Roof removal breaks seal?

[Jaxmax]

I drove my Mojave 3 hours to to meet a sport owner with non tinted window in his top and swapped my tinted window top and freedom panels and some cash for his , no problems. I swapped to get better visibility out through my bed cap that had a tinted rear window……Jack

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[Gvsukids]

Taken mine off multiple times, no leaks or squeaks. Just reinstall with the tools and snug the bolts tight. There is a rubber tab/seal by the rear door that shouldn't be tucked under the top.

 

[BtrLtThnNvr]

The Gladiator comes from a long tradition of toplessness - take it all off! My sun rider, top, and doors were off all of last week, then we took the windshield down and our time oversand at Nauset Beach was spectacular. Ended up in a nasty thunderstorm today and had no leaks. I use the Jeep tool kit and a Harbor Freight Bauer 4V driver to make getting “naked” easier. Just be careful to tighten all the bolts evenly and not to yank the electrical connectors…lessons learned in my JK!

Get naked!

 

[Dryfly24]

Because a Jeep truck isn't available without a convertible top, it's not exactly easy to remove and there are many reasons to buy the Gladiator beyond it being a convertible. If a permanent hardtop version were available, I would have bought that, particularly if it saved some $$.

I have had the top off and will likely do it again at some point (for the novelty,) but if it never came off again I don't think I'd greatly miss the feature at all. Hell, we have two cars with power moonroofs that we very rarely (might as well be never) open.

Thanks, I was basically going to post the same thing. I have no interest at all in removing the top. The only reason I did once was to install the Headliners and I’ll most likely never do it again.

I always think about what you said every time I hear somebody mention the feature as if it’s the be-all and end-all of Jeep ownership. If they would come with a permanent hard top I’d be all over it.

 

[DAVECS1]

Why would you deprive yourself of this fun????

 

[Sekgunnut]

I've taken my roof off 30+ times and have yet to have any leaks. I use a 1/4 battery impact to take the bolts in and out as well. I just make sure not to overly tighten but im doing nothing special. Run it though the car wash without issue too.

Same exact method and results although not near 30 times yet. Common sense does wonders.

 

[Schlap]

I’ve had a JT for 2+ years. Last year I built a hard top hoist for about $50 so I’ve taken the top off probably 12 times. I have no issues with leaks or wind noise when I’ve put it back on. If you have either of these, it should be covered by the warranty.
see my thread “hard top hoist” if you want to build your own hoist. It’s pretty easy.

 

[Schlap]

I’ve since replaced the 1x4 in the front with a 2x4

 

[NachoRuby]

I take my hard top off pretty regularly. No leaks. There's no way I'd buy a wrangler or gladiator if the top didn't come off. Everyone of course purchases for their own reasons, but if the top and the doors didn't come off, I feel I could buy something else for much cheaper. I'd get a ram 1500 (or probably a Tacoma for the manual transmission) and a grand Cherokee instead. I've only had 3 convertible jeeps, but the only leak issue we ever had was when the soft top started to dry rot on the '97 TJ from age. The JK we bought used, but it's a 2016 hard top that has definitely been off many times over the years, and no leaks. The top is meant to come off. Be careful with removal and don't overtighten anything with installation, and you should be a-ok.

No issues at all here…. I ALMOST had an issue when I improperly put a freedom panel back, the rubber seal folded over because I slid it into place vs placing down into place.

if you’re careful and watch what you’re doing, no issues in my experience. BTW... I’ve gone topless nearly a dozen times now.

I did this once, and thought I had a leak too. Looked at the roof after it stopped raining, and noticed the rubber seal on the panel was pinched.

 

[devnull]

Not 100%, but at least 94% odds that,

 

[AZCooWhip]

I heard someone say topless and had to come in and see what was up ......

 

[BtrLtThnNvr]

Of course, there’s more than one way to go topless!

https://drafttop.kckb.st/0e101efb

 

[tikijimmy]

The roof seems to use similar seals to the doors, with the added benefit of bolts to pull everything tighter.

Would you believe it if I said you should never open your doors? Probably not. These vehicles are built for this. If there's a leak the roof was probably not seated correctly when reinstalled, or the weather seal was torn at some point (which may be a warranty repair since, again, these vehicles are designed for it)

 

[smilez1]

Taken mine off 10+ times without issue. Love being able to do it all by myself in a matter of 5 minutes.
I am in agreement with "Why get it if you're not going to take the top off". Having said that, I'm sure there are some aftermarket parts to make it more of a permanent fixture and definitely leak proof.

 

[Slyboots2313]

2 years and countless rain, snow, and ice storms. Removed dozens of times with zero leaking or squeaking issues.

For those of you who took it off once and won’t do it again cuz it caused issues, I’d say that’s a perfect reason to take it off again. Maybe you overtightened or misaligned something and need to take it off to readjust.

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