I received and installed my softtop thermal liner late last week from Colorado Jeepman. The install went fairly easily, but does involve some tight accesses inside your Jeep. The liner is a 3M Thinsulate blanket that attaches to the top bows and header bar, completely covering the top interior from stem to stern. The top I received does not have cutouts to go around the bow hardware at the sides, but I am assured by the vendor that all future liners will have this.

As to how it works...it does substantially insulate from outside sound, as I noticed an immediate decrease in noise. As to insulating from the heat, the liner manages this well. It has been in the mid-to-upper 90's with high humidity here in Central Florida for the past few weeks. Before installation of the liner, I had to run my A/C on high with recirculate to keep the interior moderately cool, and even then if I was not moving, allowing the black top to heat up, the A/C could not keep up and the interior would be sweaty hot. With the liner, I am able to run my A/C at a lower fan setting without recirc and still remain cool. The liner does not shorten the amount of time it takes to cool the interior initially by much, but once cool, it helps to keep it cool.

One issue I have with the liner is that it is slightly too long (about 1-2"). The instructions say to attach the top at the back edge of the header bar nearest the driver, but I attached it as far forward on the bar as I could and I still have about 1" of slack. This causes the liner to slightly droop from the ceiling about 1" directly above the driver. This is not an issue as the top is very high on the JK and even at 6'5", the liner has 1-2" of clearance above my head. But it does not look as clean of an install as it could. Upon asking the vendor about this, they replied that the liner was purposely made 3" too long to enable it to "reach further". I am unsure what this means and have an open question with them about this.

As to dealing with this vendor, they have been responsive to my email'ed questions. I do have an issue or two still open with them and am awaiting their response.

Overall, I would recommend this liner if you need a way to cut the cabin heat in your Jeep.

Pics to follow...

ATTENTION: Please read warning at the end of the thread here.

 

Here is the liner in the front driver's compartment:



Here is the middle passenger compartment:



And here is the rear cargo area:




And finally, a full view from the rear:

 

that doesnt look to bad at all. I bet it'll sure help in the winter

 

How does it look with the top folded down? any bunching problems? does it hinder the top fully retracting?

 

I haven't tried putting the top down yet with it as we have been having rain lately. The liner is thin and I don't imagine it will be a problem. It will just make the stack a bit thicker.

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Paul

 

I wonder if there is a way to attach this to the inside of the hard top?

 

They make a liner specifically for the hardtop. It attaches with velcro strips.

Google the vendor to see their site and what they offer. They are not a forum sponsor, so I won't post the link here.

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Paul

 

Is the insulation removeable? Or on there for good?

Great job, it looks really good!

 

It is removable. On the softop, disconnect the leading edge from the header bar (it is velcro'ed), undo about 10 velcro loops around the top bows, and pull it out. On the hardtop, just disconnect the velcro all along the top. It took me about 10 minutes to install it the first time, so I imagine I could probably do it in less the next time.

I would suggest that if it folds up neatly with the top, it would be better to just fold the top down with the liner in place, as the velcro loops on the top bows would eventually detach from the fabric if you toy'ed with it too much.

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Paul

 

OK...enough time has passed without my open issues being resolved that I feel justified in stating the negatives about dealing with this vendor.

When I ordered my top, the first top they sent me was for a hardtop, even though my order explicitely stated softtop. I had been conversing with the vendor through email while it was shipping about some questions I had, and during the conversations, they realized that they had sent me the wrong top. The sales manager and I had been communicating well and they had been very responsive to my questions up to this point. I was asked by the vendor if I could ship the hardtop liner I was receiving onto another customer, and they would reimburse me for the shipping. I did so, and then waited for my softtop liner. My liner arrived and has been installed, but I have stopped receiving responses from the vendor. I have to date not received any reimbursement and the vendor has stopped answering my emails.

I also had an open question on why the top was too long and thus caused some slack in the fitment. They have not responded to my query other than to say that it was made 3" too long on purpose to "go further". When I replied asking what this meant, I never received a response.

Don't get me wrong, I beleive that their product is good and it serves the intended purpose. But I am a bit upset that they are stiffing me on the shipping reimbursement and it seems that once I received my liner and wrote my review (I sent them a link), they have now cut off communications. This indicates a slight customer service issue.

Just wanted everyone to hear the full story. I held off on this info for 1 week after my last email to them in order to give them a chance to set things right before I spoke. I am not eliminating the possibility that they are running behind due to the holiday, and if they make things right I will let you know. But right now, I am ticked.

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Paul