Ali Mansour
Brand Manager, 4WD & Sport Utility
Can you imagine pulling up to your local Jeep dealership only to find the latest Grand Cherokee is no longer offered with a headliner? Sounds pretty ridiculous right? Well, for over two decades, Jeep has offered a hardtop 4x4, sans the headliner. OK, so the hardtop happens to be removable, and this 4x4 of question is the Wrangler. The point is that most modern automobiles have an insulated headliner.
Generally, a headliner isn’t much more than a little foam padding stuck to particle board with fabric glued to it. While it may not seem like a significant interior component, it is. Similar to how insulation works in your house, a headliner helps keep the inside of your Jeep cozy. It works not only to keep the heat in on those chilly days but aids with cooling and noise control.
As is the case with insulation for your home, not all headliners are created equal. The headliner material type, density, and even mounting structure all play a role in how it functions. In the case of the Wrangler, a headliner is usually thought of as just one more part to get mud soaked and stained. It’s never been looked at as much of a necessity. We think a good chunk of this ideology stems from the fact that years ago, Wranglers were thought of more as secondary vehicles.
These days, it’s not uncommon for a Wrangler to be the main source of transportation, as well as the weekend wheeler. With this being the case for many of us, the aftermarket has drummed up a handful of products designed to improve some of the basic refinements on the Wrangler that other autos enjoy. A few months ago, we upgraded the flooring in our ’04 Wrangler Unlimited with a full interior kit from Bed Rug (“Cooler Than Carpet,” Feb. ’14). When we purchased our kit through Quadratec, we also picked up an Acme Auto Headlining Company headliner at the same time in hopes of further insulating our cabin.
Offered for ’97-present Jeep Wrangler platforms, the Acme headliners are an installer-friendly headliner upgrade that attach to Wrangler stock hardtop panels. Installing in just under an hour from start to finish, placing the panels in the roof of the LJ was as easy as putting on a new window decal. While we’re still waiting for warm weather to move back in to see how much heat deflection the Acme panels garnered, we have noticed an improvement in sound reduction and a slight increase in cabin temp stability.
At just under $300, the Acme headliner isn’t a dirt-cheap upgrade but not out of line with others in the market. Overall, we liked that the panels cleaned up the look of the top, as well as added to the functionality of our LJ.
Before you can install the first panel, the inside of the top must be thoroughly cleaned. Acme suggests using Acetone and a microfiber cloth so not to leave behind any residue.
On our ’04 Unlimited, the headliner is offered as a three-piece kit. Around 1⁄4-inch thick, the cloth-covered headliner is similar in thickness to your average automobile liner. Acme offers the headliner in an assortment of colors, but we opted for black. It’s hard to go wrong with black!
Each panel is clearly marked and fit with Velcro-brand strips with adhesive backing. Using staples to secure the fabric cover over the foam and particleboard base, the panels were extremely light but not flimsy in the least.
If you can put your hands above your head, you can install this headliner. Be sure to test fit each panel first so you know how much room you have on each side. The panels are a tight fit, which is what you want. Once the panels are in, be sure to run your hand over each strip to make certain that the Velcro is secure.
