[Trailblazer]

Looks like Irene is going to pass us by this time. I'm curious though how you all store your jeeps for storms. Of course i'm only talking about folks with soft tops and no garages. I've always had trucks during storms so i just used the park-n-pray method. Never been thourh one with a soft top.

[92SquareEye]

No real advice here. Wilma blew my top and frame off...found it in a neighbors yard down the block. Hasn't been put back on since...

-dave

[Big Red One]

My original soft top was just over 3 years old when it survived ANDREW in 92, I parked the Jeep as close to a solid structure as I could, a 2 story apt. complex in my case, for Minimum wind speed... and left the upper portion (horizontal edge) of the front windows unzipped so the wind would pass through, to DECREASE the pressure differential between air inside/outside the Jeep. If the air pressure differential is too great it will 'SUCK' the top up/off. Then I ran a rope through these openings (under the bars from the windshield to the roll bar) and over the soft top... if you tighten up the rope really tight it will help keep the soft top from 'sucking' up at the point right above the driver/front pass. Did not try this but a rope attached to the body/frame up and over the top at a point above the rear side windows would work to keep that part of the top from 'sucking'. The Top survived with flying colors with just a little water inside from the unzipped windows... This was in Kendall (just north of the eye wall). Don't park it near any possible tree limb damage, The closeness to the building also helped with the 'flying' debris.

[JeepNWilly]

My thought was to make sure the Jeep was facing the same direction as the wind was coming from kinda like driving. Move it around during the eye. I did this with my cars during the 3 storms (Francis, Jeanne, Wilma) that hit West Palm Beach. I did not have the Jeep back then, I like Big Red One's recommendation. Because I was well aware of which way the wind would blow at different stages of the storms I actually saved my wife's car from being hit by a huge tree limb that broke off a tree across the street and slid across my front yard ripping up my house's back-flow preventer.

Now parking it close to a building is a very good idea for wind protection but keep in mind which was it will be blowing because during Francis we were at my dad's house and I parked my wife's Subaru Forester in my dad's front porch but half of it was exposed and the shingles from my dad's roof were blown away and ended up all over her Subaru

[Bullrana]

find closest parking garage. i live near 4 story one. park my grand cherokee there. although last hurricane it was full. and not with just cars. boats motorcycles wave runners and a sorts of other things. so first notice of storm making land. i am there. the garage i use is about one mile from me. in plantation nobody has any problems with theft.. if your rig is your baby. try robovault. 595 us 1 but cost big $$$.

[PigPen]

I just leave it on my backyard and hopefully would get cleaned. If it doesn't roll it, I probably will so it cleans the underneath aswell!

[Lulu Smiles]

With Wilma I just parked it in the middle of my backyard away from the big tree that was over my car pad where I normally park. I expected to lose the soft top but she held up like a champ. The only damage I suffered was a scratch and very slight dent in the hood from a roof single that blew by and skated by. If I had left it in the normal parking spot surely one of the branches from the tree out front that broke would have gone through the top or the metal awning from a neighbor's house that wedged itself under my other neighbor's van would have hit my Jeep instead.

[smallJEEPette]

If the interior isn't the best (i.e. no carpet or radio that kind of thing) then just remove the top completely and let the rain come. If not go with what Big Red One said. LOL

[Trailblazer]

Yeah, i'll probably just remove the top and wrap up the dash. I usually park our cars behind a wall in the neighborhood to avoid direct wind. Problem is that everyone else has caught on so it fills up fast. We have garage access at work but the hospitals stay open during storms and security is posted to make sure you're not storing cars.