jurie

I had the hard top off and the doors and freedom panels on today when my wife and I got caught in a massive downpour on the way home. I've been caught naked in the rain before, the kind where you wish for wipers on the inside of the windshield, but until today I've been able to maintain speed and kept the inside of the Jeep from collecting water, like this:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHQE7oDjf4l/

By the end of that drive my windshield was coated with spray on the inside, and my sunglasses on both sides. No biggie, made it home safe and the carpets were dry.

Today was different. Today was rush hour. Today was a torrent.

If the previous times we got "baptized" was a little sprinkle of water from the altar, this was a full on white cotton dress southern tent revival Oh Brother Where Art Thou shout hallelujah and sing "I went down to the river to pray, Good Lord" dunking. And we got stuck in first gear for 30 minutes trying to cover about three kilometers.

It looked like this:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BH0de2UD7n0/

Did you know that the sound bar is designed to collect cold water and pour it down the back of the passenger's neck? I told my wife "It's a Jeep thing!". From under the pile of briefcases and jackets on the passenger seat, she said "So is divorce..."

https://www.instagram.com/p/BH0jarnDF2T/

I ended up having to pull 6 of the drain plugs, and all of the bottom carpet from underneath the front seats to the tail gate.

It's sitting with the hard top firmly reattached, full of box fans, and I really hope that it's dry by tomorrow morning, because I have to drive her back to work...

She made me promise not to take the hard top off on days when I'm picking her up. I might even try to keep that promise. For a week, or maybe two, anyway...

DJ1

haha awesome. I've been caught twice but never in stop & go traffic...

mr72

Two words: soft top.

ShutterBug

Two more words: soft doors.

I ride like this all summer:



But I have a set of soft doors behind the seat, plus the soft top. If it looks like rain, I'll put the top up. If it actually does rain, I'll put the windows in and the soft doors on.

mr72

Agreed, but without at least a soft top, you are pretty much guaranteed to get absolutely drenched if it pours rain while you are out. At least with a soft top on the vehicle, you can respond by putting up the top and keep the passengers mostly dry long enough to get off of the road and parked somewhere where you can ride out the rain shower under cover of the top.

I agree about the soft doors and I wouldn't mind having some myself. Unfortunately it's a 4-door so that makes it a pretty expensive option, and it will take up a lot of cargo space to carry four soft doors and windows around.

SF_E60

ouch that sucks! I've never been caught in the rain. Doesn't rain much in Southern California. Did not know there was a drain plug where the stock jack is located.

jurie

I had to pop 6 of the 10 plugs in order to drain everything out. I was surprised that there were plugs under where the rear seat clips down. I've heard that some people with soft tops still have to pop the jack drain plug occasionally anyway when their top leaks.

On the to-buy list! But I've had the Jeep for about two weeks, so I'm going to wait until my wife gets over the sticker shock. I should be safe to start buying things for it around 2018.

jurie

Ignore this post, I'm some kind of noob :-/

arjeeper

Get a complete rain cover from jeepcovers.com. They're the best. I've had them for three wranglers.

If it gets crazy, just pull over and cover up.

jurie

Pull over on the side of the freeway and cover up, eh?

Followed shortly by some Barry White on the MyGig and a casual yawn/stretch/arm around my wife's shoulders?