Is a Bestop top worth the upgrade?

Not exactly the OP's question but I just swapped a 4 year old Pavement Ends fastback for a Bestop Trektop fastback in twill this weekend and it was worth every bit of the cost to upgrade. The Pavement Ends top never really sealed correctly, especially the rear window. Before the PE top I was running a Bestop Sailcloth Replace-a-Top and was happy with it for about 10 years until it wore out and I decided to go the fastback route. I'll say that both the Bestop tops were worth the premium in terms of fit and seal. Higher quality zippers is also worth it if you plan on taking them on and off frequently. All I've got left of the PE top is the door skins, and neither one fully closes because the zippers are trash... they'll be replaced next.

FWIW, I also went from no carpet to a full Bedrug set this weekend... it's like a totally new vehicle in terms of driving comfort. I may just go back to the TJ as my daily.
 
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06TJ35's said:
It is. I ripped mine in less than about a year. I don’t take it off anymore because it will rip and I’ll have to buy a new top.
I have the nx I believe in blackdiamond, personally I think the black diamond sucks.
The only reason the top doesn’t flap because of the aluminum cross bar.

Such a pain to get the windows off. Next time I’m buying the OEM like soft top. I will miss the fastback look.
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That's what I've heard. Blaine doesn't like the NX. Told me if I got one, just commit to never opening the rear window. Though that's why I want one, so I could remove all the windows and have a bikini top.

With the OEM top, I've heard that you shouldn't run regularly with no windows because the rear corners will wear out and stop attaching.
 
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suicideking said:
That's what I've heard. Blaine doesn't like the NX. Told me if I got one, just commit to never opening the rear window. Though that's why I want one, so I could remove all the windows and have a bikini top.

With the OEM top, I've heard that you shouldn't run regularly with no windows because the rear corners will wear out and stop attaching.
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Definitely can attest to highway speeds stressing those corners. Pair of velco bands on each side proved to be a great solution. Road tested to 85mph no problems now. My warm weather approach is doors off, windows off, using a wind blocker but keeping the top in place.

IMG_3528.jpeg
 
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JustDandee said:
Definitely can attest to highway speeds stressing those corners. Pair of velco bands on each side proved to be a great solution. Road tested to 85mph no problems now. My warm weather approach is doors off, windows off, using a wind blocker but keeping the top in place.

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What wind blocker are you using? This is the direction I'm heading in.

I was thinking of moving to a bikini top and some sort of wind blocker. I bought this wind breaker for $20 on a black Friday sale. Not sure if it will work out because I'm having a cage installed. So will be looking to get that figured out with the harness bar and such.

I thought of doing a aluminum wind blocker/half cab type thing. I mentioned it to my fabricator and he wanted nothing to do with it lol.

I've also brought up with him and Blaine about some sort of rear window replacement that attaches to the rear roll bar to avoid having to use the soft top windows. Still more of a pipe dream at this point.

https://www.extremeterrain.com/redrock-jeep-wrangler-wind-breaker-black-diamond-j174543.html

WindBreaker.JPG
 
not entirely sure who the vendor was but these look like the guys that made it. Just a mesh wind blocker that does surprisingly well at defusing the turbulence with the doors off and doors on I have it down in the 30's and still very comfortable. For $20 don't think you could wrong with your purchase!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001QTZ7A2/?tag=wranglerorg-20

edit: I will addd that the strap length on my purchase was not generous.
 
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took me 8 minutes in a cold garage to put all three windows on my trektop this morning. can’t complain about that.

my only complaint is that you can’t put the rear window back in with the side windows in without a grunt force higher than i can achieve. what should take 30 seconds ends up taking 6 minutes and inflation sucks
 
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John Cooper said:
I know @AndyG is running a different top and seems happy with it, I just can't remember which one he is running.
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I’ve got a Rampage and it’s a great quick summer top-

I have a hard top for the dead of winter.

If I did not have a hard top and wanted to have one good quality top I would purchase a Bestop.

That being said there are some intermediate soft tops getting on the market that some members have had some success with.
 
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The wind blocker would help in the rain also. The biggest problem with a Bikini or Trektop NX is the rain will blow back up front.
 
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suicideking said:
That's what I've heard. Blaine doesn't like the NX. Told me if I got one, just commit to never opening the rear window. Though that's why I want one, so I could remove all the windows and have a bikini top.

With the OEM top, I've heard that you shouldn't run regularly with no windows because the rear corners will wear out and stop attaching.
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The rear window is such a dam pain. I hate it.

With the OEM top if I’m taking my windows off 100% of the time I’m pulling the whole top back. I never took my rear window of completely I always unzipped the sides, rolled it up then slid the top back


The Velcro around the corners is a great idea.
 
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suicideking said:
That's what I've heard. Blaine doesn't like the NX. Told me if I got one, just commit to never opening the rear window. Though that's why I want one, so I could remove all the windows and have a bikini top.

With the OEM top, I've heard that you shouldn't run regularly with no windows because the rear corners will wear out and stop attaching.
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The latter has happened to my relatively new top.
 
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06TJ35's said:
I never took my rear window of completely I always unzipped the sides, rolled it up then slid the top back
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Is that not possible with a frameless? Can you flip the rear window up by unzipping the sides like 90% of the way?
 
I was also curious if anyone had any input on cleaning the twill material. It gets pretty muddy here, so ease of cleaning is important to me. I've heard mixed reviews online.
 
PNW_LJ said:
Is that not possible with a frameless? Can you flip the rear window up by unzipping the sides like 90% of the way?
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Negative. Theres nothing to hold the rear window up.

On my dad’s old yj soft top had a strap with a clip and when you rolled it up the strap will hold it up. They need to bring the design back. One part of the clip used to be on the strap and the other at the very top of the rear window.

IMG_3620.jpeg
 
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06TJ35's said:
Negative. Theres nothing to hold the rear window up.

On my dad’s old yj soft top had a strap with a clip and when you rolled it up the strap will hold it up. They need to bring the design back. One part of the clip used to be on the strap and the other at the very top of the rear window.

View attachment 479939
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Well that sucks. So every time you want access to the rear, you have to uninstall/reinstall all the windows.
 
PNW_LJ said:
Well that sucks. So every time you want access to the rear, you have to uninstall/reinstall all the windows.
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No. You can open just the rear window. Unzip it, unhook the tailgate bar and roll it up, or flop it up onto the top. He just meant there is no way on the stock top to strap up the window if you roll it up.
 
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Ocho said:
took me 8 minutes in a cold garage to put all three windows on my trektop this morning. can’t complain about that.

my only complaint is that you can’t put the rear window back in with the side windows in without a grunt force higher than i can achieve. what should take 30 seconds ends up taking 6 minutes and inflation sucks
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Same. Not sure if it's making a difference, but I fold the sunrider back and zip about 3" of the rear window on both sides. Then I work the bottom of the side windows from front to rear into the lip of the tub. As I get to the rear corner, I pull on those little nylon straps towards the rear at the same time I'm snapping in the corner plastic under the lip of the tub. Then I'll zip about half way down and snap the tailgate bar in. Zip a little more on each side until it's done. Last, I'll flip the sunrider back and secure it. Seems to work every time and I've never felt like it was going to rip. For what it's worth, I've not found a huge difference with or without the aluminum flap bar in...
 
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NashvilleTJ said:
No. You can open just the rear window. Unzip it, unhook the tailgate bar and roll it up, or flop it up onto the top. He just meant there is no way on the stock top to strap up the window if you roll it up.
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Gotcha, I was confused. Thanks for clearing it up!
 
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NashvilleTJ said:
No. You can open just the rear window. Unzip it, unhook the tailgate bar and roll it up, or flop it up onto the top. He just meant there is no way on the stock top to strap up the window if you roll it up.
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I use a couple of straps similar to these over the rear bow to tightly roll up the rear window. I cut them down

Screenshot_20231205_202336_Chrome.jpg
 
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