Running topless
Thread Starter
JK Newbie
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 38
Likes: 0
From: Virginia Beach, VA
Running topless
Have a stock 2008 JKU Sahara edition with a hardtop. If I take the top off and leave it off, will rain damage it or are the electronics protected well?
I do not plan on leaving the top off all summer, but may leave it (and the doors) off for a couple of weeks at a time since we go to the beach so often.
I do not plan on leaving the top off all summer, but may leave it (and the doors) off for a couple of weeks at a time since we go to the beach so often.
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 132
Likes: 1
From: Texas
Keep my top off all summer every summer. Not just in Texas, but my Jeep spent four years in Italy where it got wet from rain more than I should admit.
I have had minor issues that have resolved themselves as it gets dry:
Radio has cut out a few times but always came back!
Have lost the ability to use cruise control a couple of times until the next day after the rain.
Blinkers quit working once, but worked fine an hour later.
Had a bunch of tools get rusted in the storage compartment in the back because I forgot to pull that drain plug.
Random horn honks...see below
Other than the minor issues I did also have to replace my clock spring ($600 with labor at the dealer) last year when I moved back to the states to pass a safety inspection. I suspect the clock spring shorted out from rain, as while it was shorted out my horn did not work. And there was a few months where every time my Jeep got wet the horn would just randomly start honking (I would have to pull the fuse to make it stop). I am talking like 3 AM Jeep is parked in the garage, and the horn just starts and does not stop honking! Only once was the random horn honk not in the middle of the night, that one time was during a traffic jam at a toll booth...man did the Italians think I was an a-hole that day as I scrambled to pop the hood and pull the fuse.
Good news is that they recalled the clock spring a couple of months after I replaced mine and Chrysler reimbursed me.
Lesson learned put a trash bag in the console, and if you suspect rain while you are parked topless, throw the trash bag over the steering wheel to protect the clock spring from getting wet and shorting out!
I have had minor issues that have resolved themselves as it gets dry:
Radio has cut out a few times but always came back!
Have lost the ability to use cruise control a couple of times until the next day after the rain.
Blinkers quit working once, but worked fine an hour later.
Had a bunch of tools get rusted in the storage compartment in the back because I forgot to pull that drain plug.
Random horn honks...see below
Other than the minor issues I did also have to replace my clock spring ($600 with labor at the dealer) last year when I moved back to the states to pass a safety inspection. I suspect the clock spring shorted out from rain, as while it was shorted out my horn did not work. And there was a few months where every time my Jeep got wet the horn would just randomly start honking (I would have to pull the fuse to make it stop). I am talking like 3 AM Jeep is parked in the garage, and the horn just starts and does not stop honking! Only once was the random horn honk not in the middle of the night, that one time was during a traffic jam at a toll booth...man did the Italians think I was an a-hole that day as I scrambled to pop the hood and pull the fuse.
Good news is that they recalled the clock spring a couple of months after I replaced mine and Chrysler reimbursed me.
Lesson learned put a trash bag in the console, and if you suspect rain while you are parked topless, throw the trash bag over the steering wheel to protect the clock spring from getting wet and shorting out!
JK Super Freak
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,338
Likes: 0
From: Denver
I would buy a cover to keep over the Jeep at night or when you're not around to respond to a rain storm. The last thing you want is to be on here posting how a Jeep left open in the rain had some electronic damage because you left the top off. It's not meant to be drenched.
Trending Topics
Thread Starter
JK Newbie
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 38
Likes: 0
From: Virginia Beach, VA
I'm going to suck it up and just leave the hardtop on until I get the TrekTop NX. I'll just remove the freedom panels when we head to the beach until then. I want this Jeep to last.
