring, plumbing and switches for the wiper/washer will NOT be there. Same as with Wranglers.
Disappointing and costing me what dual top costs extra. If it were there I'd just get soft top now.

Is the info he got from Ford accurate? Who's to know, but it's not the only confirmation I heard. It seems silly, can't cost that much more to install it all the same, but apparently enough to save Ford money now and increase income down the road. Not an easy thing to install on Wranglers, probably same PITA on the Bronco.

This is not the case for the Wrangler, I have a JL currently that came with Camel Softop and it came wired and plumbed.

 

[BroncoBurgerWithCheese]

For security reasons hard top for me...I've had a couple soft tops sliced open in the past.

When my sister was in college she had a CJ7 with the plastic windows that she would leave in the same lot for a few days at a time because she didn't have to drive it much. Twice within about a 2 month period she came out to find the driver's window slashed where they would cut it, reach inside to unlock and open the door, and then see what they could find. After the second time we duct-taped a rat trap on the inside over the door latch. The window got slashed one more time and never again. It did take a while to clean up all the blood though.

 

[Daktari]

This is not the case for the Wrangler, I have a JL currently that came with Camel Softop and it came wired and plumbed.

really? That's interesting, I remember people complaining about those things not being there on the JL forum. Maybe Jeep changed this recently? Only would make sense to me, never understood not putting that bit of wire and rubber hose in there, making a laster switch more complicated and expensive.
I haven't frequented the Jeep forum in a while though.

I'm also still hoping that what Ford told my dealer turns out to be wrong, I'd love to NOT have to buy two tops and deal with storing one, but I never had a car like this and won't know which top I'll prefer over the other.

 

[1IH]

really? That's interesting, I remember people complaining about those things not being there on the JL forum. Maybe Jeep changed this recently? Only would make sense to me, never understood not putting that bit of wire and rubber hose in there, making a laster switch more complicated and expensive.
I haven't frequented the Jeep forum in a while though.

I'm also still hoping that what Ford told my dealer turns out to be wrong, I'd love to NOT have to buy two tops and deal with storing one, but I never had a car like this and won't know which top I'll prefer over the other.

really? That's interesting, I remember people complaining about those things not being there on the JL forum. Maybe Jeep changed this recently? Only would make sense to me, never understood not putting that bit of wire and rubber hose in there, making a laster switch more complicated and expensive.
I haven't frequented the Jeep forum in a while though.

I'm also still hoping that what Ford told my dealer turns out to be wrong, I'd love to NOT have to buy two tops and deal with storing one, but I never had a car like this and won't know which top I'll prefer over the other.

Well…..you are correct. I just went out to double check and I’m not plumbed like I thought. Confusing my dual top group JLUR with this one! My bad!!!

 

[Daktari]

thanks for checking!
Really a dumb decision by the makers IMO, can't cost that much and it not being there and having to tear a lot of panels off to add it sure might prevent somebody from getting a HT down the road? You have to change out the wiper switch by the steering wheel too and add where ever the defrost button goes.
Maybe it's to not confuse soft top buyers? I went ahead and ordered the dual top, probably will sell one or the other after a year or so. Was the one thing I went back and forth with and finally caved once my dealer got confirmation from someone at Ford. I know that if I run the hard top I will want those things working and not just smiling at me in the rear view mirror :-D

 

[1IH]

thanks for checking!
Really a dumb decision by the makers IMO, can't cost that much and it not being there and having to tear a lot of panels off to add it sure might prevent somebody from getting a HT down the road? You have to change out the wiper switch by the steering wheel too and add where ever the defrost button goes.
Maybe it's to not confuse soft top buyers? I went ahead and ordered the dual top, probably will sell one or the other after a year or so. Was the one thing I went back and forth with and finally caved once my dealer got confirmation from someone at Ford. I know that if I run the hard top I will want those things working and not just smiling at me in the rear view mirror :-D

honestly it should just be a built in cost to the vehicle, especially if they want to sell hardtop a through the parts catalog later.

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