$400 for 4 hinges

[Tar Heel Wrangler]

Not interested. Soft top forever. Cheaper and easier.

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[Jeeperjamie]

Why not just take them off and stick them in the bed of the truck. It takes about a minute to do that as well. They ride great back there. This seems pointless or a waste of $400. Not real impressed honestly

 

[sharpsicle]

I totally get the convenience, but it's also going to kill any ability to trade or resell that hard top if you want to later on. Beauty of things like the Sunrider is that they are reversible. For me, the ability to undo whatever I've done is worth it.

This kit requires you to get things perfectly aligned, drill holes, and if you end up being off on those alignments it's going to be all sorts of weird to use. That might be okay for some folks, but for me that's a lot of risk for something I can't undo. On an older Jeep? Sure. But not on ours, not yet anyway.

 

[Sazabi19]

This is pretty cool
$400, isn't too bad a price, especially compared to a Sunrider.

Ya, except this is a couple of hinged pieces of metal and screws... Not to defend the WAY OVERLY-PRICED Sunrider (I'd never have 1), but at least with the Sunriider you get a whole front panel section with your purchase. For this $400 you're providing that yourself.

 

[The Bean]

Ya, except this is a couple of hinged pieces of metal and screws... Not to defend the WAY OVERLY-PRICED Sunrider (I'd never have 1), but at least with the Sunriider you get a whole front panel section with your purchase. For this $400 you're providing that yourself.

Sunrider is an expensive upfront cost yes, but I’ve had mine since Christmas and have used it well over 100 times. With my hardtop panels I took them off maybe 5 times in the span of a year and a half. For me the Sunrider has basically paid for itself.

I get why someone would come up with this type of solution. But there’s no way I’d be drilling holes into my freedom panels. As someone else mentioned if you get the alignment of the hinges off by even a little bit it’s gotta be extremely awkward to use and probably won’t seat right again.

 

[Challenger85]

Drilling holes in my 2K hardtop? No thanks lol.

 

[COmtnbiker]

Why not just take them off and stick them in the bed of the truck. It takes about a minute to do that as well. They ride great back there. This seems pointless or a waste of $400. Not real impressed honestly

How do you keep your panels from moving around?

 

[dcmdon]

I've got some thoughts.

Improvements:

1) locking the hinge doesn't keep the top from bumping. The hinge has very little leverage. You need something at the "front" edge of the top (now the rear most edge) to hold it down.

2) You need some kind of rubber bumpers or stand offs to keep things that shouldn't touch from touching

Questions:

1) what are the hinges made of? How are they coated? Will they rust? Will they produce rusty water that runs down the side of the jeep when it rains.

2) are the attachments just screwed into the fiberglass or are they through bolted? What is the chance they will not work loose if they are just screwed into the fiberglass?

 

[j.o.y.ride]

I don’t want to drill into my roof.

And not just one roof... all panels. Yup this one is a big no from me. The potential for very expensive damage is very high.

 

[jimbom]

It's a novel idea, but executed pretty crudely. Instructions, drawings, etc. are crude as well. Everything needs refining before I drill holes in my roof.

Also, if I understand the installation correctly, the deal breaker for me is that you lose the ability to remove the freedom panels completely. You can ONLY flip them back. Perhaps a solution would be to come up with removable hinge pins, but I do not think what's provided now has that feature.

 

[Jeeperjamie]

How do you keep your panels from moving around?

Put them back to back, front to end, they fit perfect and you can close the bed and they fit perfect against the back of the bed and will not move. I got a bed cover and a bed mat that I made for mine as well, but they wouldn't move before I put the mat in.

 

[jimbom]

Put them back to back, front to end, they fit perfect and you can close the bed and they fit perfect against the back of the bed and will not move. I got a bed cover and a bed mat that I made for mine as well, but they wouldn't move before I put the mat in.

So you don't use the padded case provided for the panels?

 

[Jeeperjamie]

So you don't use the padded case provided for the panels?

No, I either put them in the Garage if I'm taking the whole thing off or I just lay them in the back, they go in perfect and don't move.

 

[j.o.y.ride]

It's a novel idea, but executed pretty crudely. Instructions, drawings, etc. are crude as well. Everything needs refining before I drill holes in my roof.

Also, if I understand the installation correctly, the deal breaker for me is that you lose the ability to remove the freedom panels completely. You can ONLY flip them back. Perhaps a solution would be to come up with removable hinge pins, but I do not think what's provided now has that feature.

Someone who really wanted to drill into their roof for this should be able to find hinges that use a cotter pin, or even a bolt like our doors.

 

[XraytecH]

It's a novel idea, but executed pretty crudely. Instructions, drawings, etc. are crude as well. Everything needs refining before I drill holes in my roof.

Also, if I understand the installation correctly, the deal breaker for me is that you lose the ability to remove the freedom panels completely. You can ONLY flip them back. Perhaps a solution would be to come up with removable hinge pins, but I do not think what's provided now has that feature.

Mad respect to anybody who starts their own business but I agree with you. Great concept needs more refinement and start with the instructions.

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