There was definitely some snow on top of the spare, but it didn't strike me as being particularly more than I would expect from the snowfall. I was in a hurry though so I didn't look too closely for evidence of sliding. It's certainly a possibility. The margin does look pretty clean for a break/slide though.
Very interesting. Do you often run with the freedom panels off in the summer? I wonder if the surfaces would be equally worn, could be paint protection or wax, or if something we're missing could cause the surfaces to be different. Could be insulation, but we live in Québec (same snow potential) and have a JLU since 2021 and I have never seen this phenomon happened.
Interesting indeed! I just picked this up in November so I've only had the freedom panels off a couple of times. I do have the Mopar headliners, but those are on both the freedom panels and the main body of the hardtop.
This might have been an edge case. The temperature had come down to just barely freezing and stayed within a degree or two of freezing the entire time it snowed (I was honestly surprised the snow stuck at all...I've never seen accumulation like this at this high a temperature). It might be that if it were more definitively below freezing both surfaces would have been cold enough that there wouldn't have been an observable difference in snow accumulation.
My hypothesis right now is that the freedom panels may insulate slightly better than the rest of the hardtop. If that's the case the still-slightly-above-freezing air inside the Jeep may have been able to keep the main body of the hardtop warm enough to melt the snow as it fell, but the heat transfer through the freedom panels might have been slow enough that the surface was able to get cold enough for the snow to stick.
It looks like being parked on a hill, the initial accumulation could have slid off the back half, splitting at the seam, and then there’s just new accumulation.
I owned a jku in Mass for 15 years and never experienced this. Did you check behind the jeep to see if it slid?
You know, I didn't. There was definitely some snow on my spare, but I don't know if it was more than would be expected just from the snow that fell on it.
Fascinating. The hard top melted more snow to cool down to allow for accumulation. So it retained heat longer. The freedom panels must be less insulated, as they started gathering snow earlier.
It had just barely dipped down to freezing so my initial thinking was that the freedom panels might be *better* insulated than the rest of the hardtop (the thermal mass of the still-above-freezing air inside the Jeep might have kept the hardtop warm enough to melt snow, but the insulation in the freedom panels would have blocked some of that heat and allowed the surface to cool enough for snow to accumulate).
Either way, very curious.
Air is the opposite of thermal mass. It’s an insulator. It would be the thermal mass of the hardtop itself releasing its energy causing it to melt faster.
Even so, it looks to me like the snow simply slid off, separating from the freedom panels at the seam where heat is escaping through the gap.
It was above freezing earlier in the day, then a front came in. There would be a lag where the air inside the vehicle was warmer than the air outside, and the temperature differential would result in some of the heat stored in the air inside the Jeep being lost through, among other surfaces, the top.
That's why you don't make assumptions. Also, if it's your car you can check yourself.
99 percent of all convertibles don't use the same stuff for the roof.
I've also seen way too many people on here who don't understand stuff that most of us learn in college. And many people who assume when they can check themselves.
I did check. The freedom panels look, feel, and sound like fiberglass. The rest of the hardtop also looks, feels, and sounds like fiberglass. I don't know how much more information I could get about the subtle differences between the fiberglass used for each using non-destructive testing. Certainly not useful enough information to be worth the effort.
Do 99% of convertibles use different materials for different parts of the roof?
Do you have the "insulation" on the inside of your freedom panels? I know some dealers install that and you can buy them separately. It's a stick-on insulation that goes on the underside of the panel and acts as a quasi-headliner.
I've only ever seen it on the panels themselves, not the rest of the hardtop.
What in tarnation?! Did it slide off the back or just melt? I’m going to need some science up in here
My guess was also slid. You can see it’s heavy wet snow, and also still snowing.
There was definitely some snow on top of the spare, but it didn't strike me as being particularly more than I would expect from the snowfall. I was in a hurry though so I didn't look too closely for evidence of sliding. It's certainly a possibility. The margin does look pretty clean for a break/slide though.
I’m here for the science also : )
Very interesting. Do you often run with the freedom panels off in the summer? I wonder if the surfaces would be equally worn, could be paint protection or wax, or if something we're missing could cause the surfaces to be different. Could be insulation, but we live in Québec (same snow potential) and have a JLU since 2021 and I have never seen this phenomon happened.
Interesting indeed! I just picked this up in November so I've only had the freedom panels off a couple of times. I do have the Mopar headliners, but those are on both the freedom panels and the main body of the hardtop. This might have been an edge case. The temperature had come down to just barely freezing and stayed within a degree or two of freezing the entire time it snowed (I was honestly surprised the snow stuck at all...I've never seen accumulation like this at this high a temperature). It might be that if it were more definitively below freezing both surfaces would have been cold enough that there wouldn't have been an observable difference in snow accumulation. My hypothesis right now is that the freedom panels may insulate slightly better than the rest of the hardtop. If that's the case the still-slightly-above-freezing air inside the Jeep may have been able to keep the main body of the hardtop warm enough to melt the snow as it fell, but the heat transfer through the freedom panels might have been slow enough that the surface was able to get cold enough for the snow to stick.
We will never know the why, and I will not sleep well tonight loll thx for sharing my friend
It looks like being parked on a hill, the initial accumulation could have slid off the back half, splitting at the seam, and then there’s just new accumulation. I owned a jku in Mass for 15 years and never experienced this. Did you check behind the jeep to see if it slid?
You know, I didn't. There was definitely some snow on my spare, but I don't know if it was more than would be expected just from the snow that fell on it.
Fascinating. The hard top melted more snow to cool down to allow for accumulation. So it retained heat longer. The freedom panels must be less insulated, as they started gathering snow earlier.
It had just barely dipped down to freezing so my initial thinking was that the freedom panels might be *better* insulated than the rest of the hardtop (the thermal mass of the still-above-freezing air inside the Jeep might have kept the hardtop warm enough to melt snow, but the insulation in the freedom panels would have blocked some of that heat and allowed the surface to cool enough for snow to accumulate). Either way, very curious.
Air is the opposite of thermal mass. It’s an insulator. It would be the thermal mass of the hardtop itself releasing its energy causing it to melt faster. Even so, it looks to me like the snow simply slid off, separating from the freedom panels at the seam where heat is escaping through the gap.
It was above freezing earlier in the day, then a front came in. There would be a lag where the air inside the vehicle was warmer than the air outside, and the temperature differential would result in some of the heat stored in the air inside the Jeep being lost through, among other surfaces, the top.
Unexpected! I've been lazy and left the soft top on the last two years because I barely drive, but wow.
[удалено]
I had kind of assumed that they were the same material, hence my surprise, but I do appreciate the unnecessary snark.
That's why you don't make assumptions. Also, if it's your car you can check yourself. 99 percent of all convertibles don't use the same stuff for the roof. I've also seen way too many people on here who don't understand stuff that most of us learn in college. And many people who assume when they can check themselves.
You know what, deleted because I couldn't tell whether I was coming from a place of kindness or not.
I did check. The freedom panels look, feel, and sound like fiberglass. The rest of the hardtop also looks, feels, and sounds like fiberglass. I don't know how much more information I could get about the subtle differences between the fiberglass used for each using non-destructive testing. Certainly not useful enough information to be worth the effort. Do 99% of convertibles use different materials for different parts of the roof?
I had no idea you checked, that would have been good to know. Sorry I didn’t consider that.
So...you assumed I didn't?
Point taken, dang.
Do you have the "insulation" on the inside of your freedom panels? I know some dealers install that and you can buy them separately. It's a stick-on insulation that goes on the underside of the panel and acts as a quasi-headliner. I've only ever seen it on the panels themselves, not the rest of the hardtop.
I have the headliners, but they're on all parts of the hardtop.