My JK has both a soft top and hard top; the soft top is currently installed. There are two small, black, metal brackets that join the soft top bows to the roll bars....Do these absolutely need to be removed when I go to install my hard top, or can I just leave them there after removing the bows? Yeah, I'm lazy.

 

They can stay in place. They're not in the way of anything.

 

Thanks!

 

Jeep recommends removing them due to rear occupant safety. Without a soft top attached they can be dangerous in an accident. I remove mine and reinstall every year. It's literally less than 2 minutes per side.

 

I never thought about removing mine for passenger safety. My little guy rides in the back gonna hafta start taking them off.

 

I see no way these could be dangerous. I have them too since mine came with the dual tops.

 

I see no way these would be more dangerous without the soft top attached. If they are dangerous, they are dangerous with the soft top too.

 

Same here, but I guess if you have a two door that may be a different story. On the 4 door they're in the cargo area.

 

Can someone explain why it is dangerous to leave the brackets attached while the hard top is installed? They are well-attached to the roll bars and they aren't sharp....so....?

 

I could see on a 2 door where you might get hung up on them when trying to exit the rear seats if you don't have the soft top bars attached to it.

BTW those things are a pain to take off if you have the hard top installed. My JK only came with a hard top and when I purchased a used soft top, the guy didn't remove those brackets before he put the hard top on. I tried taking them off with the hard top on because the guy didn't want (or know) how to remove the hard top. I ended up just saying screw it and bought new ones when I got home instead of trying to remove his.