Jeep Blues

[ssbeagle]

My husband wanted to drive my jeep to work today. He works with lubricants and is on the road checking on accounts most days. Today was scrapyard day, and that's usually pretty dirty, so he thought it would be fun to take the jeep. He wanted the top down, so we took care of that for the first time last night. The trickiest part of that was folding the top in so that it would go down far enough. The back seat went back in, too, and that wasn't al that easy, either. But we got through it, and it looked great. We haven't had much rain in our area lately, but lo and behold, by this morning it was 50% chance for the day. He took it with the top down anyway and was home before the rain.

I on the other hand got to drive the Titan. Very sad day. I am not a truck person, and I don't like big vehicles of any kind, especially if I have to drive them. I like to feel the road, and I like being able to get into any parking space or get around easily if something else is in the way. The best thing I could say about his truck is that it has a nice sound system. When I stopped at the grocery store and then came back out, it was less thrilling not seeing the jeep. I called my husband on the two-way and said, "I WANT MY JEEP!!" (I love my jeep!) He had a fun driving it, though. I really think we should have been a two-jeep family!

Since it rained all afternoon and evening and will probably rain tomorrow, too, I put the jeep top back up. All by myself, too. I figure if I'm going to drive a jeep, I better learn how to take care of it. What a pain that is, though, putting that top back up! The weight of the top and the bows fought me the whole time. (Instead of "beagle", I could have name it something else with a "b"!) I couldn't work it from side to side, so I had to climb in it and pull it up over my head. If I thought that was going to be the hardest part, I found out I was wrong when came time to line up the pins with the sides of the frame. Once that was done, it wasn't too bad, aside from the heat, humidity, and getting a little dirty from the top and the tires. I wouldn't try it before going somewhere -- unless you're headed out for a trail.

[moneypit]

I feel your pain. I drive a Big Ford Extended Van as my work truck/daily driver. So the Jeep sits in the garage till the weekends. Just a thought...on putting the top up by yourself. Have you tried standing on the back of the Jeep with the tailgate open and pushing the whole top forward. Then get out and just latch the first clip on the windsheild latch. That holds the top in place and it's alot easier to get the clips in because you can rock the frame back and forth a little while everything is loose. I do it that way and it saves struggling with it.

[ssbeagle]

Thanks, I will definitely try that next time! I think I did start hooking the latch on the windshield one or two steps too late, but by then, I already had the top up, though with too much of a battle. It should be easier next time, knowing a little more about it, and getting those steps in the right order! We have rain projected for the next week, so I'll have to wait till that ends to try again. Sorry to hear your jeep has to wait at home most days, but I guess that just makes getting back in it all that more special!

[ssbeagle]

I forgot to mention, but the lovebugs have been really awful lately. When I asked my husband how he like driving the jeep with the top down, he said he caught a few lovebugs in the face. (No, the windshield wasn't down, either.) I think I'll stick to leaving the top up and enjoy the a/c and the cd player until the rains ---and the lovebugs die down!

[tag]

ssbeagle said:

I forgot to mention, but the lovebugs have been really awful lately.

Tee hee, most people outside of Florida won't know what in the world you are talking about. ;D

[moneypit]

Yea....... up North Lovebug is something differant and much prefered to your Lovebug.

[ssbeagle]

I remember lovebugs, the insect type, even back when I was a kid in S.E. Texas (south of Houston). We used to call them telephone bugs because they were connected. Kids love to catch them, and, well, sometimes pull them apart. They are so bad here now that they were even on the local news, and for as long as it lasts, here's a link: www.baynews9.com/content/36/2006/6/2/161827.html .

If that doesn't work, and anyone's still interested, here's a different link: edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MG068 . Apparently, they are throughout states all along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Since my husband drives more than I do during the day, he's been getting more "hits". Last week I had to carefully walk by his truck grill to keep from brushing up against it. It had so many of the dead lovebugs on it with their wings sticking out, it looked fuzzy!

[n3cr0shark]

LOL....I remember Love Bugs but then again I grew up in Houston... LOL....but your right...glad we don't have them up here in Ohio...instead we have a lot of other bugs that make big splats on the windshield...LOLOL

Ad for the top, the more you put it up and down, the easier it gets....I can do mine up in about 5-10 minutes including putting away the cloverpatch roll, etc... I usually lock the side pins first, then hook the back panels to the tub, then latch the header down....then the windows, doors, etc....

With so much problems, were you back flaps (beside the rear windows) in place or free??

[ssbeagle]

I forgot to check back here, so I'm a little late with an answer! I remember pushing down on the top corners to anchor the sail panels in place after the top was raised. I think I just needed my other half to help me out, but I was determined to do it by myself. I had trouble with the back end weight of the top and the frame fighting me while I tried to put the pins in. I don't think I had the windshield latches even started at that point, and I believe that was where I made a mistake once I did get the top pulled up. I've only done it once, so I'll have to see if it is any easier next time getting the steps in the right order.

[atcjeeper]

I'm late checking in on this topic but it reminds me of 2 stories:

1) I was on vacation in Hawaii a few years ago and from our balcony I saw some Asian fellow tourists having trouble putting the soft top up on their rental TJ. I watched them struggle for a few minutes before I headed down to assist. It looked like they had the front latched and locked before the hooked the back corners and the were about ready to break the thing. After a few minutes of primitive makeshift sign language and pointing the top was on and it was thumbs up all around. We all now spoke the international language of JEEP.
2) Love Bugs...HATE THEM!!!! We have them a few times a year here in Lake Charles LA and they have ruined the paint on several of my cars. Last fall while the Love Bugs were abound and my Jeep still had that new car smell, I couldn't resist putting my top down Love Bugs be damned. I took a few bugs in the bean after they bounced off the driver's side mirror but work was only 10 min away. Leaving work that afternoon I realized I had hundreds of these "Love Bugs" at my feet and they crawling up my legs, and I was wearing shorts. I realized they had nested on my floorboards, under the seats and in the dash. I had to pull over immediately at a car wash and vacuum them out for 20 min. Lesson learned, Love Bugs 1 Eric 0. I think the only natural predator after the larvae stage is the automobile.

What's the last thing that goes through a bugs mind when he hits the windshield?

His a$$.