Parkcitywrangler
Member
- First Name
- Tony
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2019
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- 2
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- Location
- Park City, UT
- Vehicle(s)
- 2003 BMW X5, 2012 Mercedes GL450
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- #1
Hello all and thanks in advance for your patience with my long post and questions. I know the topics of Selec Trac vs. regular 4H (and therefore Sahara/Moab vs. Rubicon) and Sky One Touch Top have been debated endlessly online however I have a very particular set of needs and my research so far has only generated more questions than answers so hoping for some guidance from people who actually have these drivetrains/tops and similar needs. My somewhat unique situation is that I live/work in the Salt Lake City area only part of the year, so I will only be able to use the JL for 4-5 months in the winter for skiing and just a few weeks in the summer/fall for mountain biking, fly fishing and driving on trails (not rock crawling) on public lands. So the key questions are:
1) Do I need Selec Trac for driving to ski resorts on powder days?
2) Which top would be best for my use situation which is mostly winter and a few weeks summer and fall?
Selec Trac vs. 4H
On powder days the main 4 lane highways are mostly plowed and dry. However, as you approach the resorts, they turn into scary, steep, curvy 2 lane roads with occasional patches of slippery drifted snow and packed ice. Think Little Cottonwood Canyon. Or the road to Jackson Hole. You are driving in a long line of cars at 30-40 mph and the road changes from ok to 100 yards of packed snow and ice back to ok again in the blink of an eye. Even the Grand Cherokees I've had before always had "full time" AWD such as Quadra Trac so I've never had to drive on highways in pure 4H. To be clear, I will be investing in true winter tires such as Blizzaks because I've learned my lesson about the importance of those on snow/ice no matter what drivetrain you have.
Since I would never be able to shift in and out of 4H fast enough between patches of snow, can you just leave it in 4H in this situation, or would driving at 30-40MPH in 4H on the dry sections on curvy roads cause wheel hop or damage to the drivetrain as some posts and videos seem to imply, in which case I'd need Selec Trac? Or maybe the issues I've read about with 4H on dry roads are more about sharp left/right turns than curvy 2 lane roads?
My hope is that 4H would work so that would open up more choices for me including the Rubicon which I prefer for completely emotional not rational reasons. My understanding is that Selec Trac has only recently become available on the Wrangler, so 4H must be sufficient for my situation since I have seen many Wranglers in ski parking lots??
The next question is which top for 5 months of heavy winter/snow use and 1 month of summer/fall use for only 2 people (meaning we might want but don't need to have the back of the JL uncovered)?
Option 1 Hard top and soft top.
The ideal would seem to be a hardtop for the winter and a soft top for the summer. However I don't have help to remove/reinstall the hard top, I don't have a garage meant for a pulley system, I don't have a lot of room to store either top when not in use, and I have no experience putting tops on and off. I've heard the new ones are easier and maybe I could get a friend to help me, but it still seems like a lot of hassle just to be able to drive around for 1 month with a soft top, again for only 2 people up front. So I'm not leaning toward this just yet.
Option 2. Hard top and Freedom Panels
So instead as a compromise, maybe just a hard top and removing the Freedom Panels would give 2 people enough of a feeling of openness for that 1 month of summer use? Are the owners who just have Freedom Panels happy with them or do they wish they had more of an open top? Are the Freedom Panels inconvenient to remove and reinstall if rain is in the forecast? Do they rattle, squeak or leak the more you take them on and off? Do they take up too much storage space in the back of the Jeep if you are already packed to the gills for a road trip? I guess I can always start with this and get an aftermarket or even an OEM soft top later if I want. This does not address the questions of do I need a headliner, which headliner, what color headliner, etc. Ugh!
Option 3. Hard top with Sunrider
This would address the issues of the Freedom Panels but would a Sunrider be ok in the winter with a foot of snow falling? Or would I need to put the Sunrider on and take it off every summer? Probably not a bad compromise since it's less than an hour to do so. Again, I can go with Hard Top now and add this later if the Freedom Panels are unworkable
Option 4. Sky One Touch Power Top
The challenge is that this needs to be decided now. While expensive, it sounded ideal until I read more about it. Most who have them seem to love them, but others have reported issues or concerns with past versions (e.g., Liberty which may or may not apply to this version), not wanting to go through a car wash with brushes (not practical for me in winter since the Jeep would need to be washed thoroughly 1x a week), minor leaking, potential to wear out, etc. Logically it would also probably not be as good as a hard top in winter or as quiet year roundt?? While it opens up the whole back, that might be unnecessary for 2 people. So while this seems most convenient, it's probably not the best situation for 4-5 months of winter and only 1 month of summer use? Like Selec Trac, Sky One Touch seems to be a recent option and there are many happy JL owners who don't have it, so this is probably a nice to have not a need or potential for big regret later, especially for $4K.
Bottom line pending your advice above I'd lean toward buying a 2019 Rubicon with a Hard Top and a few key options off the lot which might be the best value vs. ordering something unique or a more expensive Moab with Selec Trac and Sky One Touch but only if 4H works for patchy snow driving and if I would not seriously regret not getting the Sky One Touch Power Top later.
I know that's a lot to digest perhaps the responses will help other people too. Thank you in advance!
1) Do I need Selec Trac for driving to ski resorts on powder days?
2) Which top would be best for my use situation which is mostly winter and a few weeks summer and fall?
Selec Trac vs. 4H
On powder days the main 4 lane highways are mostly plowed and dry. However, as you approach the resorts, they turn into scary, steep, curvy 2 lane roads with occasional patches of slippery drifted snow and packed ice. Think Little Cottonwood Canyon. Or the road to Jackson Hole. You are driving in a long line of cars at 30-40 mph and the road changes from ok to 100 yards of packed snow and ice back to ok again in the blink of an eye. Even the Grand Cherokees I've had before always had "full time" AWD such as Quadra Trac so I've never had to drive on highways in pure 4H. To be clear, I will be investing in true winter tires such as Blizzaks because I've learned my lesson about the importance of those on snow/ice no matter what drivetrain you have.
Since I would never be able to shift in and out of 4H fast enough between patches of snow, can you just leave it in 4H in this situation, or would driving at 30-40MPH in 4H on the dry sections on curvy roads cause wheel hop or damage to the drivetrain as some posts and videos seem to imply, in which case I'd need Selec Trac? Or maybe the issues I've read about with 4H on dry roads are more about sharp left/right turns than curvy 2 lane roads?
My hope is that 4H would work so that would open up more choices for me including the Rubicon which I prefer for completely emotional not rational reasons. My understanding is that Selec Trac has only recently become available on the Wrangler, so 4H must be sufficient for my situation since I have seen many Wranglers in ski parking lots??
The next question is which top for 5 months of heavy winter/snow use and 1 month of summer/fall use for only 2 people (meaning we might want but don't need to have the back of the JL uncovered)?
Option 1 Hard top and soft top.
The ideal would seem to be a hardtop for the winter and a soft top for the summer. However I don't have help to remove/reinstall the hard top, I don't have a garage meant for a pulley system, I don't have a lot of room to store either top when not in use, and I have no experience putting tops on and off. I've heard the new ones are easier and maybe I could get a friend to help me, but it still seems like a lot of hassle just to be able to drive around for 1 month with a soft top, again for only 2 people up front. So I'm not leaning toward this just yet.
Option 2. Hard top and Freedom Panels
So instead as a compromise, maybe just a hard top and removing the Freedom Panels would give 2 people enough of a feeling of openness for that 1 month of summer use? Are the owners who just have Freedom Panels happy with them or do they wish they had more of an open top? Are the Freedom Panels inconvenient to remove and reinstall if rain is in the forecast? Do they rattle, squeak or leak the more you take them on and off? Do they take up too much storage space in the back of the Jeep if you are already packed to the gills for a road trip? I guess I can always start with this and get an aftermarket or even an OEM soft top later if I want. This does not address the questions of do I need a headliner, which headliner, what color headliner, etc. Ugh!
Option 3. Hard top with Sunrider
This would address the issues of the Freedom Panels but would a Sunrider be ok in the winter with a foot of snow falling? Or would I need to put the Sunrider on and take it off every summer? Probably not a bad compromise since it's less than an hour to do so. Again, I can go with Hard Top now and add this later if the Freedom Panels are unworkable
Option 4. Sky One Touch Power Top
The challenge is that this needs to be decided now. While expensive, it sounded ideal until I read more about it. Most who have them seem to love them, but others have reported issues or concerns with past versions (e.g., Liberty which may or may not apply to this version), not wanting to go through a car wash with brushes (not practical for me in winter since the Jeep would need to be washed thoroughly 1x a week), minor leaking, potential to wear out, etc. Logically it would also probably not be as good as a hard top in winter or as quiet year roundt?? While it opens up the whole back, that might be unnecessary for 2 people. So while this seems most convenient, it's probably not the best situation for 4-5 months of winter and only 1 month of summer use? Like Selec Trac, Sky One Touch seems to be a recent option and there are many happy JL owners who don't have it, so this is probably a nice to have not a need or potential for big regret later, especially for $4K.
Bottom line pending your advice above I'd lean toward buying a 2019 Rubicon with a Hard Top and a few key options off the lot which might be the best value vs. ordering something unique or a more expensive Moab with Selec Trac and Sky One Touch but only if 4H works for patchy snow driving and if I would not seriously regret not getting the Sky One Touch Power Top later.
I know that's a lot to digest perhaps the responses will help other people too. Thank you in advance!
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