Jeep Wrangler Soft Top Removal

Removing the soft top of your jeep wrangler has never been easy. Keep reading to learn more about achieving the task in 5 seamless steps!

There are many reasons why people love jeep soft tops. It’s really nice to unzip the top and enjoy some open air while on the road, and in addition to that, the soft top is still sturdy enough to protect people in the vehicle from strong winds or other weather inconveniences. In short, a soft top is really what makes a wrangler truly “quintessential” for most users! Some prefer to install a hardtop, but they might actually end up losing a lot of that charm, and flexibility that they could otherwise achieve.

Why would you want to remove your soft top in the first place?

Having said that, there are actually many reasons why jeep wrangler owners might actually want to remove soft tops and replace them for hardtops. For instance, some people feel that the hardtops might provide better safety and protection against theft, as soft tops might be easier to break in.

However, one of the most common reasons why people seek to remove their soft tops is to prepare their vehicles to the harshness of the winter months. As you may know, extreme weather or a really cold winter season might actually not go hand in hand with a soft top. The soft top might allow a lot of cold to creep in, as well as potentially build up a lot of ice and snow on top of it, which could damage it quite a lot.

Then again, some people simply prefer the sense of adventure that comes from not having a top at all. This is a great thing to do especially during the summer, as people can enjoy the breeze during a hot day.

How to Remove Jeep Wrangler Soft Top?

In order to protect the health and status of their vehicles, many owners prefer to switch from soft to the hard top during the colder days of the year. The good news is, taking off the soft top of your jeep wrangler is actually quite easy, and you should definitely be able to perform this operation very seamlessly if you follow the following easy steps and tips.

Step 1: The first thing that you’ll need to do is to remove the sun visors. This will enable you to reach the header latches of the soft top. Make sure you release them but don’t unhook them right away!

You’ll find some sail panels on the body channel: pull the first three inches of such panels, simply by opening up the swing gate. You should do this on both sides, and in most cases, it should be really easy to do. If you experience some resistance, you can actually loosen them, by pulling down on the three bows.

Step 2: Taking off the rear window retainer is very easy. You can do so from the swing gate bar brackets, as well as unzipping the window from the passenger side first.

Step 3: By this point, you should remove the swing gate bar, as well as the window as a whole. This can be done quite easily, by twisting and pulling away from the swing gate bar brackets. Once you’ve completed the previous step, you can focus on the side panel windows. Removing them is as easy as releasing the special velcro flaps, and unzipping the window. This should enable you to release the top by the side of the body, and even the door rail retainers. The process applies to both sides of the car and it’s virtually identical for each.

Step 4: Now, you will need to unfold the rear sail panel retainers, so that you can fold the sail panel right on the roof to the jeep. You can then pull the drip rain retainers so they slide away from the frame of the door, with the sleeves also sliding back right over the links.

Step 5: No worries, we’re almost at the finish line! At this point, you will be left with the task of unfastening the side bows, which are located on the rails on the door. You can easily do this by pushing down on the latch pedal, which you will find right behind.

From the side box that’s right after the header, you can pull the top towards the back of the vehicle. This can be a bit tricky, but it’s doable on your own! However, a helping hand from a friend can make the job a lot smoother, and more importantly, faster.

Once you were able to undo the soft top, it’s important to store everything as neatly as possible: you want the top to stay in great shape, so it’s going to be ready for use the next time that you are going to need it!

As you can see, Jeep Wrangler Soft Top Removal is actually quite a simple process, and there is really not much to it, other than following the process the right way. In addition to following the previously described steps, it’s really important to remember a few basic key principles.

Stay organized and take care of the components of your soft top, in order to prevent issues and possible damage.

When removing your soft top, make sure you take the time to understand the process step by step, so you don’t risk making the whole thing more clumsy and complicated. Also, if you take the time to get organized, you’ll also lower the risk of damage and issues. If you don’t store the components of your soft top safely, they can actually get all crinkled up, or even scratched. Make sure you take care of each component carefully, so you can enjoy a really good performance for many years to come. Remember that a scratched-out, stretchy top can become really unreliable over the years.

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Don’t force things into place.

If you keep pulling and pulling, or twisting and stretching, but to no avail, it might be time to stop. Removing a soft top requires a bit of patience, and some people might actually do some damage by trying to rush through the process and simply pulling away at things. Make sure you don’t subject your soft top to too much strength. If something just doesn’t seem to be willing to come off, don’t blunt-force it. Instead, take a step back and think: are you doing something wrong? Are you forgetting something? You can also take to the internet and consult guides, articles such as this one, as well as opinions from friends and other jeep wrangler enthusiasts from all across the world wide web.

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Get someone to help you!

Removing or switching your top can truly help you enjoy your jeep wrangler in many different ways, so don’t pass up on the opportunity and don’t be too intimidated by this particular process!

As I’ve mentioned earlier, you can probably tackle this project on your own. However, the whole thing will be much easier and much more pleasant if you are actually able to get a friend or family member to help you out!

That finishes our article for today. We hope it was helpful and informative, please reach out if you find something you believe should be corrected. Thank you for stopping by our website and have a great day!

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