Floppy soft top

[MikekiM]

2000 TJ6...

Unknow top with no tags. Looks to be a replacement skin over the stock frame. The section overhead is a floppy mess, while everything from two-bow back to the rear tub rail fits nice and snug with no wrinkles, folds or problem spots. Water pools in the hollow overhead and it flaps to the point it is painful to drive at speed.

I added an aux bow overhead using a flexible fiberglass bow intended for the purpose of stretching canvas on boats Added mounting sockets to the inside of the door surrounds. Works awesome but it shouldn't be needed.

A new Trektop Nx is on my list, but i have other items to attend to first.

If you look up at your soft top from the drivers seat, does the two-bow (the one right in front of the sound bar) follow parallel to the sound bar? Mine is arched towards the front of the Jeep by a few inches which certainly would allow the front section to slack.

 

[CharlesHS]

2000 TJ6...

Unknow top with no tags. Looks to be a replacement skin over the stock frame. The section overhead is a floppy mess, while everything from two-bow back to the rear tub rail fits nice and snug with no wrinkles, folds or problem spots. Water pools in the hollow overhead and it flaps to the point it is painful to drive at speed.

I added an aux bow overhead using a flexible fiberglass bow intended for the purpose of stretching canvas on boats Added mounting sockets to the inside of the door surrounds. Works awesome but it shouldn't be needed.

A new Trektop Nx is on my list, but i have other items to attend to first.

If you look up at your soft top from the drivers seat, does the two-bow (the one right in front of the sound bar) follow parallel to the sound bar? Mine is arched towards the front of the Jeep by a few inches which certainly would allow the front section to slack.

Could you include a few pictures from the inside and outside ?

 

[MikekiM]

Sure can... I'll grab some pics with and without the add on bow

 

[TheBoogieman]

My Bestop.

 

[MikekiM]

Thanks... It looks like your two-bow is farther from the sound bar at its' center than it is at the ends.. Am I correct?

 

[TheBoogieman]

Thanks... It looks like your two-bow is farther from the sound bar at its' center than it is at the ends.. Am I correct?

Bad angle pic, but this bow is 2" from roll bar pad all the way down.

 

[JEEPCJTJ]

Bestop uses their version of a flexible fiberglass bow that goes across between the windshield and the bow just over the roll bar. It has mounting feet that slide into slots of the door surrounds and raise it about an inch or so.

 

[Succentor]

It only really does anything at low speeds, though - at high speeds the top seems to be pulled upwards by the airflow (and my top is super tight being new)

 

[MikekiM]

Bad angle pic, but this bow is 2" from roll bar pad all the way down.
View attachment 268416

Hmmmmm..... so that could be a contributor.. Mine is about four inches at the center and two inches at the ends.

Bestop uses their version of a flexible fiberglass bow that goes across between the windshield and the bow just over the roll bar. It has mounting feet that slide into slots of the door surrounds and raise it about an inch or so.

Yes, the Trektop Nx I had on my JK had it.. that's what gave me the idea to DIY one similar. The Bestop version is aluminum with a soft foam pad on the top. Adding the bow helps a ton, but a well fitting top shouldn't be this loose.

A few pictures of it with and without the add on bow.
It doesn't appear to be stressing the fabric
The front edge that gets screwed into the windshield header bar is a bit loose in the center, though it is securely screwed in and there is no wind noise from that part.

 

[JEEPCJTJ]

Yes, the Trektop Nx I had on my JK had it.. that's what gave me the idea to DIY one similar. The Bestop version is aluminum with a soft foam pad on the top. Adding the bow helps a ton, but a well fitting top shouldn't be this loose.


View attachment 268629

My top is a Supertop NX and that added bow is called a top arch (I just looked that up) mine's probably just a slightly shorter version of what's on the JKs.

FWIW, if it wasn't needed to help quite things down and stop puddles of water up there it probably wouldn't exist.


There's already some discussion here about the center bow being parallel with the sound bar, or not, when looking up from the drivers seat. I think a somewhat larger issue is that yours looks to be arched downward in your picture. A little over a year ago I had some problems with my center bow not remaining in place on the side bows because it seemed to be too long. Every couple days I had to help set one side or the other back where it belonged. If it had been arched down, it probably would have stayed in place and let the top flap around but mine ended up being too flat. I folded the top (material only) over the windshield so that all the framework was still in place and the header was still latched down, then I arched the center bow up a good inch or more until everything besides the material fit well. That inch or more higher was in the center but the arch was the full width of the Jeep. I put the whole top back on, which did remove some of the arch, but the center bow has stayed in place on the side bows ever since. If you arch yours upward like I did it should remove the wrinkles in that area and make everything tighter.

 

[Moab]

You might try adding pipe insulation to the bow. For what its worth my nos oem bestop is parallel to the sound bar and in front a couple inches.

 

[MikekiM]

My top is a Supertop NX and that added bow is called a top arch (I just looked that up) mine's probably just a slightly shorter version of what's on the JKs.

FWIW, if it wasn't needed to help quite things down and stop puddles of water up there it probably wouldn't exist.


There's already some discussion here about the center bow being parallel with the sound bar, or not, when looking up from the drivers seat. I think a somewhat larger issue is that yours looks to be arched downward in your picture. A little over a year ago I had some problems with my center bow not remaining in place on the side bows because it seemed to be too long. Every couple days I had to help set one side or the other back where it belonged. If it had been arched down, it probably would have stayed in place and let the top flap around but mine ended up being too flat. I folded the top (material only) over the windshield so that all the framework was still in place and the header was still latched down, then I arched the center bow up a good inch or more until everything besides the material fit well. That inch or more higher was in the center but the arch was the full width of the Jeep. I put the whole top back on, which did remove some of the arch, but the center bow has stayed in place on the side bows ever since. If you arch yours upward like I did it should remove the wrinkles in that area and make everything tighter.

Thanks for this. I have the same (additional) problem of the passenger side bow seat (the little black plastic perch attached to the front hoop that sits on the second hoop and helps position the top left & right) needs to be manually set. Leads me to think there are other concerns with the framework. I don't know if the PO replaced the frame and skin or just the skin.

Bending the two-bow both up would tighten things up, in theory. I'm not too afraid of trying to bend the bow since if it ends up a little wonky my plan is to go with a Trektop shortly anyway. Bending it back to parallel would likely loosen a well fitting rear half of the top.

How did you make that bend? Did you take the entire top off the Jeep? Would seem easier and more accurate to do it while on the Jeep.

You might try adding pipe insulation to the bow. For what its worth my nos oem bestop is parallel to the sound bar and in front a couple inches.

Thought about that before adding the aux bow.

 

[JEEPCJTJ]

How did you make that bend? Did you take the entire top off the Jeep? Would seem easier and more accurate to do it while on the Jeep.

The frame was definitely on the Jeep. Like I posted earlier I just folded the whole top (material only) over the windshield to get it out of the way. Then I could see the whole frame in place to figure out why the center bow wouldn't remain sitting on the side bows. I saw that creating the arch would shorten it up and make it the right length to stay in place. I wasn't sure if the arch would make the top look bad when reinstalled but I figured I could always flatten it back if needed. Luckily that wasn't needed.

What I left out of the earlier post about making the arch is that I just stood up on the rear floor, grabbed that bow with both hands and bent it into an arch. It's not super strong to begin with.

FWIW, in reality I probably laid a piece of wood on the roll cage under the middle of the center bow and just pushed down some on each side while standing there but "grabbing that bow with both hands and bending it into an arch" just sounds better to me.

 

[MikekiM]

LOL... I was thinking 'dead lift' move.

I'll take a look at it. Just don't want to muck the way the back half fits.

 

[MikekiM]

Update…

i removed the secondary hoop I had added and with the top fully installed and me sitting in the drivers seat, I did seated Military Press with the hoop in front of the sound bar. Pressed until I could press no more.

I went for a test drive up to about 45 mph and the top is almost dead quiet. I’ll hit the Highway tomorrow and see how it is.