Winter in a Jeep

Ben_Jeepin\' · #1 (**permalink**) 09-03-2003, 11:28 PM

Hey all....just wondering if I am gonna freeze this winter??? I bought a 1997 Wrangler almost a month ago and it has the soft top and the half doors...will the heater keep up with the cold or should I invest in a hard top and full doors ???

gunner · #2 (**permalink**) 09-03-2003, 11:38 PM

you're going to just have to suck it up - jeepers are tougher that crap

i once drove more that 45 miles in February - colder than crap - man i thought my nipples were going to pop, and the wind was blowing hard all the way, both to and back - and i was stupid enough not bring a coat, dude it just hurts thinking about it

i heard that old timers used to get extra long sections of heater hose and then wrapped it around themselves to stay warm, man - they were tough

hey you have to be the toughest sob around, other wise you should just drive a cherokee or some other panzy-assed ride

true jeepers do it in the mud, rain, snow, sand - well you get the idea

MudderChuck · #3 (**permalink**) 09-04-2003, 12:00 AM

I don´t know how cold it gets where you are, but your sure to notice every leak and draft in your soft top. I got one of those seat covers, that heats, helped some. I also remember driving home once in my sleeping bag, from a fishing trip.
I mounted an old heater on the back of the consol pionting up, that I found in a M-151 military Jeep, changed the fan to 12 volt and ran a coupel of heater hoses through the firewall. Really helped.
I live on the same longitude as Fargo North Dakota.
I had a 90 YJ, they may have improved the seal on the soft top some since mine was designed. Though the heater did put out good heat.

Snitty · #4 (**permalink**) 09-04-2003, 07:21 AM

i've gone a few winters now with at soft top... these are NY winters, they get pretty grueling, we get lake effect winters, not too fun... but the heater always blew warm enough to not worry... plus, if you do any highway driving, you should get a scoop for your air inlet, it helps with heating as well... i've noticed more leaks with my hardtop than i ever did with my softop, but i have yet to seal it up too... you should be fine.. i've plowed 2 winters with a soft top with no complaints

jps4jeep · #5 (**permalink**) 09-04-2003, 07:42 AM

Snitty, you gotta love lake effect snow, we get it too here on boston (perhaps not as bad as you) Usually after the first real snow storm, when the sun peaks through, I will take the doors and hard top off my jeep and cruise around, always wearing a huge smile. Damn I am a dork!!

Honestly, it won't be that bad, it might stink for short trips to the store, (heater won't be able to fill the entire cabin) but if you are driving for over ten minutes, crank it up and it will be at a comfy temp.

If my friends 75 super beetle with a stupid 30 year old electric heater can survive a New England winter, you'll be all set!

Johnny

BakedAlaskan · #6 (**permalink**) 09-04-2003, 09:52 AM

Yep no sympathy here either. 30 years in Alaska, and several CJ AND V-dubs. You'll be inheaven in a "97" Jeep.

If not,............you just might be Jeep material son.

J/k

carriss · #7 (**permalink**) 09-04-2003, 10:15 AM

don't worry i ain't even got a heater!

NJJeepGirl · #8 (**permalink**) 09-04-2003, 10:51 AM

I have a 2002 Sahara and I put the soft top on about a month after I bought it and I went through the bad winter we had last year with all the snow and all, and my Jeep stayed very warm.

Good luck
Gina

88WRANGRED · #9 (**permalink**) 09-04-2003, 11:05 AM

my heat CRANKS, i start the jeep when its cold out to let it warm up and put the heater on full blast, after letting the jeep warm up and i get in it to go to work i have to shut the heat off cause it is too hot!!!! my jeep is an 88 and i just got a hard top for it now i won't have all the flapping from the s/t and the little breezes that were mentioned earlier in this post. but the heat is the bomb.

SUCK IT UP! :P , its a jeep

ray

johnny7point0 · #10 (**permalink**) 09-04-2003, 11:32 AM

I bought my 97 Sport (w/soft top) in January and everyone kept asking me "dont you FREEZE in that thing?"

Well, for the first 10 minutes I do and then it heats up and stays as warm as any other car Ive been in. My friends are suprised when they get in and they DONT freeze.

Mxpx182lit · #11 (**permalink**) 09-04-2003, 04:49 PM

i have the softtop and half doors, its nippy untill it gets warmed up, but then the heater comes on for abouit 5 min and then i have to turn it off becasue its so hot! P.S. i have 99TJ

Green97TJ · #12 (**permalink**) 09-04-2003, 07:57 PM

Yea, my 97 will burn ya up! you could about bake cookies on the dash the heats so good! The only thing to remember is, you cant scrape those soft top windows, so plan on starting it plenty early if you dont have a garage or whatever.

Nathan

Merlin · #13 (**permalink**) 09-04-2003, 10:30 PM

I've gone through 10 Minnesota winters with a soft-top. My three and six old old girls have grown-up my Jeep and will always pick it over my wifes no matter what the temperature.

Tug-n-pull · #14 (**permalink**) 09-04-2003, 10:34 PM

One Word! Longjohns! hehehehehe Tug

Greywolf · #15 (**permalink**) 09-04-2003, 10:57 PM

Heat in a Jeep? How did ya'll manage to get so lucky?

Actually, by upgrading my thermostat and giving the Jeep time to warm up before starting off, the thing will now just about run ya out of the cab. Course I'm a little luckier than some. Driving a Scrambler with a half-cab, I have a whole lot less to heat.

Only thing I'd advise ya about the top is play around with it and make sure you get it sealed as much as possible. You'll be good to go then.

Hmmmm here's one too. J.C. Whitney used to offer (doubt if they still do, but someone might be able to fabricate one) a "quilted" type liner that went under the soft top on the CJ's. Buddy of mine had one some years ago and it was a great help.

Later,

Greywolf

L33TJ33P · #16 (**permalink**) 09-04-2003, 11:03 PM

You are in a TJ, the only air you have to worryabout comming in is on the 1/2 door right at the angle. The windows don't fit snugly into that area so you get a little breaze and I mean LITTLE kinda like comming through a straw. Just blast your heater and watch the windows buldge out and BANG you are as warm as a camel's butt in a sandstorm.

cj5steve · #17 (**permalink**) 09-05-2003, 01:31 AM

i had to log in for this one.my jeep leaks air very badly and last winter i ran about 3 months without heat at all.i broke the heater core in november while changing my motor.when it got warm enough for me to work on it i put in new heater core a chevy blazer heater motor.this year i am going over everything with duct tape and i hope i stay warm.but like everybody else says even if the smile is frozen on your face at least your in a jeep!yeah baby

phiambo01tj · #18 (**permalink**) 09-05-2003, 02:52 PM

the best with a soft top is when you turn a corner and you hear a loud rubbing sound from the ice flying off of your top while u are inside and wonder wtf that just was.

johnny7point0 · #19 (**permalink**) 09-05-2003, 04:39 PM

That is the best.

When it first happenned to me, I thought gremlins were invading my Jeep.

Now whenever it happens with a new person in my Jeep, I act scared and say stuff like "what was that? Are you alright?" just to see them react.

SmokeysKid · #20 (**permalink**) 09-05-2003, 06:22 PM

I know that jeeps get a tad chilly.... One day my dad had to drive 45 min each way, just to pick me up from somehwere at night in end of feb beggining of march and it was cold out.... we drove down I95 (big highway around these parts) and we had the top off and man was i cold..... I had a hoodie and a blanket on me.... it was bearable though. I think dad likes to get a kick out of ridding around in the jeep with me just so he can see my "Highway hair" and maaaan is it funny. But one thing about our jeep is that the floor heats up... so if ur feet ever get cold, slip off ur shoes and put ur feetsies on the floor and they'll worm right up. U should be good though!

xoxox
Kid