Introduction and question seeking an upgrade I can't find.

[flatfive]

I have a 2022 Willys Gladiator and I am absolutely loving it. My very first vehicle in 1977 was a 1966 Kaiser CJ-5 with a V6 (first year for a V6), 486 rear, vacuum wipers, 81" wheelbase (shortest a CJ-5 ever had I believe), and the 7-gallon gas tank was right under the driver's seat, as in where you would otherwise stuff an empty McDonald's bag. My fuel gauge was busted, but I could yank the wheel a bit to make the gas slosh around, and hear how much was in there. I also recall that in the rain, if I'd step on the gas, the wipers would slow nearly to a stop due to the vacuum loss. Anyone my age will remember that back then "snow mags" were popular and that's what I had to have.

Jeeps have come a long way since then, and I'm impressed they have kept the things that make a Jeep a Jeep — removable everything, modular design, unfussy interior (no leather seats for this guy), and they even kept the fold-down windshield. The only cool thing my '66 had that has gone by the wayside was a split windshield, where in addition to folding the entire thing down, you could also swing either side up and out like a visor with the top still on.

I take the doors of the Gladiator off and on quite a bit, which is pretty quick (I leave the lower threaded pins off permanently) but I hate those flimsy access panels for the wiring harnesses! They are both under-engineered and over-engineered at the same time. Over-engineered in the sense that there are too many tabs and alignment points for a simple little panel, and under-engineered in terms of rigidness and ease of use. The plastic should be heavier gauge and should operate more like the battery covers of portable electronics. Jeep is doing okay if the only things I've found to whine about are little things like this, but I'd love to know if there is any heavy duty upgrade for these pillar covers and access panels.

I also take the hardtop off by myself, and I'm working on making a tool that gives me better leverage and something to grab to pick it up and walk it off. Right now, I get in the bed, and with the center window open, I can get a hand in the window and the other on the front leading edge, but it's awkward as hell and I gave it a nice white scar when it got away from me the first time I did it. What's a Jeep without a few wounds I guess.

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[sharpsicle]

As for the door connector access panels, you'll find they become a lot easier and more intuitive the more you interact with them. I'll admit they seem burdensome the first few times you go to take the doors off or on, but that will quickly fade. I thought the same thing when I first got the truck, but not in the least now. In fact, I've grown to appreciate how they work. They go straight on or off. I found most of my troubles were due to me not respecting that fact and trying to remove or replace them like they were a 'door' style panel. They're not, and once I got used to that they became extremely easy to use and understand.

For hardtop removal, there are tons, tons, tons of options out there from garage-mounted hoist systems to 'cherry-picker' style crane systems to 'I can take it off myself and place it on a cart' ideas. The trick is just to decide which option fits your use case best. If I had a hardtop, I'd go with the garage mounted hoist as that's where I'd keep the top. Others get the best mileage out of the cart solutions where they take it all off manually and place it on a cart where all 4 doors and the top can go on it, and then get moved around. In the end there are too many threads and product to list here, so a good Google search is going to be your best friend on the top removal side of things.

Glad to hear you're loving the new truck, and welcome to the forum!

 

[GOCAMPN]

Not too sure about the little plastic panels, they sure are easy to get kicked out by a rear passenger though. For your top though, they do make a few different options to help. Some mount to your ceiling and hoist the top up or something like this that you slide underneath and leverage it up yourself:

Jeep Hardtop Removal Tool | Jeep Hardtop Storage Hoist (topliftpros.com)

 

[flatfive]

As for the door connector access panels, you'll find they become a lot easier and more intuitive the more you interact with them. I'll admit they seem burdensome the first few times you go to take the doors off or on, but that will quickly fade. I thought the same thing when I first got the truck, but not in the least now. In fact, I've grown to appreciate how they work. They go straight on or off. I found most of my troubles were due to me not respecting that fact and trying to remove or replace them like they were a 'door' style panel. They're not, and once I got used to that they became extremely easy to use and understand.

For hardtop removal, there are tons, tons, tons of options out there from garage-mounted hoist systems to 'cherry-picker' style crane systems to 'I can take it off myself and place it on a cart' ideas. The trick is just to decide which option fits your use case best. If I had a hardtop, I'd go with the garage mounted hoist as that's where I'd keep the top. Others get the best mileage out of the cart solutions where they take it all off manually and place it on a cart where all 4 doors and the top can go on it, and then get moved around. In the end there are too many threads and product to list here, so a good Google search is going to be your best friend on the top removal side of things.

Glad to hear you're loving the new truck, and welcome to the forum!

Thanks for the welcome! I'll take your advice and give it some time. It's the rear ones I find annoying, but maybe I'll get used to them.

 

[NachoRuby]

I find that getting the hard top off is easy. But getting it back on is a little less easy. I'm trying to get better at the reinstall. Part of it might be that I'm a little taller now, with 35's and a spacer lift.

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