How to Fold Down Your Jeep’s Windshield

One of the incredibly unique things about Jeep vehicles that enthusiasts love is the ability to fold down the windshield. This is not a common feature in the automotive world, in fact we’re not sure any other brand offers a feature like this. But the thrill of open-air driving is a quintessential part of both the off-road driving experience and the Jeep ownership experience. If you’re new to the world of Jeep vehicles, though, you might not know how exactly you’re supposed to go about folding the windshield. Even if you’re a long-time enthusiast, you might not know the proper way to fold down your Jeep’s windshield. But we’re here to help, so keep reading to learn more about why you might want to fold down your windshield and, of course, how to go about doing just that.

The good news is that you don’t have to drop your windshield, if you don’t want to. There’s no overarching reason that you should fold it down all the time instead of leaving it up. In fact, it’s probably not something you should do all the time. As you can imagine, not having a windshield for protection can leave you open to all kinds of hazards as you drive, so it’s something that should really be reserved for slow strolls through off-road terrain.

Why through off-road terrain? Because the main reason to drop your windshield is to connect yourself even more with the open-air of nature. It might also help give you a clearer view of your surroundings, helping you navigate the difficult terrain of off-road driving. Originally, back when Jeep vehicles were built for war, windshields were dropped to prevent light reflections from giving away positions. That’s not so much an issue any more, but providing airflow and fresh air are definitely good reasons to fold down that Jeep windshield every once in a while.

Now that you know why some people like folding their Jeep windshield down, it’s time to dive into the step-by-step process of actually doing it. We’ll share a video at the end if you would prefer a visual walkthrough, but it’s not as difficult as you might think. It does take a little bit of time and effort, so it’s not something you can do on the run.

First things first, you’ll want to remove your Jeep’s top so that you can access the windshield in its entirety, regardless of what kind of top you might have – be it a Freedom Top, Sky One-Touch Power Top or ordinary soft top. Once the top is removed, you’ll want to grab your Jeep Tool Kit as we’ll be using the tools within to drop the windshield.

Now that you’ve got your tools it’s time to get down to business. The first step is to remove the windshield wiper caps and bolts, which you’ll need your tool kit to do. Once the bolts are removed, you can safely remove the wiper blades themselves. After that, you’ll want to move into the cabin of your vehicle and move the sun visors out of the way so that you can access all four of the windshield bolts, which you’re going to want to remove next.

Once you have your bolts removed, it’s important that you head around the back of your vehicle and open the tailgate. Inside your rear cargo area there should be a built-in storage area that you can flip open. At the front of that storage area you should see four little holes under a label marked Windshield. This is the designated area to store these bolts, so make sure to do so now to avoid losing them.

Now that the wiper blades and windshield bolts have been removed, you can safely fold the windshield down forward and secure it in place on the hood. Unfortunately, there is no built-in way to secure the hood, so you may want to purchase some bungee cords or other straps to secure the windshield down during operation, but it isn’t absolutely necessary. If your model has it, you’ll also want to make sure to place the Adaptive Cruise Control cover provided with your vehicle to protect your camera from damage and dirt.

And that’s it! You’ve officially folded down your Jeep’s windshield, and now you can just do the steps in reverse when it’s time to fold it back up again. If you have any questions, feel free to give us a call here at LiftedJeeps.com. We look forward to seeing you in your Jeep vehicle with the windshield folded!