[Prot]

Has anyone put a headliner in their hard top? My Unlimited Sahara is black with a black hard top and the a/c has trouble keeping up. When I put my hand on the inside of the hard top, it is like touching an oven. I was thinking an insulated headliner would help and would also improve the looks. I've thought about going with some dynamat then covering that up with gray speaker box carpet. One place I went to asking about it told me it won't work because it will not stick and fall down and peal off leaving a horrible mess. Another place I went to asking about it said they could do it. I don't want to have a horrible sticky mess, but the white interior of the hard top kind of bugs me and the heat radiated through it is making it hard for the a/c to keep up. Does anybody have any experience or advice on this?

[duckduke]

I don't have a good option for the headliner. I think many would be interested.

But to help your problem.............painting the top silver, white or any color lighter than black would help tremendously. This is why the FJ has a white top. I realize that this may not be a great option for many depending on the color of the jeep. I also think the khaki interior would not absorb as much heat as the black/gray and this would help with the heat issue.

Anyway........just my thoughts.

[kamkuda]

Great Idea, I think it would look good. I was thinking the opposite for keeping it warm in the winter. I think any decent Auto upholstery shop could do it.

[JK_Jeep]

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f96/painted-hard-top-434813/

[Prot]

Painted hard top just wouldn't look right in my opinion, at least with the black body. It looks OK on that guy's red JK. I've seen khaki hard tops on black Saharas, and to say it is not my cup of tea is putting it mildly.

[XpensiveWino]

I'm sure is looks nice close up. But the jeap as a whole looks "not right" Sorry.

[daFoo]

I live if Phoenix, were it's been over 110 almost every day in August!

Anyway I found these, but don't have the monies to spend right now. Not sure it they would stay up on the top or fall.

http://www.coloradojeepman.com/contact.html

[Prot]

Well that certainly is an interesting idea and is only $200. It's been over 100 degrees at my house just about the whole summer. As good as the black looks and as much as I like it, it sure sucks in this heat.

[SoCalJK]

PAge 111 of the September Jp mag has an ad for thses with a photo. It is made of 3M Thinsulate and looks pretty good.

[Mr.Unlimited]

Any black vehicle in the sun with the air on, will have a harder time keeping cool as opposed to a lighter color. The black hard tops, I am sure isn't going to help much.

[SaharaBlackNo1]

I've got a black sahara with black top, grey interior and live in the DC area, it's not been as hot as normal this summer but on the few 100 degree days, I have to say, my a/c kicks in very quickly and I usually end up cruising around with it at about 2 (out of the 4 positions) and it keeps me nice and cool.

As far as the headliner that was linked, should work. While I don't think a spray type glue would hold up applied directly to the top. The type of velcro they're using (if it's the same kind that came with my roddoors door kit for my camaro) is really really strong and the adhesive has yet to come off anywhere on my camaro interior.

[Mickey83]

Keep in mind when using the velcro and differetn adhesives, the amount of heat, depending on geographical location, could melt the glue. Make sure you are applying a medium to high heat adhesive to prevent this. As far as myself, I am old school and making a Jeep lush isnt an option.

[SoCalJK]

After this weekend riding around with 3 people in 109 heat I'm certainly thinking of soemthing. With air full on and fan on highest level we only just managed to keep comfortable. Front was OK but my daughter in the back wasn't all that cool.

[XpensiveWino]

No kidding, I live in the IE and it was 110 here too.

I don't feel like spending the $200 on the hard top insulation though.

I figure another month and it'll be perfect for the top to come off.

Plus I only plan on keeping the Jeep for 2 yrs. So i need to exercise my will power and not mod the thing out. You never get your money back on xtras when trading in or selling to companies like Carmax.

Plus its so hard to sell a newer vehicle private party. It takes forever and the new car competition is tough.

On a side point, Carmax was great when i sold my 04 Toyota Sienna. They gave me $15000 for it, trade in at Jeep or Dodge or Toyota was $11000-12000 tops.

I had it sold private party for $15750 but the buyer was too slow and over an hour and a half away. So carmax surprised me with $15000.

[SoCalJK]

I plan on keeping my Jeep for as long as I can. had my F150 for 9 years. Sold it because it was starting to cost money for maintenance and I had seen the new 4 door JK.

According to Cargurus, the Wrangler is number one as far as retention of value goes for 2007 models. Historic Value Retention is 73.49%