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Opening & closing soft top alone from one side of vehicle

07052021

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I am new to the Jeep life and I absolutely love it. I was lucky to snag a brand new premium soft top at a great price locally from a dual topper that didn't want it. I switched over 2 weeks ago.

Is it safe long term and repeatedly to open and close the soft top from one side of the vehicle? I generally unlatch from drivers seat, push it up in the center from underneath, and then switch to standing in my drivers door frame to push it back. I know this is causing a tiny twist/torque on the frame but anything to be concerned with? Same goes for closing it, I hop into one of the rear door frames and flip it shut. Same twist/torque to it.
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redfish

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I do it all from the drivers side standing on the ground , no issues in a year or so, sometimes even push it open while driving (from a stop to accelerating)
 
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07052021

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I do it all from the drivers side standing on the ground , no issues in a year or so, sometimes even push it open while driving (from a stop to accelerating)
I'm 5'9 and even just upgrading to 35s, no way I'd be able to do that from the ground, haha.

I did see some other posts talking about the 10-12 mph opening trick. I may have to give that a try.
 

Jeepin' John

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I always open it from one side and no problems
 

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Rocksalt

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never had an issue opening it from one side going on 3 years now
 

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I always open it from the inside: at 15mph it’s a perfect soft opening.
anything 12-19mph is decent.

I close it from one side - just be gentle, guys have torqued them out of square, especially on the JK’s.
 

sharpsicle

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I mean, how else would you close it by yourself? You can't be on both sides. Seems like being able to bring it down from one side would've been a requirement for the design of it, so I wouldn't think twice.
 
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07052021

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I always open it from the inside: at 15mph it’s a perfect soft opening.
anything 12-19mph is decent.

I close it from one side - just be gentle, guys have torqued them out of square, especially on the JK’s.
so you push it up while going 12-19 and it does it’s thing?
 

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07052021

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I mean, how else would you close it by yourself? You can't be on both sides. Seems like being able to bring it down from one side would've been a requirement for the design of it, so I wouldn't think twice.
Hop in the backseat and work it from the middle.
 

Rocksalt

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IMO the gas struts and hardware seems study enough not to get bent when opening or closing from one side
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