Who’s been caught with their top down in a storm?

Williebeaman · Sep 10, 2019

wellp I’m at work and weather man said no rain and I saw the clouds so I leaned my seats forward and folded the back seat down and moved my speakers to the front. Can anything really get hurt? I don’t have carpet anymore. Frankly I’d like it to be as rain proof as possible if there is anything I can do to help with that? I plan on pulling out the vinyl and rhino lining the floor eventually. I’ll also have a softopper in a month or two so I guess it won’t be as big of a deal.

76k5blazerr · Sep 10, 2019

In my old 76, I used to leave the top off throughout the warm months of the year. I had carpet in the front and bedliner in the back. The back seat was vinyl so it could get wet. In the rain I would lean my seats forward, and to protect the 6x9 speakers I had mounted in the rear interior bedside panels, I made little "awnings" if you will, out of sheetmetal and mounted them above the speakers as a rain guard/roof over them.

Williebeaman · Sep 10, 2019

Yea I wanna eventually have my speakers set up like that. I just got the truck in January and whoever had it before me just had two 6x9 in some speaker boxes and a shit lord of speaker cable so you can move them around. I would love to get them off the floor board. But that’s long down the never ending list of things to do to my truck :rotfl:

eric67camino · Sep 10, 2019

You might look at marine radio/speakers.

Williebeaman · Sep 10, 2019

Good idea!

obijuank5 · Sep 10, 2019

Nah. I've had my top and doors off for about a year and a half daily driving. Worst part is how wet your left leg gets driving in the rain.
Oh and rain on the inside of the windshield lol

HankScorpio · Sep 10, 2019

I have had my top rolled up safari style all summer with half doors on. Nothing has stopped working from the rain yet. Need some waterproof seats, I have to put on my rain suit when I get caught out in a storm.

Williebeaman · Sep 10, 2019

Got some pics of your ride?

diesel4me · Sep 11, 2019

The first time I removed the topper off my '72 K5 it was a bright sunny & hot summer day in July..
Had fun driving around "topless" most of the day,found out the doors didn't shut easily any more,the top must have kept the tub from flexing..

A little after 2 pm I was about 20 miles from home,and dark clouds suddenly gathered,and I started racing home,hoping to get the truck at least covered with a tarp before it rained..

Didn't happen...I was 15 miles away going 55 mph on a local interstate when the clouds burst--it was like a microburst ,the rain came down so heavily the wipers did nothing and I was getting drenched,it was like being under a waterfall..

I had to slow down to 20 mph when dozens of cars in front of me slowed to a crawl ,many pulled over to the breakdown lane and parked..it poured like a monsoon a good 15 minutes..

Everything in the truck was soaked--seats,carpet,and the dash got the radio speaker full of water--turned on the radio and it sounded like someone gargling.. :p:

....by the time I pulled in my driveway the rain was tapering off,and the sun was poking out.. :angry1:

..

It took weeks for the interior to dry out,luckily we had a week or so of bright hot sunny days in a row --truck stunk like mildew after I put the top back on..had to bleach the seats and carpets..

I swore I'd never take the top off it again--it was a hard job alone,it had the double walled version and weighed a lot,I was a skinny 140 lb weakling then,but managed to walk it off and on again with it on my back,like a turtle shell..

Some years later I got a '75 2WD K5 and decided to pull the top off to do some rot repair on the bed floor,so I didn't have to stoop over...

After I did that I took it for a ride with the roof off...headed for a car wash to blast off the bed floor after I sanded & ground off all the rust..

And almost a repeat of what happened in my 72 K5 ,happened again..
Luckily I was at the car wash when the monsoon started,under the bay's roof...but I had to leave,other people were behind me in line getting pissed...so again I had to drive home in the pouring rain..

I could have just left the truck at home and let the rain wash the bed out,it came down that hard..
I never took the top off it again..

My 72 also had a sun roof someone installed before I got it..
That dam thing would let about a cup full of water gather in the aluminum trim & frame on it,and the first sharp left turn you made would let all the water pour right on my crotch--making it look like I pissed myself.. :blush:

..

..got ribbed at work more than one rainy morning by my co-workers and boss--I eventually used some silver waterproofing tape to seal the sunroof closed most of the year..

Though it was cool having a "convertible" to tool around in,I decided it wasn't worth the effort of taking off the top here in MA,we don't get enough sunny hot days to make it worth while,at least not for me..
I prefer to stay dry when I'm driving--I don't miss getting sprayed in the face by my '63 VW Bug's rotted out heater channels every time I went thru a puddle either..

shady · Sep 11, 2019

My old 79 scout went through a lot of rain with the too off... Top on those is frickin heavy, and trying to bend the body back into place to line the bolts up SUCKs lol.
But that was a scout and there isn't much water can hurt it there :rolleyes:

..... Added bonus is the water just ran right through the custom orange/brown holes all over the floor :doah:

We had some sort of cheap radio and the speakers that come in an enclosure with a wall bracket. Kind of like home surround speakers. And I pointed them down.

But marine speakers/stereo are the way to go. Even if you know it won't rain, a heavy morning dew or fog can ruin a normal radio too.
I had one do that in my old van after leaving the windows down on a foggy night. Woke up to here my van playing music randomly off and on.. then it made a sizzle sound and quit when I actually turned the van on :doah:

HankScorpio · Sep 11, 2019

Williebeaman said:
Got some pics of your ride?

Here you go.

You can see here that the softopper has straps so you can run safari style. It stays on fine even on the highway.

nvrenuf · Sep 11, 2019

Mine was caught overnight in a decent storm on it's shakedown run back in April, it's pretty bare bones though so no harm done. I did have garbage bags over the seats to keep them dry.

Williebeaman · Sep 11, 2019

To those of you with a softopper did you sell your hard top? I was wrestling with the idea of selling mine to help offset the cost of the the softopper but I’m worried I’ll regret it. Then again I see them on CL all the time for a few Hundred bucks so I guess if for some reason I don’t love the soft top I could just buy a new hard top. I doubt I’ll ever want it again though. I bought a k5 instead of a truck because I loved the idea of a convertible SUV.

nvrenuf · Sep 11, 2019

Williebeaman said:
To those of you with a softopper did you sell your hard top? I was wrestling with the idea of selling mine to help offset the cost of the the softopper but I’m worried I’ll regret it. Then again I see them on CL all the time for a few Hundred bucks so I guess if for some reason I don’t love the soft top I could just buy a new hard top. I doubt I’ll ever want it again though. I bought a k5 instead of a truck because I loved the idea of a convertible SUV.

Typically, only the 73-75 full top hard tops bring any money, half cab tops are usually hard to sell even between $100-$200.

6.2Blazer · Sep 11, 2019

My '90 has seen lot's of rain with no top or doors on it over the years. I did eventually take the radio and speakers but not sure if they still worked or not as I don't listen to music when wheelin'. Worse issue was when it still had carpent and insulation in it. The water really stayed in the insulation on the floor and actually started rusting them out before I noticed what was going on.

70jimmy · Sep 12, 2019

Yep been caught many times, I run a safari top all summer, sometimes all year. Put the poly tarp on it when parked if needed. Before I had my safari and full top custom made I ran a poly top zip tied and duct taped. I put patio speakers in it attached to the roll cage so don't care if they get wet. If moving front seat people don't get wet unless you slow down. Interior is speedlined.