Ah, open air motoring. Wind in your hair, sun on your arms, all's right with the world when you have the top down and the open road stretches out forever ahead of you.
Jeep drivers have been doing it since the original Willys models, and it adds so much to the experience, whether you’re leaning way out the door for a better view to carefully place your wheel on a tricky off road problem, or just cruising the beach highways.
But there’s a dark cloud that hovers over the Jeep Wrangler soft top life, especially for drivers of, let’s call them, “more mature” Wranglers. Bitter cold in the winters from drafty seams, fluttering canvas panels at highway speeds (making conversation impossible sometimes), ill fitting tops, broken zippers, and disintegrated velcro. Yellowing plastic windows. The struggle to reinstall your soft top after a summer season of top down enjoyment. We’ve all been there.
So, we have a love/hate relationship with our soft tops.
Thankfully, there is a wide range of aftermarket solutions for Wrangler soft tops, and XT can cure what curtails your open air fun. As always, our Jeep experts are on hand to answer any questions you might have to make sure you get the best possible al fresco experience your Wrangler can offer.
Jeep Complete Soft Tops Vs. Replacement Soft Tops
If you’re looking to start anew with your soft top Wrangler, there are two paths to getting everything back factory-fresh. The key here is to evaluate the condition, or even the very presence, of your soft top frame. The frame forms the backbone of your soft top, and keeps the fabric taut and flap-free at speed. It also helps shed rain and snow by ensuring the drainage paths that the Jeep engineers built stay intact and leak free.
The frames often weirdly go missing on second-hand Jeeps, and older YJ’s and TJ’s can have bowed frame legs, wobbly and corroded hinges, and creased corners. If your fame is absent, or has seen better days, a complete soft top is your best path. In addition, if your Wrangler came from the factory as a hard top, you’ll need a complete soft top to convert to that open air life. Even newer Jeeps, like JK’s can benefit from a complete soft top change over.
If the frame on your soft top Wrangler seems to be in good shape, you can look at replacing the windows and fabric only. There are a number of replacement kits that will accomplish this, in a variety of colors and window styles.
In either case, you can rest assured that both the fabric and window materials are miles and miles better than the originals from the 1990s or 2000s. These are vinyl, canvas, or twill materials that are built to resist fading from UV light, have durable stitching and bonding, and the windows will remain clear and scratch resistant. From “traditional” OE-style vinyl materials to more durable and wind resistant sailcloth, you’ll have a 100% better soft top experience with today’s new materials.
Jeep Fastback Soft Tops
If you’re thinking of changing up the look and function of your Wrangler’s soft top, there are myriad options available at the click of a mouse. Freed from the constraints of the factory soft top’s frame, fastback tops use your Jeep’s roll bars as fastening points. Easy to install and uninstall, fastback tops store in compact areas, and are perfect for Jeepers who have the benefit of living in congenial climates.
They also come in a variety of configurations that allow you to drive your Jeep as a targa, with the top flipped open over the front seats, or with the truly classic “bikini” top that leaves the back end a little, well, exposed. They come in mesh materials, and can also feature tonneau-style rear storage area covers.
The sky’s the limit (literally!) as to what you can do with these tops. Fastback soft tops are also extremely affordable, many of them coming in at under $100, so you can mix and match your open air style all summer long. Of course, they’re not as structurally robust as the factory soft top with its integrated frame, but they are perfect for that weather we all really want to be driving in.
Soft Top Choices
No matter which direction you go on your soft top replacement strategy, the XT team is here to help with selecting the top that’s right for you, and with technical assistance for installing it.
Questions about soft tops for your Wrangler? Got a story to share about a great day of open top Jeeping? Let us know down in the comments.
