Jeep Wrangler Unlimited half doors spotted in new spy photos
The long-awaited half doors that Jeep has been promising for the JL Wrangler have been spotted in testing again, this time paired with the Wrangler’s three-piece Freedom hardtop.
Jeep first showed off half doors on the Wrangler when it unveiled the new JL Wrangler at the 2017 Los Angeles Auto Show, but they’ve yet to reach production. We’ve seen spy photos of the half doors testing on a two-door. We’ve even driven a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392 concept with what may be the same half doors. In our brief experience with those pre-production pieces, they blended perfectly with the lines of the Wrangler but, since the half doors are much lighter than their full-height counterparts, they took some getting used to—we found ourselves slamming them shut even with a normal amount of effort. The absence of window glass, a window frame, and the accompanying motor/ regulator will do that.
As seen in these spy photos, the soft windows don’t look too bad when paired with the hardtop, but we expect them to be an even better fit with the Sunrider soft top. Jeep’s soft top, standard on some Wrangler models, allows the D-pillar, rear window, and rear side windows to be removed, leaving just the top in place. Of course, the Sunrider top also folds back and stows like a normal convertible roof, so a fully open-air experience is still on the table. These half doors and plastic windows will definitely have their trade-offs, as they no doubt allow much more road noise into the cabin, but that’s the price you pay for having a convertible in the first place.
When these half doors go into production, they’ll give Wrangler buyers even more options on the already highly customizable off-roader and give Jeep more ammo in its upcoming battle with the Ford Bronco for supremacy in the showroom and on the trail.
