SO HOT! Good test, though...Wrangler hard top questions...

So its like 100 degrees here (even at 7:30 pm:costumed-smiley-007 )


we parked the LJ at church today and came out to a veritable oven.

1. hard top is black, absorbing all the light (and heat) hitting it.
2. hard top is not insulated, so the heat gets re-radiated for at least an hour...


soo...my ideas..

1. paint the top of the hard top a lighter color (khaki, white)

or...

2. install load bars on the hard top and get some sort of roof rack up there with a floor that would block the sun.

3. save up for a garvin rack and hardmount a rack (w/floor)


anyone dealt with this?


my concerns with a roof rack

1. lost mpg. might consider a flat rack, that i'd have to strap stuff too.
2. weight, higher C.O.G.
3. weight capacity of the reletively cheap load bars being mounted to the hard top....
4. cost of the garvin rack @ $850+

Several thoughts - while living in Scottsdale, AZ I delt with this problem alot. Painting the outside will work. Although I can't remember how much the temp range was I do remember a fellow Jeeper painting his top and then using an infered thermometer to check the difference. He pointed out that it was substantial. I on the other hand have used a piece of diamond plate aluminum on the top of my Jeep for years. The difference is so good that I would fequently run my AC on the number 2 setting in the middle of July in sunny Arizona. Here is a shot for you. Any questions just ask.



My solution does come with some downsides - noise from the rack(main reason why I have a rack pad on the front is to create a slight ferring to cut down on the noise). Cost of the rack(custom rack cost about 50% more then a Garvin). Worth it - YES. Loss 1-2 mpg. Still worth it to me because the rack works like a truck. Throw anything on top and away I go. Would not change a thing. Actually I am building a new one right now for the JK.

Gear said:

Several thoughts - while living in Scottsdale, AZ I delt with this problem alot. Painting the outside will work. Although I can't remember how much the temp range was I do remember a fellow Jeeper painting his top and then using an infered thermometer to check the difference. He pointed out that it was substantial. I on the other hand have used a piece of diamond plate aluminum on the top of my Jeep for years. The difference is so good that I would fequently run my AC on the number 2 setting in the middle of July in sunny Arizona. Here is a shot for you. Any questions just ask.

My solution does come with some downsides - noise from the rack(main reason why I have a rack pad on the front is to create a slight ferring to cut down on the noise). Cost of the rack(custom rack cost about 50% more then a Garvin). Worth it - YES. Loss 1-2 mpg. Still worth it to me because the rack works like a truck. Throw anything on top and away I go. Would not change a thing. Actually I am building a new one right now for the JK.

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great post. thanks for the reply...we may have figured something out...

here's one plan we've talked about tonight...

1. mount thule bars front and rear.
2. mount our maggiolina RTT...
3. enjoy "cool runnings" under the shade of the tent.
4. remove the mpg eater in a month or so, when the temps go down...


while i have it up there, i might finally get a chance to build our add-on to the tent...
(basically a platform that slides out from under the tent for the babies, so they can be up in the air with us...


great to know that shading the top will reduce temps, quite a bit.

i also really like your setup, and will run it past my bride...

regards

I pulled the headliner and installed foil bubble pack radiant heat barrier insulation.
Check your local lumber yard (Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.) for the foil bubble insulation. The stuff I used was called Refletix. Pretty inexpensive. Not only does it reduce interior temperatures it also adds some insulation for winter and helps to deaden sound a little.
This one looks like a little more expensive version Insul-tek foil $1.13 per sq. ft. It may have other benefits though.
Refletix runs $.042 per square foot. $42 for a 4 ft x 25 ft roll. Reflects 97% of radiant energy.
I have used it in numerous streetrods, on heat shields, AC boxes, under hood, etc.
The difference is very noticeable.

i thought about some type of insulation, but i dont have a headliner.

does this stuff have an adhesive side?

or is there an insulation that is finished with carpet, etc on the "out" side

You can usually use the spray on adhesive for insulation. (I have used it in my old XJ to keep the cab warm once I shut the truck off.) It seemed to work quite well and held it in place very well. I haven't personally seen any insulation that has a carpeted/headliner side, but I just put carpet over it using the same adhesive and it seemed to work.

I have a Garvin rack and it definitely does affect the gas mileage. If you intend on just using it to fix the temperature problem and not use it as an actual rack then I would look someplace else because it is expensive. I will mention that it would be easy to do something like what Gear has done with adding the diamond plate or other material. It has very good mounting options in my opinion. I have seen about the same MPG loss as Gear has but it is definitely WORTH IT!!

TJVach said:

You can usually use the spray on adhesive for insulation. (I have used it in my old XJ to keep the cab warm once I shut the truck off.) It seemed to work quite well and held it in place very well. I haven't personally seen any insulation that has a carpeted/headliner side, but I just put carpet over it using the same adhesive and it seemed to work.

I have a Garvin rack and it definitely does affect the gas mileage. If you intend on just using it to fix the temperature problem and not use it as an actual rack then I would look someplace else because it is expensive. I will mention that it would be easy to do something like what Gear has done with adding the diamond plate or other material. It has very good mounting options in my opinion. I have seen about the same MPG loss as Gear has but it is definitely WORTH IT!!

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you guys are great...thanks for the post.

We'd definitely use the rack. its just the cost involved with the garvin that we don't like...

we already have a set of thule load bars that have proven themselves holding our maggiolina tent on several 2000 mile trips. so, all we'd need to do is buy a set of artificial rain gutter brackets, mount the bars and decide if we'd just mount our RTT or something trick like gear has done.

(my wife is a drama teacher, so the jeep would definitely earn its keep hauling lumber if it had a rack system...)

kodiak1232003 said:

you guys are great...thanks for the post.

We'd definitely use the rack. its just the cost involved with the garvin that we don't like...

we already have a set of thule load bars that have proven themselves holding our maggiolina tent on several 2000 mile trips. so, all we'd need to do is buy a set of artificial rain gutter brackets, mount the bars and decide if we'd just mount our RTT or something trick like gear has done.

(my wife is a drama teacher, so the jeep would definitely earn its keep hauling lumber if it had a rack system...)

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Good to hear!!! Yeah if you already have the bars then you have a ton of options!!! You could get a Thule, Yakima, Garvin, etc. racks whichever suit your needs. A much more flexible option! Good Luck!!!

kodiak1232003 said:

i thought about some type of insulation, but i dont have a headliner. does this stuff have an adhesive side? or is there an insulation that is finished with carpet, etc on the "out" side

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I installed it in a couple rigs with no headliners. Spray adhesive works pretty well. Coat both the headliner and material. Make darn sure it is where you want it when it touches. It is a contact adhesive and really grabs a hold when it touches.

I did not cover it on either of those vehicles. I intended to add a headliner over it , but found that you never really look at the ceiling unless you are sleeping and then the eyes are usually closed. With the vehicle stopped to camp of course. I do not recommend sleeping while operating the vehicle
The reflective surface is not too bad at night when it reflects the lantern light from the inside. I kind of liked it in my old Suburban.
You could easily glue a fabric or light upholstery carpet over it as was suggested earlier.

hey guys,

what about a bed liner type of material? :26_13_1:



some advantages

1. reletively low-buck
2. no mpg lost
3. thickness might give some insulative qualities
4. don't have to drill my roof
5. comes in lots of colors



disadvantages
1. roof rack would be more useful
2. ?? anything else?

The dual-roofing is used not only on commercial and green buildings but also (gasp) on some Rovers too for this very purpose. Personally (and living in the desert myself) I would consider this before bedliner. Next would be a glossy white paint job on the roof.

pskhaat said:

The dual-roofing is used not only on commercial and green buildings but also (gasp) on some Rovers too for this very purpose. Personally (and living in the desert myself) I would consider this before bedliner. Next would be a glossy white paint job on the roof.

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derrr...i'm glad you brought that up...

i don't know why i didn't think of that perspective, as i'm REALLY familiar with the old series Rovers and their safari tops...

and i'm an architect...

double derr, man. double derr. .....lol

pskhaat said:

The dual-roofing is used not only on commercial and green buildings but also (gasp) on some Rovers too for this very purpose. Personally (and living in the desert myself) I would consider this before bedliner. Next would be a glossy white paint job on the roof.

Click to expand...

The Safari roof on the old Series Land Rovers worked great. A thin skin of aluminum raised about 1/4-inch over the entire roof allowed air flow and kept direct heat from entering the vehicle from up high. You could replicate it on the Jeep by drilling lots of holes, some spacers and lots of rivets :shakin:

It really does work well on the Rover, but fabricating something for the Jeep to be multipurpose would probably work better using Justin's method.