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Soft top in winter

5K views 30 replies 26 participants last post by  .mll. 
#1 ·
I live in the northeast how many of you guys run your TJ in the winter with just the soft top and heater and is it comfortable tempeture wise
 
#3 ·
If your heater is working properly it will kick out some serious heat. I've run a soft top year round for a long time and was never cold. I've only switched to a hardtop recently and it's only because my soft top was disintegrating and leaking.

If your heater isn't getting as hot as you think it should be you might need to flush the heater core. When the engine temp comes up both heater lines should be hot and the same temp. If one is colder than the other you'll want to flush it. Flushing the core is easy and will make a big difference if you're heater isn't blowing hot.

Let me know if you have any questions at all!

-Ryan
 
#4 ·
Since TJ's have great heaters, Soft tops are just fine in the winter. The biggest issue is that when the soft top windows get snow and ice on them, they get pretty scraped up when you try to clean the frozen crap off if you are in a hurry and don't give the heater a chance to melt.
 
#5 ·
When I owned my 2003 TJ, and used it up in our mountains in Arizona, mid-winter, below zero temps and with a soft top. The heater was just awesome!!!!!! I was never cold riding in it.

Both heaters and A/C units on our Wranglers, are one of their strongest attributes..IMO
 
#6 ·
I'm up in NH and I'll start it 10-15 minutes before I have to leave to go to school and by the time I get in the engine is up to temp and I turn on the heat on the second speed and five minutes later I'm nice and toasty. These heaters are great! Not sure I'll ever have to get a hardtop.
 
#9 ·
Soft top only in Chicagoland, with the exception of last year. I had a hard top and wasn't all that impressed with it, except for glass that I could scrape, vs just melting the snow off with the heater.

Soft top again this year, and not concerned in the least.
 
#10 ·
I'm in the south, but I have a soft top.

My Sahara has a super luxury item on it. A heated shifter knob. That little S.O.B. keeps my hand nice and warm. It already does at 4 am in the 40s with me running my Jeep naked.

By the way, my heated shifter knob is due to the tear in the boot. Hot air pretty much pumps out of that thing and makes the knob warm. I bought a replacement, but I'm actually hesitating replacing it until after winter.
 
#11 ·
Softop year 'round in CT here! :wavey:

When the weather turns snotty, icy, snowy, et c. I throw a 10'x12' tarp over the top, mirrors and windows, and bungee it in place. It makes clean up easy-peasy, and no need to defrost the windows. No more frozen doors or locks either. However, it can be challenging to put it on when it's breezy! :D

YMMV, and invariably will...
 
#13 ·
Soft top only and no issues at all - even when there is 2 feet of snow piled on top.
 
#14 ·
I'm in north jersey and ran last year with the soft top. Was very tolerable. Start it up about 10-15 (or if it is really cold 20 minutes) before you leave. This is what I do and it gets very toasty. Sometimes I have to crack the window open a little bit because it gets so hot. If it snows the night before (or if it snows in general) I usually let me jeep run for the amount of time I'm shoveling my small driveway and by the time I am done most of the snow/ice has melted off the Windows
 
#17 ·
x2 coat with a good rust inhibitor and oil it annually!

But back on topic, I run a hard top in the winter but I feel like I wouldn't be hurting with a soft top. Year round' I never notice any real temperature difference between the two tops. As stated before; our TJ heaters are beasts and the fabric retains heat well.
The only real concern about soft tops in the winter is how brittle the windows get in bellow-freezing temperatures. Can't scrape em', and you have to be gentle with them in general or else I heard you can crack them.
 
#19 ·
Better quality soft tops will hold up better in extreme temperatures too, keep in mind. Rocked my soft top the last two winters (harshest in recent Michigan history), it did just fine, except my head gets cold on drives north at night.

I like taking it to the quarter car wash and rinsing the salt off the top in an attempt to slow down aging of the material.
 
#24 ·
I have both tops and the soft top is just fine in winter here in NY. However, I enjoy the advantages of the hard top in the winter: Quieter, rear defrost, rear wiper and washer, and most of all...crystal clear glass windows. As for heat and comfort both work well.
 
#28 · (Edited)
Mine came with a hard top only. I found a factory soft top just after I bought it, and rarely use the hard top. Maybe a month or two each year, sometimes not at all. It depends if we are having a bad snow winter or not.

Getting into the back is an inconvenience of a soft top. I keep the zippers lubed and unzip each side up to the corners. Set the tailgate bar on top for open access. It's more work messing with the tailgate bar and tabs than popping open a hatch, but I still prefer my soft top. It's a Jeep! Heat and staying warm is a non issue.

One thing I will mention is that because I run a Safari top all summer, and the hard top during harsh winter months, my original soft top is still in excellent condition, zippers and all.

If you have room to store a hardtop, and can find one that's not a million dollars, it may be worth it.
All it takes is one dirt bag, with no respect for other people's property, to whack a frozen soft top window with a stick or something, and crack it wide open.
 
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