Smittybilt premium replacement top

[StG58]

The soft top on my SE finally gave up the ghost. It was being held together by gorilla tape, dried canine nasal mucus and prayer.

A new 4wheel parts store opened up within driving distance, so I motored over to see what they had for a grand opening special on tops.

Worked a deal on the Smittybilt Premium replacement top, the one made out of "the same material as Mercedes uses". OK, but nobody runs a Mercedes through brush and reprod, right?

The price was a couple of hundred dollars less than the Bestop made from simular material. With the added two year no fault warranty it brought the sale price up to normal retail, so I thought what the heck and bought one.

The top wasn't in stock, but delivery to the store was free and very fast. Ordered on Saturday and it arrived on Monday. No one bothered to call and tell me it was in, so I didn't pick it up until Friday. Live and learn.

The top came well packaged, and with semi-complete instructions. 4wheelparts offered to install it for me with their installation expert. For an additional fee, of course. Lol

The top itself is made out of a heavy, soft, canvas like material. Bonus points there. The windows are rolled, not pressed, so there is some distortions looking through them. No points there. The tint is dark. Legel, but dark. The color is a really nice, rich, black that seems to just suck up light. Very stylish and attractive. A bitch to clean the dust out of.

The fit is tight. The top doesn't come with new header screws, so reuse your old ones or grab some new ones from the hardware store. Did I mention that this thing fits the factory bows tightly? Follow the directions and the advise of your fellow Jeeple and it goes on in about an hour or so. Take your time and ensure that everything is installed as straight and true as you can. The material very stout, and not very forgiving.

Everything is a pretty good fit, actually. Any wrinkles and alignment issues can be attributed to 19 year old top bows. Except for the soft upper half skins. (Included) I don't know what's up with those yet. They fit fer shit. I'll see what I can do about that when I put my sliders back in this winter.

 

[StG58]

 

[StG58]

 

[Chris]

Well, it definitely doesn't look as nice and tidy as my Bestop did (on my old black Rubicon), but it doesn't look bad either! That material is definitely not the same material my Bestop was made from, I can say that much. Not sure what that material is to be honest. Is it Sailcloth?

I was going to say, "I hope it holds up for you", but with the warranty, I guess even if fails, you'll get a new one.

 

[StG58]

The dark black makes the inside of the TJ darker than the inside of a cave.

 

[StG58]

Well, it definitely doesn't look as nice and tidy as my Bestop did (on my old black Rubicon), but it doesn't look bad either! That material is definitely not the same material my Bestop was made from, I can say that much. Not sure what that material is to be honest. Is it Sailcloth?

I was going to say, "I hope it holds up for you", but with the warranty, I guess even if fails, you'll get a new one.

Nope, the material is some sort of soft (to the hand) three ply canvas. I can look up the material name and let you know what it is. Not sailcloth. I got it for the warranty and the price. It's supposed to even cover parts that fail during install. That's yet to be seen. If it gets torn up and they give me grief replacing panels, then we all learn something, right?

It's NOT a Bestop substitute, not ment to be.

 

[Chris]

Nope, the material is some sort of soft (to the hand) three ply canvas. I can look up the material name and let you know what it is. Not sailcloth. I got it for the warranty and the price. It's supposed to even cover parts that fail during install. That's yet to be seen. If it gets torn up and they give me grief replacing panels, then we all learn something, right?

It's NOT a Bestop substitute, not ment to be.

Yep, it's all about the customer service. If they give you no hassle customer service, then it makes up for it not being a Bestop.

It gets the job done, and that's what counts! First time seeing that sort of material on a soft top. Then again, I haven't paid much attention to soft top material to be honest.

 

[glwood]

Looks to be the SB version of a black twill top.

 

[StG58]

Looks to be the SB version of a black twill top.

That's the deal. It is pretty quiet, and seems to be very stout.

Edited to add: for $400 all in, it was worth a shot.

 

[bobthetj03]

"Smittybilt Premium"? Isn't that and oxymoron? Hehe! I kid brah. Nice top. Is it noticeably quieter than your old top during its hay day?

 

[tworley]

I sold my smittybuilt top earlier this year. It was very tight fitting but leaked everywhere. I have the soft uppers still and cant wait to get rid of them.

 

[Chris]

I sold my smittybuilt top earlier this year. It was very tight fitting but leaked everywhere. I have the soft uppers still and cant wait to get rid of them.

With as much as it rains here in the PNW, @StG58 will know soon enough if it leaks!

 

[StG58]

"Smittybilt Premium"? Isn't that and oxymoron? Hehe! I kid brah. Nice top. Is it noticeably quieter than your old top during its hay day?

Right? Thier words not mine. Yes, it is quieter than my old top. The old top was a POS though, so it's a bad comparison.

 

[StG58]

With as much as it rains here in the PNW, @StG58 will know soon enough if it leaks!

We'll see how the warranty works, in that case, right?

 

[Chris]

We'll see how the warranty works, in that case, right?

Yes indeed!

 

[TJScott]

My friend bought a Smittybuilt top for his JK. He bought a warranty with 4 wheel parts. So far it has failed multiple times and he has had no grief with them replacing defective parts of the top as well as the whole top. I think his next goal is to ask for a refund to put towards a Bestop. I’m pretty confident they will refund the money especially if he buys the Bestop from them as well.


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[KCsTJ]

@StG58 I like that pretty blue, sort of an aqua blue, what does Jeep name that color officially?
I like your rear bumper LED backup lights too, did you install the lights in the.bumper?

 

[Jeffreybomb]

I'm no fan of Smittybilt, but customer service is customer service.

I owned a Supertop Classic for my first soft top. There's a U-shaped bracket connected to one post and that slides up another. The U-shape bracket effectively provides the tension necessary to keep the soft top in place.

A major component on the bracket is a small, flat tab, roughly less than a 1/4" in depth. It's the most important part of the bracket in that it hooks into one of several holes in the hardware to lock the bracket into position.

Unfortunately, one of the brackets on my hardware ended up getting bent to the point that bending it back would've caused fatigue in the metal and snapped it off anyway. I contacted Bestop to see if I could just get another bracket to replace the broken one. At most, it couldn't have been more than $10 to replace the part.

They told me no: I'd have to buy the entire hardware set.

I wasn't very happy with Bestop at that point. I ended up jury-rigging the bracket with a bungee whenever I wanted to put the top up.

 

[mde8965]

Never heard of a Smittybilt premium top. I might have tried one when I replaced my 1 month old Smittybilt cheapo. Previous owner put that on to sell the Jeep. It howled at a thing above 40mph and vibrates up and down. I ended up getting a Bestop Twill which was much more than your $400. And although I like my new top I kind of feel I should not have spent so much. All tops have some issue or another mostly related to differences from one Jeep to another.

Good luck with your new top. Keep the thread posted after you have lived with it a while. Could be a lower cost but decent quality alternative.

 

[glwood]

I'll add another option to this conversation - the fellow who bought my '03 X, which I had put a khaki Bestop Sailcloth replace-a-top on, had his half doors stolen. Bestop no longer offered the khaki tops, or any replacement components, fabric-wise. He ended up purchasing a set of upper door skins from Sierra Offroad Tops, from Amazon, I believe. I have seen those door skins, and they are every bit as nice as the original top fabric on that Jeep. They offer sailcloth replacement tops at prices that are a fraction of what Bestop charges. If they are anything like the upper door skins my friend ordered, I would not hesitate to give them a try. Plus, they offer several color choices Bestop will not, or does not offer any longer. Sample top, which retails on Amazon, with upper half door window skins, @ $249.00:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073X8H6RX/?tag=wranglerorg-20