Researching soft tops

Shane Mckinley

Shane Mckinley

Zipman35
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Joined
May 31, 2017
Messages
726
Location
Oxford, MS, United States
Ok so I’ve been quietly looking st soft tops. I like the rampage looks best I think. They also seem competitively priced. If I could find a used one it would be even better I think. However, it seems that this Jeep has always had a hardtop so if I’m understanding right there a few parts I need in order to make this work.

I’m just trying to make sure I have all my ducks in a row and know what I’m getting into money wise prior to getting a soft top that’s functional out of the box or add on’s making it so

Thanks!


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2005 RHD TJ Sport
2010 BMW 528xi
 
Any soft top will require door surrounds and the tail gate clips and bar. A factory style top will also require a bow assembly, including roll bar brackets and header attachment; most full kits come with all you need Not sure on the bowless type tops, whether they have the door surrounds and tailgate parts or not.
 
I have the Rampage top and i like it. You will need to order door surrounds, header bar and tailgate bracket. For some reason my Rubicon which also never had its hard top removed already had the tailgate brackets so take a look at yours.


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BendLarry said:
I will take a picture for you in a couple of hours.


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Here is a picture of one of the rear brackets. There is a bar that slides inside the softop rear window bottom and that bar tucks under these brackets. My Jeep already had the brackets but what I don’t remember is whether the top comes with the bar, or does the bracket kit contain the brackets and the bar. I ordered the bracket kit and then learned I already had the brackets.

There is a video on the Rampage website showing the installation.
Hope this helps.


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BendLarry said:
Here is a picture of one of the rear brackets. There is a bar that slides inside the softop rear window bottom and that bar tucks under these brackets. My Jeep already had the brackets but what I don’t remember is whether the top comes with the bar, or does the bracket kit contain the brackets and the bar. I ordered the bracket kit and then learned I already had the brackets.

There is a video on the Rampage website showing the installation.
Hope this helps.


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Click to expand...

Forgot the picture.
8f9ec7f0c8cbcef814aed433ff1deff7.jpg



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Ah. Yea I don’t have that. Looks like drilling into the tub will have to happen in addition to the brackets. Thanks for the info and picture. It helps in making the decision when the time comes


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2005 RHD TJ Sport
2010 BMW 528xi
 
Shane Mckinley said:
Ah. Yea I don’t have that. Looks like drilling into the tub will have to happen in addition to the brackets. Thanks for the info and picture. It helps in making the decision when the time comes


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2005 RHD TJ Sport
2010 BMW 528xi
Click to expand...
Your tub should have some dimples where those brackets mount. They usually come with self-tapping screws. When I ordered the door surrounds last from Bestop, they came with the tailgate bar and brackets in the kit.
 
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Katuhstrofik said:
I've been looking at some of the bikini/tonneu combos in the quadratec catalogue and they look pretty damn sexy imo.

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I tried the bikini/tonneau/windjammer combo on a couple of previous Jeeps, a TJ and a JK. To be honest, they look cool at first, but unless you leave them on and only run with those, they get tiresome to remove, store, and put back on. I was always nervous someone was going to slash the tonneau to see what was under it. I gave up on those years ago in lieu of just the soft, hard, or no top. A Spiderwebshade can stay on full time.
 
How hard is it to use the rear of the Jeep with the soft tops?

I mean in theory I would think the soft top would stay on most of the time?

Ie where the back glass would just swing up and out of the way quickly on the hard top. How does that work for the soft top?


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2005 RHD TJ Sport
2010 BMW 528xi
 
Shane Mckinley said:
How hard is it to use the rear of the Jeep with the soft tops?

I mean in theory I would think the soft top would stay on most of the time?

Ie where the back glass would just swing up and out of the way quickly on the hard top. How does that work for the soft top?

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2005 RHD TJ Sport
2010 BMW 528xi
Click to expand...
You can zip the two zippers up on each side and set the bottom of the window up on top. It's not nearly as handy as flipping up the hard top rear glass, but doable.
 
Shane Mckinley said:
How hard is it to use the rear of the Jeep with the soft tops?

I mean in theory I would think the soft top would stay on most of the time?

Ie where the back glass would just swing up and out of the way quickly on the hard top. How does that work for the soft top?


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2005 RHD TJ Sport
2010 BMW 528xi
Click to expand...
It doesn’t lol. You have to unzip every time if you want it to come up. A bit of a pain, but that’s life with a soft top.
 
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