First Jeep and full of questions!

[mountainkatt]

Hey guys! I'm a new member of the forum and currently waiting for my first jeep ever! The dealership is finding me the one I want - aka there are no longer any Geckos available and that makes me sad. So I think I"m going white. 2013 JKU Sahara White with color match hardtop... so therefor... the questions. Hopefully I don't annoy you guys too much!

1) Soft top. Currently, I'm not getting the dual top - MUCH cheaper to buy after from what I can find. I'll likely just buy second hand. What do you guys think about your soft tops in Calgary? Leaking? (I know we've had a stupid amount of rain this year.....) Weather changes? Is it all that big of a deal?

2) Seat Covers. I'm thinking Coverkings (Wet Okole would be to die for but the price difference makes me sad). Anyone running anything awesome (Neoprene?) they bought in the city? How are they holding up?

3) Trails. I'm from BC originally, so my knowledge of trails here is pretty limited. Since living in Alberta I've owned a Civic Coupe, so I've been pretty pavement-bound. I'm looking for something rather easy - beginner type stuff. (How are the trails and camping out in Ghost?)

4) Doors. Is it legal here? I know I see them off all the time, but yeah. If it's not legal then do they care?

5) Dogs. How do you guys keep your furry friends in, top down? (I have a rather large German Shepard that isn't the best car-rider.)

I know it's a lot! I've done a good bit of research, but it's always nice to hear from people IN Calgary! I'm pretty damn excited (and getting a killer price because my boyfriend sells them) to get in a vehicle that I can take to go hiking, camping, exploring etc. It's going to be our daily driver for most of the time (so no crazy mods).... but our commute involves 1km to the train, walked in the summer.

Fire away guys! (Or ignore it... there will be no cliff notes version haha)

[specialk]

Welcome to the forum....

1) I run a soft top year around.  No issues.  Hard tops are difficult to store

3) Waiparous (Ghost) offers very good beginner trails and camping...  as does McLean creek.... though things have changed since the rains.  Check out our open runs section and hook up with some peeps to get an idea of the trails.   McLean is more popular in the summer as it is closed in winter and Waiparous is open.

4) You can run with out doors.  I put on some bicycle mirrors into the hinges so that I can see something while driving

5) I don't have a pup, but I would look into one of the mesh/strap enclosures so that he doesn't jump....

[Bnine]

Congrats and welcome.

Have fun with the new jeep

[w squared]

Since Kevin doesn't count very well and skipped question #2, I'll try to answer it.

Seat Glovers makes neoprene seat covers. They stand up fairly well (it took 5 years of use before mine started wearing out), but understand that neoprene does not breathe all that well. Neoprene seat covers + summer = swass.

Soft tops are anywhere between $450 and $600 if you buy them privately. Hard tops...hard to find for private sale. Most of the soccer moms seem to run their hard tops only. I liked my hard top when I commuted 100km a day on the Deerfoot in the winter....but I'm not sure that I'm going to put it back on my Jeep this year.

Dogs - you can get the straps that close off the openings in your Jeep so your dog doesn't launch out of it after a squirrel....or you can get a harness to put on your dog and clip a short leash into place so that he can move around in the Jeep, but cannot jump out.

If you know that you're going to spend a fair amount of time off-road, consider a Rubicon (because it's 100% off-road ready when you buy it)...but even a Sahara need nothing more than recovery points and a set of tires to do very well off road.

[brianrh]

I traded in my unlimited X two years after I got it for a rubicon with a 3 inch lift. :-) I was happy to find the used rig I traded up to had dual tops... Hard top has been in the backyard since the day I drove home from the stealer. Planning on going soft top year round, but we'll see.  I also have an energetic pup.  Planning on a hard mount for his leash to the overheads in the coming weeks to keep him roughly in the middle.   I'm a big fan of Mclean for the proximity to Calgary and the variety of trails. Most of them still unexplored after two years.  The old lady keeps slagging on me about seat covers, but I don't really care, I guess. I keep the rear seat down most of the time for the dog.

See you out there!

[mountainkatt]

Wow guys, thanks!

We don't really think we need a Rubicon - it will be a long time before we get to the point where we would need it. However, we were thinking of changing out the sway disconnects for JKS's and adding a bigger tire (it's got the 18" rims) but that's in the future - like maybe winter haha. They say the mod-bug is contagious. I don't know what they are talking about 

Hard top will likely be on most of the time because I live in a dicey neighborhood with LOTS of pedestrian traffic at all hours of the day. Soft top is something we'll add when we get tired of taking the hardtop off whenever we want to go somewhere without it (I predict 2-4 times).

We will definitely be checking out McLean and Ghost. We should get our new baby tonight or tomorrow - I predict her being treated like a princess for approximately 24 hours.

[Spinalguy]

Wow guys, thanks!

We don't really think we need a Rubicon - it will be a long time before we get to the point where we would need it. However, we were thinking of changing out the sway disconnects for JKS's and adding a bigger tire (it's got the 18" rims) but that's in the future - like maybe winter haha. They say the mod-bug is contagious. I don't know what they are talking about 

Hard top will likely be on most of the time because I live in a dicey neighborhood with LOTS of pedestrian traffic at all hours of the day. Soft top is something we'll add when we get tired of taking the hardtop off whenever we want to go somewhere without it (I predict 2-4 times).

We will definitely be checking out McLean and Ghost. We should get our new baby tonight or tomorrow - I predict her being treated like a princess for approximately 24 hours.

how much more is the rubicon?
if you go offroad once, you will look back wishing you got the rubicon.

[mountainkatt]

For us, quite a bit. $7k approx. The dealership is getting me out of my lease (so I'm taking the rebates in negative equity) (worst idea ever = lease) (unless anyone wants to buy a 2010 civic coupe? kidding.... kinda) - plus I'm getting quite a bit below invoice.

Our 'off-road' isn't going to be crazy... can't risk screwing up our only vehicle.

[Pookapotamus]

Welcome to the forum, keep an eye on the open run section and come out to gain some experience.

[bullitt85]

Hey guys! I'm a new member of the forum and currently waiting for my first jeep ever! The dealership is finding me the one I want - aka there are no longer any Geckos available and that makes me sad. So I think I"m going white. 2013 JKU Sahara White with color match hardtop... so therefor... the questions. Hopefully I don't annoy you guys too much!

1) Soft top. Currently, I'm not getting the dual top - MUCH cheaper to buy after from what I can find. I'll likely just buy second hand. What do you guys think about your soft tops in Calgary? Leaking? (I know we've had a stupid amount of rain this year.....) Weather changes? Is it all that big of a deal?

2) Seat Covers. I'm thinking Coverkings (Wet Okole would be to die for but the price difference makes me sad). Anyone running anything awesome (Neoprene?) they bought in the city? How are they holding up?

3) Trails. I'm from BC originally, so my knowledge of trails here is pretty limited. Since living in Alberta I've owned a Civic Coupe, so I've been pretty pavement-bound. I'm looking for something rather easy - beginner type stuff. (How are the trails and camping out in Ghost?)

4) Doors. Is it legal here? I know I see them off all the time, but yeah. If it's not legal then do they care?

5) Dogs. How do you guys keep your furry friends in, top down? (I have a rather large German Shepard that isn't the best car-rider.)

I know it's a lot! I've done a good bit of research, but it's always nice to hear from people IN Calgary! I'm pretty damn excited (and getting a killer price because my boyfriend sells them) to get in a vehicle that I can take to go hiking, camping, exploring etc. It's going to be our daily driver for most of the time (so no crazy mods).... but our commute involves 1km to the train, walked in the summer.

Fire away guys! (Or ignore it... there will be no cliff notes version haha)

1) I find soft tops to be noisy but not leaky, however a friend of mine out of DV ended up with a cigaret burn in his soft top after he left it outside a bar, also I hear of them being slashed sometimes.
2)I have the wet okole in my TJ, they are awesome and I have left them in the rain several times, they dry very fast and even in the heaviest of rain in only left the seat underneath slightly damp (sit able) they dried after about 30 mins in the sun.
3) when you get your JK I can show ya ToTW and some other easy trails
4) no idea on the legality of it.... seen lots of jeeps with no doors or half doors.
5)strap him to your roll bar (top centre) that way he can lay down and move around in the back but limit his movement so his head can't go past the frame.

Rubicon will be worth the extra money, especially if your thinking of hitting the trails at all in my opinion, I bought a 99 TJ saharah after 3 trips into the bush with my friends with rubies I tossed it and bought a rubi.. I run TJ so considerably cheaper however I say spend the money short term and save long term, lockers will get you in and out a lot of places. Plus the rubies their (new) come with better AT tires.
I am looking into buy a street princess JK and it will be a rubi as well, will keep the TJ for the bush.

[mountainkatt]

There she is! Shiney and new! Got a soft top too. We had the panels off in 5 mins from owning her and realized that we needed more haha. The other half has refused to name her (but it's Dixie... or Matthew (like the actor McConnoghey - sexy with his top off) kidding. Everyone knows Jeeps are girls.)

Here is the hound aka Ajax.



He likes his new ride. I don't think I'll be strapping him to the roll bar... in the horrible event that we should ever get in an accident and roll, he would risk getting pinned under the vehicle. Going with a double leash system to either kiddie-chair hook to keep him centered with a harness. He will still be able to lay down, and get his head out either side - but now very far.

We are headed out to Ghost or McClean for the long weekend. Still running stock (obviously) so just easy peasy stuff. It's all about the camping this time.

[bullitt85]

Very nice, welcome to the world of Jeep ... its addictive.