Soft Top Snow Load?

[aj8544]

Does anyone know of any official snow/ ice etc... load rating for the premium soft top? Trying to finalize my options list to place an order if nothing shows up on the lots in the next month or so. I live I upstate NY where long, cold, snowy winters are common. At home the JT will be garaged so I am not concerned about that- however at work it will be parked in the frigid tundra of an open parking lot. Essentially a few times a year the JT may get a significant amount of snow on it while I’m working- and no I cannot go out to clean it off as needed...

I have no concern with temperature (other than shattering a plastic window) or road noise etc... On our JL we purchased just the hard top, then realized after a bit how much it limited our top off use, and purchased a premium soft top after the fact. I much prefer the ease of the soft top and assurance that it’s with you just in case a rain storm pops up. If I have to I will order a dual top group, but it’s pricey and I really don’t want the hardtop if I don’t need it.

I have read a ton of posts on soft tops, watched YouTube videos galore- but have never found any official guidance from Jeep on this. And yes- I do realize the biggest issue here is NY state.

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[EOD-JTRubi]

I guess I don't have an official number but I had an 07 and 12 four door JK with a soft top when I lived just outside of Buffalo. Neither of those had any issue with massive storm pile up.

That said 17 and now the JT I have gone with a hard top and absolutely prefer it over the soft top. The freedom panels come off easier than the old manual soft top could be retracted.

 

[smlobx]

I had several convertibles when I was living in NH a few decades ago and never heard of anyone having issues with snow accumulation on their top causing issues.
Just make sure you remove it before driving (one of my pet peeves).

 

[CarolinaGladiator]

I am from the South so I'm going to show my ignorance here but, how much snow could possibly build up over the course of the work day? That's not me be facetious, that's me being curious. The most snow I have ever seen in one day (24hrs) is around 30". The surface area of the top isn't so large that I expect the snow covering it would weigh very much even at deeper amounts. Can you not go out at lunch and clear it? That would effectively cut the load in half even if it snowed the entire work day. Again, I have no idea what I'm talking about here but it does make me curious and I like good conversation.

 

[aj8544]

I am from the South so I'm going to show my ignorance here but, how much snow could possibly build up over the course of the work day? That's not me be facetious, that's me being curious. The most snow I have ever seen in one day (24hrs) is around 30". The surface area of the top isn't so large that I expect the snow covering it would weigh very much even at deeper amounts. Can you not go out at lunch and clear it? That would effectively cut the load in half even if it snowed the entire work day. Again, I have no idea what I'm talking about here but it does make me curious and I like good conversation.

Lunch- funny guy! Welcome to the world of pharmacy...

I would say a foot or so is possible, if heavy wet snow could be quite a bit of weight- Id guess in excess of 100lbs.

 

[Deleted member 39643]

wondering this myself now in preparation for this winter

 

[IamPro2A]

I would say a foot or so is possible, if heavy wet snow could be quite a bit of weight- Id guess in excess of 100lbs.

I know this is old, but since the thread was revived....
Wet snow weighs on average about 20lbs per cubic foot, but in some cases can weigh over 40lbs.
I'm not gonna go measure at 5am, but I'm guessing the surface area of the roof is around 35-40 square feet?

So a foot of snow on a Gladiator roof could easily weigh 500-1500lbs. Where I am in NH, building codes call for the house roof to be designed for 80lbs per square foot, and if I moved my house 500ft to the right into the next town, code would be 100lbs. That's why all our Jeeps have hardtops, at least for the winter.

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