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Old 03-05-2016, 04:12 PM   #1
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Towing a Jeep Wrangler

New Class A and I'm gonna be towing my Jeep Wrangler as my toad.....got a question to open up the discussion regarding which top to have on the jeep. I want the soft top, as we will be in the warm areas of the country most of the time but my wife has brought up the security issue. Especially with the braking system and some gear packed in the toad as we travel so she is more wanting the hard top......what do you guys think? I'd like to hear what you all think regarding this topic. Thanks in advance regarding your thoughts
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Old 03-05-2016, 04:18 PM   #2
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If your hard top has the removable panels I would go with the hard top.
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Old 03-05-2016, 04:29 PM   #3
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It does have the removable panels.....
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Old 03-05-2016, 05:15 PM   #4
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Have the hardtop and we love it.
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Old 03-05-2016, 05:23 PM   #5
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Had both

Our '97 Wrangler had the soft top and the '15 JKU has the hard top.
Soft top was louder at highway speeds, but was light. We never had any thefts due to the soft top, but never folded it down either.
The hard top is in three pieces and you can remove the freedom top, similar to T-tops, the rear section can be removed or all of it can be removed, very versatile. The hard top is far quieter and more secure, but a good bit heavier that the soft top.

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Old 03-05-2016, 05:30 PM   #6
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Our last Jeep had a soft top, when it got wrecked I had to buy a replacement in a hurry. I wish I had the soft top back. It was so easy to flip the front half of the top back in minutes and not have to find a place to store the removable panels. Those panels are much shorter than the area exposed by flipping the front of the soft top back too.

I had a commercially available drawer/box bolted to the floor behind the rear seat in our Unlimited 4 door. It was rugged steel and anything in it could only be accessed by pulling the drawer out the back. While it had a lock on it, locked or not, anything inside was not accessible if the rear door was locked.

This is just one resource Tuffy cargo security drawer

For what it's worth. We had to use a crow bar to get the rear door of our wrecked Wrangler open so I could access the stuff we had stored in that drawer. We'd been rear ended by some idiot woman doing 50 as she approached me; I was stopped at a red light. The frame rail on the drivers side was bent down at 90 degrees. Once we got that rear door open, the Tuffy drawer simply opened right up without a lick of resistance.
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Old 03-05-2016, 05:39 PM   #7
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I have the Tuffy locking drawer in mine and it is or appears very secure but won't hold large items like a braking system.
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Old 03-05-2016, 05:58 PM   #8
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Check out stuffy security drawers. Get a braking system that installs under the hood.

That said, I am a hardtop jeep guy. Quieter, warmer, colder, more secure.
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Old 03-05-2016, 07:00 PM   #9
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It is interesting to hear the thoughts and experiences from everyone. Appreciate the feedback
Keep it coming!!!!
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Old 03-05-2016, 07:17 PM   #10
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I have a Freedom hard top with the removable sections over the drivers and passengers seats and remove the sections a lot when I am on vacation. I try not take them out when I will be doing a lot of stops as I am concerned about items left in the jeep as someone can reach in through the top. I have both under the drivers and passengers seats Bestop lockable storage boxes Robot Check The boxes come in handy for storing keys, wallets, etc. or things I bought at the last tourist site. Perhaps from being on the job for too many years I look at an out of state registered vehicle with an open soft top in a tourist area as a target for those so inclined to steal things.
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Old 03-05-2016, 07:18 PM   #11
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We have the hardtop on our Wrangler toad. You always end up with stowing stuff in the Jeep when moving, so I like the added security. Also we live in the Pacific Northwest so we get a fair amount of rain. If you really want a soft top, its pretty easy to unbolt the hardtop and a couple of guys can lift it off. Pickup a used soft top and you are good to go.
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Old 03-05-2016, 10:15 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBelchers View Post
New Class A and I'm gonna be towing my Jeep Wrangler as my toad.....got a question to open up the discussion regarding which top to have on the jeep. I want the soft top, as we will be in the warm areas of the country most of the time but my wife has brought up the security issue. Especially with the braking system and some gear packed in the toad as we travel so she is more wanting the hard top......what do you guys think? I'd like to hear what you all think regarding this topic. Thanks in advance regarding your thoughts
The Belchers,
You don't say what year your Wrangler is. The "TJ" model has a one piece hard top that, is phenomenally more secure than any soft top ever built for it. Even a dull pocket knife can provide entry into a soft top in a matter of seconds. And, while the soft top is a tad lighter, the logistics needed to enter the back of the Jeep is way more of a pain in the a$$ with a soft top than a hard top. On a hard top TJ, all that's needed is, open the tail gate and, the back-glass pops up and, you're in.

I cannot speak for any model of the JK. Never owned one. I see that there is sections that can be moved or, removed on some. Maybe some day. I'm actually a "No top" kind of guy. I like the way a Jeep feels in driving and handling when the top is off and the doors are off. To me, it feels like a big go-kart.

But, it's not always practical to have the top off. Too hot and, you need A/C. Too cold and, you need HEAT. Pretty tough to corral either of those conditions when the top is off.

But for the time when the hard top is on, I just made our life easier. I just installed POWER DOOR LOCKS and, POWER WINDOWS, in our TJ. Talk about way cool stuff. Anyway, for security concerns, a hard top is the only way to go, in my opinion. Good luck.
Scott
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Old 03-06-2016, 06:07 AM   #13
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We have a 2009 JK. When we bought it it came with a soft top. We never had any issues. Last winter I finally bit the bullet and got a hard top for it being the wife drives it in the winter. I plan to pull it back off before summer to curb the weight a bit for towing. I wouldn't worry on either
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Old 03-07-2016, 09:36 AM   #14
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You can always get the dual top package.

We had a 95 YJ that had the soft top. It was like driving a pup tent down the road. A friend had a newer JK 2door with a soft top, not as noisy as the YJ, but still very noisy on the road.

Our '15 JKU has the hardtop. I added the Mopar top liners for a little insulation and noise reduction. It's almost as quiet as the wife's CrV, but lots more fun to drive.
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