Bikini Top

[Tom D]

I want to run with the top down, and have a bikini top along to put up for sun or rain. I do not want to screw with the header. Is there any reason why I could not permanently mount a YJ channel on the windshield frame, and use a YJ bikini? I previously had a YJ, and it worked fine. I don't think the channel would interfere with a hard top or soft top.
Tom

 

[JeepNWilly]

I would have to say that it will interfere with how the hardtop seals on the top of the windshield. They sell bikini top headers that mount and use the same factory top latches.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

I did not want to wrestle with an aftermarket header either so I went with Bestop's permanently "drill-style" mounted header. It mounts a slotted full-width mount on the windshield frame just above where the mirror mounts, the bikini top slides into it from the side which takes seconds. It remains in place and allows the soft top or hard top to be mounted without removing it.

Bestop also makes a clamp-on header which I had and would NEVER go with another. It's a PITA to use as it's hard to get it and the front-edge of its style bikini top to stay in place which takes some finagling to finally get it to stay put.

That clamp-on header appeals to some because they're worried about drilling holes anywhere on their Jeep but having run one, it's just not worth the extra effort it requires over the permanently installed drill-style header that only takes seconds to mount its style bikini style top into.

This is the header I've had such good luck with... https://www.bestop.com/jeep/2000/wrangler/windshield-channels/ No idea why it says "strapless bikinis" since my Bestop Safari top has straps on it to attach to the rear rollbar. If you order from Bestop, make sure the shorter bikini style or longer safari style is for the no-drill header.

One last comment. 2003 and newer Wranglers have a plastic trim piece over the windshield frame where the drill-style header sits. No problem, it just unsnaps & gives full access so the header can be mounted, then the trim can be reinstalled back over the top of the header. I did that for my '04 TJ.

 

[Tom D]

Jerry,
Since it mounts on the inside of the frame, is it waterproof as far as between the windshield and the top?
The YJ channel mounts on the outside front of the windshield and that was a water tight fit. I know it's funny to think about waterproof with no doors, but I was just wondering..

 

[Tim Redman]

I've had a Smittybilt bikini half-length bikini on my TJ almost since the day I bought it. Yes, the header is an extra step, but for me, it's just two 13mm bolts that go on pretty quickly. In fact, my only negative opinion about the top isn't the top per se, but the straps that wrap around the roll bar about a third of the way in on each side. With the sound bar, there's no way to get the strap to attach correctly, so I just run the one tag end between the roll bar and the sound pod, and loosely square knot it underneath, purely just to keep it from flapping in the wind. The straps for the outside and the middle one that attaches to the footman's loop is more that sufficient, and I've never had a problem with excessive noise or vibration from it not being tight enough.

 

[intheSFValley]

Just looking at this old thread. So, after spending almost three hours trying to get the Quadtratec version of the clamp-on bar to fit, I though I'd add this:

My clamp-on bar would keep sliding backwards every time pressure was applied. It seemed that the windshield rubber had become compressed after many years with a hard-top resting on it. By bending (and by "bending" I mean hitting it with a mallet) the flange that rests on the rear side, I manage to get the clamp to catch on the rubber and stay on. It probably only required moving the base in by 1/8" or so, but it made a world of difference.

Also, using a longer bolt (M8 x (I think) 1.5) helps to get the clamp on if you're doing it by yourself.

and, when you strip out the nutsert and after you have to Dremel it out, you can bend the curved handle forward to allow access for a ratchet to grab the nut.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

For reasons like that, I ended up trashing the clamp-on header bar. It's just a pure PITA. I use the permanent style header which I can attach the bikini top to in about 4 seconds.

 

[intheSFValley]

For reasons like that, I ended up trashing the clamp-on header bar. It's just a pure PITA. I use the permanent style header which I can attach the bikini top to in about 4 seconds.

I will 100% second that. I was determined not to have to return that header!