How to Remove the Hardtop from your Jeep Gladiator JT

Hi guys! Today I’ll show you how to remove the hardtop from your 2020 and newer Jeep Gladiator. Removing that canopy is now a very simple process and, as one, I highly recommend everyone out there to try the experience at least once. Riding your gladiator down the road or trail with the canopy completely removed is a completely unique experience that you can only get with the Jeep Gladiator, no other truck on the market offers this experience. Okay, let’s jump in!

Actually, the process is very simple, it only takes a few tools that Jeep brings with every new Jeep Gladiator so you really have no excuse not to remove your hard top. Now you need an extra pair of hands to give you one hand so you can safely remove your hood without injuring yourself or damaging your hardtop and  Paint for Jeep Hardtop afterwards.

All You Need is the T-50 Torx Bit and the Ratchet

You will need the T-50 torx bit from your tool kit, you will also need the ratchet that is included in this kit. Now you just need to remove a couple of screws.

1. Before we start you need to remove the freedom panels from the front of your hardtop, the process of removing those freedom bezels is very simple by just flipping a couple of latches and it is actually identical to removing the freedom bezels on the 2018 Jeep Wrangler Jael or newer.

2. That’s done, but once you get that out of the way, the first thing you need to do is remove two screws, one up here over the driver’s side and one on the passenger side, after you got these out of the way, get into the back seat and get the rest and when you have the first two screws out you have a few more in the back and access them.

3. Then just fold the backseat back down, but before you start removing some of these fasteners you also need to unhook the electrical connector in your hardtop. You need to slide the seat out of the way. You have a box there on the driver’s side just outside the roll bar, there is a little tab that you can push in and pull this cover inwards the vehicle.

4. You need to lift off in a moment, now you have an electrical connector there with a red locking tab. Just slide that red locking tab to the front of the vehicle and then the Press the tab and then you can simply lift the connector out of the retaining clip.

5. After that you need to snap it into place there and there is a little fake plug that it plugs directly into. You can tuck away the wiring and then reinstall the panel which gives us a nice, neat look, once you unplugged the electrical connector from the hardtop, it’s tucked away and you’re not going to get caught on anyone’s clothes. If they take it out of the Jeep fetch and overall it looks really finished and then slide it outwards and it will snap back into place.

6. Now at this point you have a few more fasteners that you need to remove. You can see that right in front of the electrical connection there on the driver’s side, there is one in the same place over on the passenger side and over there then you have four screws running along the back behind the back seat. You get these all out of the way and you move on to the next step.

7. Now that you have all your hardware removed from the hardtop, you might be wondering where you can stow this fountain in the back seat as well, if you fold up the seat on the driver’s side, you will find a practical storage area that is designed not only to store the hardware from your hardtop, but also from your doors to hold when you fold down your windshield or remove the underseat shelf at the back. Just hold the lid lift up and let’s go ahead and put all the hardware in the design scratched area under the cover and put the cover back on by simply snapping it back into place and folding the seat down and you can be sure you can know where your hardware is, when it is time to reattach the hardtop on your gladiator.

8. Now at this point you are ready to remove the hardtop from your Gladiator. I recommend asking a friend to help you take off so you don’t injure yourself or damage your hardtop on the Gladiator, there are a few storage challenges that are different from storing a Wrangler hardtop. Of course, you have a whole back piece there that allows you to put it on the floor without worrying about it falling over Gladiator with the shortened rear end there. If you peek into the side pocket of your Freedom Panel storage bag you will find a pair of these rubber hardtop wheel chocks that now have two grooves in a kind of T-shaped pattern.

That’s It!

Honestly, I don’t really recommend storing your heart top this way. I think it will be damaged very easily, but the better option is to grab something like the Quadra Tech hard top storage cart that is made specifically for the Jeep Gladiators. Hardtop designed to allow you to stow the hood in an upright position. But if you have any comments or questions about how to get the top off your Jeep Gladiator, feel free to leave this power anytime in the comments section below. Drive safely!