Swapping from a soft top to a hard top

[Nicolai79]

Finally found the perfect hard top at a price I could deal with. Only thing it was missing was the bolts to button it down.

My questions are what install snafus should I be aware of and is there anything I should pick up beforehand to facilitate an easy transition? I've had a soft top for 7 years so I have no experience with the solid shell.

Is there a better bolt than the old torx40?

Should I weather strip the contact surface, like maybe underneath the lip of the shell?

Any tips are appreciated.

Thanks

 

[lBasket]

You can find thumbscrews that you can turn by hand instead of the torx where you're swinging your ratchet around next to the glass. They're on my list for my hardtop so if you're buying bolts I'd probably go with those

 

[SoCalGlide]

My hardtop had weather stripping in the underside of the mounting surface, check if yours does already. Maybe check the condition of the mucket seals. Those are the rubber pieces at the top/front of the tub at the back of the door opening.

 

[Ric G]

Some years ago I bought the thumb screw type fasteners, specifically for the TJ hardtop. Don’t recall from who, but was online - probably ExtremeTerrain, Quadratec, 4 Whl Parts, etc. Not expensive as I recall. I recommend.

 

[Nightmare9]

The factory Torx Screws and square tabs that act as the nut kinda suck. And only a couple of them has this weird plastic holder.

Get something you can take on and off by hand.

Mucket seal connects where the Door Surround meets the top of the tub. It has a small plastic pin that holds it in place.

 

[SPECWAR]

What they said ^.
When I install my hardtop in the fall I normally only use 4 screws to hold it on although I have a complete set of them.

 

[Fishtaco]

What they said ^.
When I install my hardtop in the fall I normally only use 4 screws to hold it on although I have a complete set of them. View attachment 272178

I replaced my torx with these $11 a set of 6 on ebay, much easier to fit the two near the front doors and you really cant over tighten them.

 

[AndyG]

The install key is slide the top as far back as the bolts allow and then snug it down so the doors don’t rub the top.

Hard tops are nice.

 

[Nicolai79]

You can find thumbscrews that you can turn by hand instead of the torx where you're swinging your ratchet around next to the glass. They're on my list for my hardtop so if you're buying bolts I'd probably go with those

Thanks! There seems to be a consensus on these. Found a set. Ordered.

 

[Nicolai79]

My hardtop had weather stripping in the underside of the mounting surface, check if yours does already. Maybe check the condition of the mucket seals. Those are the rubber pieces at the top/front of the tub at the back of the door opening.

Muckets (learned a new word!) looking good. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Nicolai79]

The factory Torx Screws and square tabs that act as the nut kinda suck. And only a couple of them has this weird plastic holder.

Get something you can take on and off by hand.

Mucket seal connects where the Door Surround meets the top of the tub. It has a small plastic pin that holds it in place.
View attachment 272172View attachment 272173

Thanks for the pics!

 

[Nicolai79]

The install key is slide the top as far back as the bolts allow and then snug it down so the doors don’t rub the top.

Hard tops are nice.

I'll keep that in mind, thanks.