Jeep Wrangler Forum banner

insulated head liners

25K views 174 replies 63 participants last post by  HK_Runner 
#1 ·
what do you think are the best ones hot head liners rugged ridge ect?
 
#32 ·
They aren't. I emailed them last week and they said no sale. They are full price now. I'll keep waiting for another sale since I missed it too.
 
#10 ·
I was a bit disappointed when I received my HotHeads. For some reason, I was expecting some sort of thick foam. What I did receive was a very well made item that fit perfectly in all 4 spots.

My disappointment was due to the HotHead liner is made out of some sort of medium density fiberboard about 1/8" thick and then covered in a very nice looking foam, but only about 1/8" thick. I find it hard to believe that an overall thickness of about 1/4" of fiberboard and foam is going to provide much insulation value.

I also agree that their customer service is great. I called them to check on a shipping date because my credit card had been charged 4 days earlier. As most of us know, most companies don't charge your credit card until the purchased item has been shipped. The gentleman I talked with was very nice and explained that PayPal does the charging and that he had no control over that. It was then that I remembered PayPal doing the paperwork and it all made sense. I apologized for my somewhat bad attitude and I ended up getting the headliners 2 working days later.

The Hothead headliners are a great looking product, fit perfectly and their customer service is great. :thumb: I'm just not so sure about their ability to insulate from heat and/or noise. :confused:

Regards.
 
#11 ·
I was a bit disappointed when I received my HotHeads. For some reason, I was expecting some sort of thick foam. What I did receive was a very well made item that fit perfectly in all 4 spots.

My disappointment was due to the HotHead liner is made out of some sort of medium density fiberboard about 1/8" thick and then covered in a very nice looking foam, but only about 1/8" thick. I find it hard to believe that an overall thickness of about 1/4" of fiberboard and foam is going to provide much insulation value.

I also agree that their customer service is great. I called them to check on a shipping date because my credit card had been charged 4 days earlier. As most of us know, most companies don't charge your credit card until the purchased item has been shipped. The gentleman I talked with was very nice and explained that PayPal does the charging and that he had no control over that. It was then that I remembered PayPal doing the paperwork and it all made sense. I apologized for my somewhat bad attitude and I ended up getting the headliners 2 working days later.

The Hothead headliners are a great looking product, fit perfectly and their customer service is great. :thumb: I'm just not so sure about their ability to insulate from heat and/or noise. :confused:

Regards.
Don't let the thinness of the HotHeads fool you. The fiberboard is made from wood and has good insulating properties. There is also a YouTube video the owner posted where he did a temp test. Placed a 300F heat lamp 12" above a section of hardtop. Half of the section had a piece of HotHead and the other half was bare. After 12 hours, he used a laser temp gun to measure. The side with the HH was 100+ degrees cooler.

Like numerous others on here who have used these for a while, they do make a difference.
 
#18 ·
:whistling: Inside the JK/JKU hardtop at 100° F outside---

The white outside, won't make any difference inside-




Transfered heat thru the 1/4" hardtop, will still cause heat retention inside--the "HotHead" insulation is an advisable addition !

:dance::rofl: JIMBO
 
#23 ·
Sorry to disagree but the white top does help reduce heat inside. More radiated heat from the sun is reflected rather than absorbed into the top. Less heat being absorbed from the outside means less heat is transferred by conduction to the inner surfaces of the top and in turn radiated into the air inside. You can only argue how much perceived difference there is, not whether there is a difference. It also doesn't mean that hotheads won't help with a white top but they are certainly less beneficial than with an egg-frying black top.
 
#26 ·
Mythbusters, the 2005 season

SPINOFF: A black car heats up faster than an identical white car. (From Pilot 2)

confirmed
A fan wrote in and asked a follow up question: "Does the color of a car affect the way it heats up?". The MythBusters used two identical cars, one black the other white and left them both out in the summer heat with thermometers in both. By mid-afternoon the black car had heated up to a temperature of 135 °F while the white car topped off at 126 °F, almost 10 degrees cooler.
 
#27 ·
Anyone can easily verify that the surface of a dark vehicle in the sun gets burn-your-hand hot, while a white car remains relatively cool to the touch.

But, black also re-radiates heat the fastest, and white the slowest. So white looses less heat in the cold, keeping you a bit warmer.
 
#36 ·
A couple observations: The product is first rate. The fit and finish are excellent, the instructions are clear and installation was a snap.

It was 63 degrees here today so I can't comment to the extent that these are sufficient for temperature insulation and since we only average two weeks a year over 90 here, it didn't really matter to me anyway.

A quick test drive revealed a noticeable improvement acoustically. The Inifinity's bottom end finally woke up and road noise took a nice step back.

This is one of those products, like the dead pedal, that feels like it should come installed from the factory that way.
 
#46 ·
My guess - and just a guess - is that the sides are the tougher ones to get in. With the super-sticky-ness of the 3M tape, maybe just being slightly off with them would increase tearing or crookedness of the tape. With the Velcro if it isn't perfect you can re-apply the panel to get it perfectly centered. The top pieces are easier and more direct.

In any case just opened up the goods. First off this thing is well packed. Taped, wrapped, taped again. Really excellent package prep. The cardboard box is very thick and really protects the goods.

I got the removable top panels installed. Was a breeze and they fit right in nicely. Im not doing the hard top pieces as it is hanging in the garage right now. I want to be able to apply good pressure to the tape. I'll drop it down on a platform and get underneath it to install the tops and sides.

I took pictures but my stupid phone was out of memory and they were not captured...:banghead:
 
#48 ·
I fitted mine early this morning while the temp was still around 70F. I have a full set for my 4-door, velcro all round.

I installed the side panels first and they were probably the easiest to line up as they fit very snugly around the window. I removed the backing tape from the velcro after I had the panels approximately in place so I wouldn't risk sticking the adhesive to the side as I fed the panels behind the roll bar. Of course, for the other panels I had to remove all the backing tape before positioning them.

I chose velcro because I thought that if I damage the headliners when taking the top off or putting it back on, they would be easier to replace. The headliners are very well made and seem quite robust - but I can be quite clumsy!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top