Arctic Softtop/Doors

[Sigi]

I have a two door M1123 coming with no doors or top. While it is supposed to be running it needs lots of stuff. E.g. I'd need the whole 4 door top/door kit. There are "arctic" versions (green) of the top and doors available. Looks like it just has some insulation between fabric layers. It might help some with noise and heat retention. Any downside to using the arctic vs the standard issue?

 

[mgFray]

Regular vs Arctic:

* Regular is just a single layer of fabric (vinyl?) so little to no insulating
- "Soft" plastic windows
- Windows on doors unzip, to open
* Arctic is insulated/pleated (the insulation kind of looks fiberglass like, but more dense).
- "Hard" plastic windows
- Windows do not open

The size of the windows are very different. In the doors, the regular top has a large window while the arctic one has much smaller window. (again doesn't open/unzip.). In the rear curtain, the window is wide on the regular top, while there are two small windows in the arctic top. They're positioned well for the driver to look back and see well, but the rear view mirror becomes useless, unlike the regular soft top.

The hard windows can crack if the screws that hold them in place are over torqued (which seems to be fairly common from the factory.)

With that said, I went from the 4-man regular soft-top, to a 2-man with arctic for the winter. I've not yet experienced a winter with the HMMWV yet, but it should help.

I'm currently driving around with the arctic top and rear curtain, with the regular doors, I'll switch the doors out in a few weeks when it gets colder.

 

[Action]

If you get a complete arctic kit, it will have lots of velcro and misc brackets to seal up all of the gaps around the curtain. The arctic 2-man rear curtain goes all the way to the floor.

 

[Sigi]

Regular vs Arctic:

* Regular is just a single layer of fabric (vinyl?) so little to no insulating
- "Soft" plastic windows
- Windows on doors unzip, to open
* Arctic is insulated/pleated (the insulation kind of looks fiberglass like, but more dense).
- "Hard" plastic windows
- Windows do not open

The size of the windows are very different. In the doors, the regular top has a large window while the arctic one has much smaller window. (again doesn't open/unzip.). In the rear curtain, the window is wide on the regular top, while there are two small windows in the arctic top. They're positioned well for the driver to look back and see well, but the rear view mirror becomes useless, unlike the regular soft top.

The hard windows can crack if the screws that hold them in place are over torqued (which seems to be fairly common from the factory.)

With that said, I went from the 4-man regular soft-top, to a 2-man with arctic for the winter. I've not yet experienced a winter with the HMMWV yet, but it should help.

I'm currently driving around with the arctic top and rear curtain, with the regular doors, I'll switch the doors out in a few weeks when it gets colder.

Thanks, that is just what I was looking for. The lack of opening windows in the doors are a downside. I guess one could drive without the doors in the summer. Does the rear curtain roll up with the two small hard windows?

 

[Action]

Thanks, that is just what I was looking for. The lack of opening windows in the doors are a downside. I guess one could drive without the doors in the summer. Does the rear curtain roll up with the two small hard windows?

Probably not. Here is the 4-man. The 2-man windows are the same.
It wasnt designed to roll up in arctic conditions.

 

[mgFray]

Thanks, that is just what I was looking for. The lack of opening windows in the doors are a downside. I guess one could drive without the doors in the summer. Does the rear curtain roll up with the two small hard windows?

If I leave the 2-man on in the summer, I'll either take off the doors or use my regular doors with the windows that unzip. As for the rear curtain, I can always unzip the center bit for some more ventilation, but so far this fall it's not really been an issue.