lofapco

Just wanted to say hi from the East Valley in AZ! Just bought my first Jeep so I could start exploring some of the old Forest service roads and Jeep trails out here. I live just west of Four Peaks mountains and took my first Jeep trip with my wife and two friends last Friday. Went over Four Peaks to Roosevelt Lake on the other side they traveled up to Payson, AZ for refreshments and back to our house in Fountain Hills. What a blast! Can't wait for the next trip.

carid

Congratulations on your purchase and welcome to the forum. Hope it serves you well for many years to come.

Take some pics of the trip for us when you have a chance.

jedg

Welcome to JK Forum. Get that rig and your co-pilot out on some trails!

lofapco

resharp001

Welcome. Piece of advice.....you get better gas mileage with no top or doors on it A good sunscreen up top will be a good purchase for you. Enjoy the many travels that jeep will take you on!

lofapco

We had the Freedom panels off but I have not attempted to take off the back yet. Going to when I take my buddy and his wife on our next trip! Any tips to not breaking it would be good! First time Jeep owner here.

resharp001

If you have a garage, investing in a nice top hoist is well worth it. You can have a hard top on/off in under 10 minutes. I'm in DFW, so call it same general weather conditions. Can be topless most of the year, and a good sun shade up top makes a world of difference cutting the UV. As long as you don't have human passengers in the back, the a/c in the summer and the heat in the winter (along with butt warmers) makes all the difference. It's like driving an entirely different vehicle with the top off, and again a different vehicle with doors off. I would say sitting in the back is not near as much fun with top off cuz you get beat by the wind a bit more, and you don't get any air flow from the a/c.

Some people build their own contraptions to hold the top, or use ratchet straps and eye-bolts from ceiling to hold it. It's worth it to just buy something appropriate. If you have a battery operated drill, a T45 bit makes quick work of removing the 8 screws for the top, or you can replace those with quicker connecting versions.

If you find you enjoy having the top off for periods at a time, you might want to think about an underseat lockbox just in case you ever need to secure something. Tuffy and Bestop both make some. Nice sunglasses, handguns, insurance cards, wheel locks....anything that you wouldn't want stolen. Treat everything left inside the jeep as though it could get swiped and that is when you will have really embraced the jeep lifestyle