So I'm looking into either going with a Toplift or selling my hardtop to go with the trek top. Jeep stays in the garage at night when I'm not at work so I don't really have to worry about theft or a possible rain storm. I know it's a million dollar question but, do you think it would be worth to get rid of my hardtop for a soft top or better to get the lift to take it off by myself and just keep the hardtop. I would certainly opt for the twill over standard as it's just a nicer product. Also what do you think a hardtop would be worth? It's pretty much mint condition. No scratches or chips. Never been off Jeep other than the freedom panels.
blackwidow05
Should I stick with hardtop or go soft top
I guess it depends on where you are located.
i personally do not like the soft top in the winter because I am constantly in the back.
The plastic is a PITA.
Have you considered the throwback for hardtop?
i personally do not like the soft top in the winter because I am constantly in the back.
The plastic is a PITA.
Have you considered the throwback for hardtop?
I have both. Use the hardtop in the winter and soft in the summer. Even with a lift, routinely taking the hard on and off is a pain and if you’re out without the top and a thunderstorm develops, you’re screwed. If I could only have one, I would chose the soft, but would hate to lose the convenience of the glass in the winter. I would also only go with the MOPAR soft top. I helped someone install a trektop and feel it is much less user friendly than the factory top.
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I also use the hardtop during the winter months and leave it hanging in the garage all summer. I agree if I could only have one it would be my Bestop soft top. I love the convenience of flipping it up or down as needed
If you have the means to store the hardtop for the summer, why not both? Mine is suspended from the ceiling in the garage all summer. But I can't imagine keeping the soft top on all winter. Anything taller than the tailgate needs the window to be zipped open. Which is a pain even in the summer.
But we get actual winter here - snow, ice, slush, salt, cold. Sometimes even rain, which then freezes and melts. I have a hard enough time keeping my vinyl windows clean in the summer.
But we get actual winter here - snow, ice, slush, salt, cold. Sometimes even rain, which then freezes and melts. I have a hard enough time keeping my vinyl windows clean in the summer.
On what Jeep? According to your profile you have a 2 door.
While N. Texas has some cold weather, it doesn't generally have to deal with ice and snow on a regular basis. I lived in Dalls for about 5 years and I think there was only one snowfall that lasted more than overnight. Never had to scrape windows.
The Trektop has the feature that with the rear and side windows out, you are fairly open and if you flip the Sunrider back you are almost topless with just a little of the top at the back.
Here is my TJ with the Trektop, doors and windows off and Sunrider flipped back Hard to get more open.
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Access to the back is not that bad. On the factory soft tops, the rear window zipper goes up around a corner then across around another corner and down. Going around the corners, one needs to be careful. On the Trektop, it has two zippers that unzip going from the bottom to the top. The top of the window slide on in a channel. I just unzip the window almost to the top, release the tailgate bar and flip it up. Granted it's not as convenient as just raising the rear window on a hard top. As you can see from the photo, I actually have both.
While N. Texas has some cold weather, it doesn't generally have to deal with ice and snow on a regular basis. I lived in Dalls for about 5 years and I think there was only one snowfall that lasted more than overnight. Never had to scrape windows.
The Trektop has the feature that with the rear and side windows out, you are fairly open and if you flip the Sunrider back you are almost topless with just a little of the top at the back.
Here is my TJ with the Trektop, doors and windows off and Sunrider flipped back Hard to get more open.
Access to the back is not that bad. On the factory soft tops, the rear window zipper goes up around a corner then across around another corner and down. Going around the corners, one needs to be careful. On the Trektop, it has two zippers that unzip going from the bottom to the top. The top of the window slide on in a channel. I just unzip the window almost to the top, release the tailgate bar and flip it up. Granted it's not as convenient as just raising the rear window on a hard top. As you can see from the photo, I actually have both.
I think that if you are asking, you already know the answer. Go soft top. You haven't gone to the effort to so much as take the HT off with a buddy even once. I don't think you will hoist it off much. I would argue that the soft top will, long term, net you more joy than the hardtop. Every fun vehicle is more fun with the top back.
Keeping the hard top for winter isn't the worst idea though, if you have a space for it. If not, trade it for a soft top.
Keeping the hard top for winter isn't the worst idea though, if you have a space for it. If not, trade it for a soft top.
IM STAYING SOFT TOP . MINES NOISY BI LIKE IT BETTER THEN THE HARDTOP . LIKE SAID EARLIER WHEN YOUR OUT AN A STORM BLOWS IN . SOFT TOP ALL THE WAY
I use the soft in the Summer and hard in the Winter. There are pros/cons on both tops. The hard is a lot quieter and it's easier to get into the rear, but in reality it is not a soft top which can come off/on at the drop of a hat. It's a pain to take this thing off, even with a lift. Unlike a soft top, when you are out on the road, the hard top is at home, which means you are screwed when it rains. The soft top is always with you and can go up in less than a minute when the rain comes.
We have pretty long and cold Winters here in the North which is why I run a hard top in the Winter, but if I was located in the South with mild Winters, I would probably just get rid of the hard top and go soft all the way.
We have pretty long and cold Winters here in the North which is why I run a hard top in the Winter, but if I was located in the South with mild Winters, I would probably just get rid of the hard top and go soft all the way.
I've bought two Mopar soft tops (with all the hardware) on FBM for around $100 each, one for my dad's Jeep and one for mine. Try and find a hard top for that. I wouldn't sell my hard top to save my life. I own and store both, Hard top for winter and soft top for summer.
I bought my JKU with the hard top and run it in the winter. I bought a dual top soft top off craigslist and only run it in the summer. Honestly, the only reason I run the soft top is because of the fact that I would absolutely cause damage where I offroad. With the soft top, it's much easier to get it out of the way and the point where the tree's going to even touch it is maybe an inch farther away than with the hard top.
If I didn't offroad, I'd run the hard top all year and sell off the soft top.
If I didn't offroad, I'd run the hard top all year and sell off the soft top.
If I absolutely HAD to go with only one I'd do that Bestop with the glass windows and the rear window that flips up (Hybrid?)
For me though, hardtop on hoist all summer then swap out the soft top about Halloween, back again to softop in March or April. It takes me well under one hour to switch between tops. For tight trails and iffy rocks I would never run the hardtop but for road trips and snowstorms and really cold spells, the hardtop is so much better.
For me though, hardtop on hoist all summer then swap out the soft top about Halloween, back again to softop in March or April. It takes me well under one hour to switch between tops. For tight trails and iffy rocks I would never run the hardtop but for road trips and snowstorms and really cold spells, the hardtop is so much better.
Well you get the best of both worlds if you go with the Bestop Trektop Pro Hybrid Slantback. You get a soft top with side sliding glass windows and rear flip up glass. Flip the Sunrider open, open the sliding glass windows and you have zero buffeting inside the cab. Remove the rear and side windows, takes about 10 minutes and you have a bikini top and still are able to flip the Sunrider open. Bestop makes Window Storage Portfolio to carry and stow the glass. It does take a bit of pre-planning to go totally naked and I have done it many times but to be honest just flipping the Sunrider back gives you the same feeling and you get a sudden rain it is quick to button it up. I have had this top in every type of weather and would not have it any other way.
Just to join the chorus I do both.
Hardtop for ~Nov-March give or take. It's quiet if I use it on the highway, warm, comfy, super convenient shopping or hauling stuff. Then in the spring I hoist it to the ceiling (over top of the garage door and leave it there till late fall).
Trektop NX Glide frameless sister softop the rest of the year. Actually I run it like a bikini top through most of summer for the shade, leaving the back windows out for breeze and enjoyment.
But I can flip the whole thing open in seconds, hit two more levers and pivot back to the cargo area in a few seconds more, or pull two spring loaded pins after pivoting and lift the whole thing off. That's about 60-120 seconds to remove it if the windows were out.
I can also say that my wife and I can close it and install all three back windows, at ~5:30 in the morning, in our underwear, in about 5 minutes or less if a thunderstorm is barreling down the OBX coast threatening to drown it.
Comes in different colors too, I chose tan to go with the leather and trim pieces.
That said the softop is louder on the highway. Even though it's not bad, it's nice to have the hardtop option.
![Image]()
Hardtop for ~Nov-March give or take. It's quiet if I use it on the highway, warm, comfy, super convenient shopping or hauling stuff. Then in the spring I hoist it to the ceiling (over top of the garage door and leave it there till late fall).
Trektop NX Glide frameless sister softop the rest of the year. Actually I run it like a bikini top through most of summer for the shade, leaving the back windows out for breeze and enjoyment.
But I can flip the whole thing open in seconds, hit two more levers and pivot back to the cargo area in a few seconds more, or pull two spring loaded pins after pivoting and lift the whole thing off. That's about 60-120 seconds to remove it if the windows were out.
I can also say that my wife and I can close it and install all three back windows, at ~5:30 in the morning, in our underwear, in about 5 minutes or less if a thunderstorm is barreling down the OBX coast threatening to drown it.
Comes in different colors too, I chose tan to go with the leather and trim pieces.
That said the softop is louder on the highway. Even though it's not bad, it's nice to have the hardtop option.
Top Lift Pro offers $200 off this weekend. That’s how we got ours last year. It’s close enough to the used resale value that the cost to own it are reasonable if you buy on Black Friday weekend. It’s tougher to rationalize at full price.
We had the hard top off from April through October and just ran with a mesh cover, but are retired so don’t have to deal with rain. We might get a soft top next spring.
We had the hard top off from April through October and just ran with a mesh cover, but are retired so don’t have to deal with rain. We might get a soft top next spring.
For any who are going to buy a full soft top off of a local market place from someone who bought a dual top Jeep and don't want to deal with a soft top, the bracket that the soft top attaches to the Jeep at the vertical pillar comes installed from the factory. Very rarely does anyone ever remove them. So you will need to source that bracket and screws and install them your self.
Even some who have changed soft tops still have the brackets. The original factory brackets are still on my TJ as I went from a factory square back top to a Trektop NX which does not use them.
Even some who have changed soft tops still have the brackets. The original factory brackets are still on my TJ as I went from a factory square back top to a Trektop NX which does not use them.
FWIW, I live in NH and only have a soft top only. Jeep is garaged unless I'm at work (if I ever go back into the office lol) or out doing errands. I have a 4 door Sahara and the hard top was just too much of a PITA for me to want to deal with 
My wife and I rolled the Jeep a year ago and totaled the hard top with numerous cracks and broken side glass. People suggested getting a soft top which we did. Getting the hard top replaced during Covid supply delays and the first body shop didn’t order the hard top like they said they did so we had lots of time to think about it. I live in SE Texas so cold and snow isn’t an issue. Our hard top came from the factory with headliners so it was quiet. The replacement was going to be $4000 painted plus the headliner which was a $500 option on the window sticker when new. The first thing I noticed with the soft top was outside noises and sounds more noticeable, but not wind noise so much until highway speeds. Highway noise above 70 mph definitely more. Noise from other vehicles nearby more noticeable. It feels more like a Jeep now and I like being able to open up or close the top in a minute or two. We got the Bestop Supertop Ultra, on our 2016 JKU. Very happy with it so far. We didn’t have anyplace to store the hardtop so we never took it off. Freedom panels only a few times off. Soft top open more times than I can count after a few months. Taking the rear and side windows off (to put the top fully down) storing, and replacing is more effort than I expected but not too bad, about the same effort as the freedom panels. Opening the rear isn’t difficult with velcro and zippers on each side, just unzip and flip it up onto the roof for rear access. This is not the slanted rear top because I did not want to reduce space for gear. Part of the decision to go with soft top included adding a roll cage, locking Tuffy rear enclosure, and alarm. Rock Hard roll cage and Viper alarm. Added a J-Tops USA titanium mesh sunshade a couple weeks ago which stays on under the soft top and is really nice to reduce the wind and overhead sun brightness, but still see everything above. It also seems to reduce false alarms from the Viper when raining. The Tuffy enclosure makes a great shelf in the back to replace the Teraflex shelf we had with the hard top with secure storage below, large enough for a Dometic fridge on one side.
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Wow, I'm a bit surprised that when you rolled the Jeep it didn't get totaled. Glad you, the missus and the Jeep are OK.
After getting a soft top, I much prefer it to the hard top. However, I live in an area where it goes below freezing for about 4 months of the year, so a hardtop is necessary. Most people that run soft tops year round in my area complain about the side windows cracking from the cold, and the lack of heat insulation from the soft top. If I lived somewhere warmer, where it rarely/never goes below freezing, I would not think twice about having only a soft top. To the hard top's credit, it is a bit quieter inside and is better for security and storage.
I sold my 2016 hard top on Facebook last year for $1500. It was in really good condition and sold in 2 days. Kinda wondering if I should've asked more for it.
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