the windshield plates are for looks and strength. if you want to leave them off for a short time it should be ok. for day to day driving they do ad support in case of a roll or front impact. the wind shield only hinges from one spot in the middle. i guess you could remove the shield but that $h!t ain't light. over all folding it down is fun and cool. if your doing any real off road or road driving the windshield is part of the roll bar and makes a structure of a full cage. i've rolled a jeep and floped one a few times. the windshield can be a life saver at 45 miles per hour or a 1/2 miles per hour. i had the sport bars off my 94 yj and it was stable while driving but i'm glad i never floped or rolled. i did have a front end impact/run over of a benz. i shattered the w/s w/ my head and bent the hinges.the sport cage would have been some help in that moment. the benz how ever would have been totaly fuct no matter what as i literaly broke it in 1/2 when i ran it over, lol!

 

Thanks for the write up, wish jeep made it easier to put down the windshield

 

its not difficult to take the windshield down it just takes a long time. When i folded mine down i left it down over night and it poured that night and rain filled up like a pool in my windshield hahah

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Wow this video actually makes me sad :(

What is JEEP doing?

Before you know it we will need a torch to lower our windshield down.

 

That looks like to much hassel just to laydown the windshield. Not to mention you have lost your front safty factor for a roll over. I think i would pass on this.

 

That is exactly the effect the engineers were told achieve.
They were told: "Don't lose the folding windshield. Just make it so difficult no one will want to fold it."
Just my opinion.
I guess it is structural, though.

 

Maybe so... If I were to do this I would install one of the bolt on roll cage from the factory bar foward. To go wheeling with the windshield down and no cage is just not a wise thing to do. In my personal opionion.

 

What would the implications be if you were to leave the rollbar in place and just take the front section off?

What about leaving the roll bar completely off and using a tie strap from the windshield to the middle rollbar when you want it up?

 

well if you left the sport bars on then you would have two pointed spears bouncing around over you and the passengers heads. thats sooo not a good idea. not to mention branches and other trail items.

sorry, but leaving the bars off completely and using a strap is just plane lazy. i allways say "nothing worth doing is easy, & anything worth doing, is worth doing it right.".
i figured that i would make this vid for other people like me. i've been a jeep owner for a long time and i've allways folded my windshields down. if you think this is hard then what do you thing a willys owner had to say when they saw the yj. better yet a tj's process of folding isn't much different from a jk. sure there are a few more bolts at the hinges and on top of the roll bar. if the tj has a sound bar its just as bad as a jk. i just think its a lot of fun to do a light trail or drive down he beach with the w/s down.