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Should I order half doors?

7K views 53 replies 30 participants last post by  Zhillslady 
#1 ·
I love the look of half doors and am strongly considering them, but I’m a bit worried since I live in Florida and it rains suddenly without warning. Plus in the summer, it’s also very hot.

If you opted for half doors when purchasing your jeep, would you do it again?

What’s the worst thing about them?

What’s your favorite thing about them?

Did you buy a different top?

Thanks everyone, really appreciate any insight you can offer!

Lastly, if you switched back to regular doors, what did that cost you?
 
#2 ·
I don't live in florida, but I really wish I had half doors. I would run them from spring to fall.

I spend most of the summer doorless, and have found out that I really don't get wet when it's raining and I'm without doors. If you're worried about it, just get a set of soft uppers and keep them in the trunk of you get caught in one of those fl afternoon monsoons.
 
#3 ·
I found an "in-transit" Jeep with half doors and jumped on it immediately. The sales girl told me after I bought it that as soon as I put my deposit down she had half a dozen others trying to buy it out from under me.

So far, I've had it a month and have driven it once with the uppers in. The kids love it. The wife doesn't like the noise. :) No way I would go back.

The worst thing about them is that it takes about 10 seconds per door to remove the uppers. Of course the soft windows are weak on security but no easier to get in than the side or rear.

One of the side benefits of half doors is that it eliminates all the electronic garbage associated with power locks and windows. I bought a hard top to go with the standard soft top but it is sitting in the barn until wintertime.

Lastly, didn't switch back. Don't ever intend to.
 
#4 ·
For warm weather, I LOVE my lower half doors, the upper plastic windows, not so much. I only install them when it's going to rain, otherwise the uppers are off stored in my garage or in the cargo bag in the back of the jeep.
The one thing I HATE about the upper windows is that when you zip them open, the flap like crazy, so on the highway, you need to keep them closed and turn on the A/C on a hot day, which might be your case in florida.

I know it's not your case, but for winter, I will LOVE my full doors and woould not care to deal with the half doors in the Michigan winter.
 
#6 · (Edited)
IMO, if you have to ask, then half doors are probably not for you. No offense but many people don't like the austere nature of the "classic" doors. They aren't for everyone and for "the look" you have to give up a few things:

  • No power mirrors
  • No power windows
  • No power locks
The plastic windows require special attention to keep clean and serviceable. The zippers can be a pain to use and sometimes stick.

Okay, all that being said, I think half doors are great! :thumb:

I love the look and wouldn't want a Jeep with anything other. Across the country from you here in Arizona, I drive topless as much as I can. If I need to put the doors on, they are easier to handle than full doors, both in weight and size. When the uppers are installed properly, they seal well, both for moisture and temperature. If I expect rain, I can stack the uppers on the back seat (yes, its a 4-door) for easy install.

For me the single draw back with JK half doors is that nobody makes sliding upper windows for anything newer than a TJ. I know there are a few companies thinking about it so for now, I'll just keep zipping.
 
#8 ·
Florida here as well... Never really could grasp the need for half doors. I just take the full doors off completely 90% of the time and leave them in the garage. For those small afternoon showers I just pull the top up. Yeah a little rain gets in the sides but not much.
 
#10 ·
I love the look of half doors and the fact that they are about 5" or 6" lower than full door sills is huge.
I just cant get comfortable with driving doorless in urban environment with my kids in the back so I'm actually contemplating spending the ridiculous amount of money jeep/ mopar wants for the oem half doors.
I say go for it, security issues be damned!
And switching back to full doors is probably easy - bet theres someone local who'd swap with you in a heartbeat.
 
#12 ·
I love the look of half doors and the fact that they are about 5" or 6" lower than full door sills is huge.
X2. The open air experience is amazing with half doors (uppers off).
I always get compliments on the half doors.
 
#11 ·
Ill be ordering mine with Half doors, had them on my TJ and loved them. So much lighter than the full doors. Not having a garage it helps to have light doors when removing for me.
 
#13 ·
I love my half-doors...as long as the uppers are off :). When on, they are quite loud due to poor design IMO. The canvas of the window is stretched so that it 'floats' about 1/8-1/4" away from the inside plastic frame. What this means this that they flap up against the plastic making a bit of a racket. I'm thinking that all I need to do is run some trim edge seal around the inside plastic frame. This would put the canvas in contact with a rubber 'bulb' and keep everything quiet. I just wish I could find place locally that sells it so that I could see what size would work the best.

 
#14 ·
I used that cooper pipe insulation they use on water heaters and a/c refrigerant lines.I used the 1/2 pipe size,go it from home depot.You will need 3 lengths at a cost of 5 bucks.That edge seal looks like the seal for the back hatch on a older cherokee.I think crown automotive or omix ida sells it.Good idea.
 
#18 ·
Counterpoint:

There are tons of aftermarket options for 1/2 doors, tube doors, soft doors. But when the weather turns cold or your on a long road trip and want the security, convenience and comfort of full doors, there is only one option: Factory.
 
#20 ·
I have full and half doors, soft and hard tops for my 2015 hard rock. Half doors and soft top for spring and fall, full doors and hard top for summer and winter. The combination cannot be beat in my opinion.

Joe
 
#22 ·
I love the look of half doors and am strongly considering them, but I’m a bit worried since I live in Florida and it rains suddenly without warning. Plus in the summer, it’s also very hot.

If you opted for half doors when purchasing your jeep, would you do it again?

What’s the worst thing about them?

What’s your favorite thing about them?

Did you buy a different top?

Thanks everyone, really appreciate any insight you can offer!

Lastly, if you switched back to regular doors, what did that cost you?
If you opted for half doors when purchasing your jeep, would you do it again?
YES

What’s the worst thing about them?
Inconvenient at drive thru and toll booths, both which I rarely do. If you need power locks and windows your SOL

What’s your favorite thing about them?
Looks better, IMO, with both top down and up. Perfect armrest height. I like being different than 99% of other JK owners.

I'm not all that familiar with Florida monsoon rains, but I've had no issues with mine leaking....well maybe a drop or two during particularly hard thunderstorms, but no more so than with full doors.
 
#39 ·
It's not the entire upper part that's flapping; it's actually rock solid. The canvas is stretched over the outer frame in such a way that it 'floats' about 1/8-1/4" from the inside plastic trim. As such, all it takes is the slightest fluctuation for it to start tapping up against the inside plastic. The simplest fix is 1/2" closed cell pipe insulation as you can run it around the inside plastic edge. I'm looking for something more 'factory' looking and hence my desire to try some edge trim seal with a vertical bulb.
 
#33 ·
I guess I'll throw my two cents in here as well I ordered my jeep with half doors sight unseen and let me say after a year and half I am very happy with my purchase. Very early on I also purchased a set of full doors as well as a hardtop and let me just say I hate both of them and I live in Colorado. I've probably run the full doors for a total of a week in a year and a half the biggest problem I have with full doors is there's no freaking armrest as opposed to the half doors which have a great place to put your arm with or without the uppers on. I also purchased a European style driver side upper which has a smaller opening and a fixed triangular shaped section works much better for drive drive-thrus. And the trick for the noise is to run the HVAC with outside air to create positive air pressure as long as you don't put a light bar on it's perfectly quiet on the highway I have over 26,000 miles on mine I've done quite a lot of highway driving to the tune of 30 miles a day back and forth to work. Really the only downsides I have with the half doors is tree pin striping on the trail especially for me during the winter time otherwise I'm very careful not to scratch the windows up I generally don't un zip them, I usually just remove them if the weather permits. One of the best places to the half doors is there when it comes time to break the Jeep down to go naked when combined with the soft top it's so easy to do and I don't need any help the doors are very manageable they're super Light and the soft top comes off just as easy makes it so much nicer to strip down. And as long as you don't want all the power accessories I highly recommend getting the half doors from the factory full doors are easy to buy used I pick my setup for $1,000 although like I said before I have really not found a need for them and wish I hadn't bought them but live and learn.
 
#34 ·
I had been planning on ordering a Jeep for the past year and a half and getting it with half doors. Went to a dealership to test drive the different transmissions and check out some other options in person. They didn't have one with half doors on the lot, but one of the service guys had them on his personal Jeep and let me go take a look.

It took me about thirty seconds to decide against them.

Mainly, I just can't spend money equal to full doors for the halves. There is just so much less to them! There's no argument that they look better when the top is down. With the top down or off, full doors just look dorky IMO. I'm getting the full doors, and then I'll go with one of the aftermarket half door solutions. They're nowhere near as fleshed out as Mopar halves, but I think I'd be happiest with the fulls and then I can shop for halves later and have both.

Good luck, and enjoy your new Jeep!
 
#46 ·
For the life of me I can't figure out why JK owners are so against the half doors.
Besides these pictures here I have only seen in person 1 (one) JK with half doors ever that I can remember. And I see a lot of Jeeps here in CNJ.
In my Jeep I (i.e. do) would want to remove as much metal to let air circulate, sun shine in, and not look like a lemming.
Hey it's JMO.
 
#47 ·
For the life of me I can't figure out why JK owners are so against the half doors. Besides these pictures here I have only seen in person 1 (one) JK with half doors ever that I can remember. And I see a lot of Jeeps here in CNJ. In my Jeep I (i.e. do) would want to remove as much metal to let air circulate, sun shine in, and not look like a lemming. Hey it's JMO.
it's not Jk owners, it's most wrangler owners, I can't remember seeing a TJ with half doors in recent memory. I think YJ owners were the last ones where half doors outnumbered full doors.
 
#48 ·
It's because with the YJ half doors were standard and full doors were an extra cost. I'm not sure about the TJ. And JK's have to be factory ordered with half doors, and most dealers won't stock them on the lot (I'm not even sure if dealers can order half doors for their inventory).
 
#51 ·
?... JK's have to be factory ordered with half doors, and most dealers won't stock them on the lot (I'm not even sure if dealers can order half doors for their inventory).
This!!!

Oh, and because soccer moms don't want to get their hair messed up when the uppers are off.

Every time I see a Wrangler with full doors, I think:
1. Poor guy (girl).
2. THAT is a missed opportunity.
 
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