Good morning everyone,

I have a question to throw to all of you about security. Now that summer is here I am itching to take off the rear portion of my freedom top. My plan is to have the front two panels on at night and while I am at work to protect the front interior from rain. The problem I see with this is it seems pretty easy for someone to steal them. Without the rear top all someone really has to do from the looks of it is just unscrew, unlatch and snatch. Has anyone seen a way to lock these or secure the latches in a way which makes them difficult to steal? I am open to most forms of modifications, although I am hesitant to drill...


Thanks for you time,

- Hitz

 

Get a dummy and dress it up like a cop and place it in you passenger seat.

 

Are people stealing these things? I haven't heard of t-tops being stolen in years. What about some form of VIN# marking...glass is etched with the VIN#...how can the fiberglass top be 'etched'? Providing a VISIBLE deterence is often better than providing a solid hidden security feature...afterall, if someone has already broken your glass or doorlock before they find a lock on the hardtop...you're still out for damages.

And another comment...I took my hardtop off last week and ran the front 2 panels for one day before putting on a new bikini...with the rear section of the hardtop off, the rear of the front two pieces does not have anything to tighten down against, and it would 'bump' against the speaker box. Need to fab some sort of padded wedge or spacer if you're going to run those for a long while.

 

Aren't you supposed to flip down the block on the back to prevent that "bumping"?

 

yeah, i used the flip down blocks last summer and no problems. if i'm not mistaken the manual says to use them when running without the rear top

 

to prevent the big screws from going thru the top of your panels is really what those feet/blocks are for, but I am guessing they stop the bumping also

 

flp the blocks down

 

I remember when I bought my '81 280zx, it came w/o t-tops or a driver's side window (bash and steal). I drove down over to South-Central L.A. and bought a "used" set from the bario. There were no 280's in sight. I always wondered if I was buying mine back...

So, I think theives will soom find a way to steal these panels off our JKs. Luckily, I have insurance, and I'm not in SoCal anymore (Colorado Springs is a little safer).

I imagine someone will eventually make aftermarket billet flip levers. Hopefully they're be able to redesign them for padlocks, etc.

 

What are you going to do about your doors? They're just as easy to steal...unscrew, lift, walk away.

I'd think people are more likely to steal items left out in the open, as opposed to parts of the jeep.