Where to buy a hard top in UK?

Beardy

Beardy

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Joined
Dec 15, 2023
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Dorset, UK
I have recently bought a Jeep Wrangler TJ 2001 black and would like to change the soft top to a hard top but am finding it nearly impossible to find where to get one in the UK. Could anyone point me in the right direction please. EBay, FB marketplace etc all have nothing. I have found places in the US but they won’t ship to the UK. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks guys I will check them all out abroad instead as looks nearly impossible to get anything here in the UK.
 
@Beardy I must have missed your original post and have only just seen this thread now. I have a few thoughts, that may be helpful.

For a while I thought about getting a used hard top for my TJ, but in the end I decided not to for a number of reasons. First, I am not sure how many TJs sold in the UK came with hard tops, but mine certainly didn't. So in my case fitting a hard top would not just be a matter of buying a hard top and slapping it on, it would also require a fair bit of additional wiring and switches to be fitted. Not insurmountable, but another complexity. The hard top weighs a reasonable amount more than my soft top, when I started to take my TJ off road I decided I wanted to keep the weight down as far as possible. I still wanted to run a soft top in better weather and that meant the hard top would be off the TJ at least half the year. I have enough space to store it, but it would still be another thing clogging up the drive.

In the end I bought a replacement soft top and bought the best I could see, the Bestop Twill top. I only needed a new 'skin' as all the soft top frame was already there. I am sure a hard top would be quieter, but the new top is definitely better than the one on the TJ when I bought it. I have absolutely no issue with warmth, the heater is more than efficient enough to get the relatively small TJ interior very toasty with the soft top.

When I looked I found the same as you, hard tops were scarce and when I did see one it was very pricey. I would not necessarily discount getting one from the US if they are significantly cheaper there. While there is no avoiding the duty and VAT (about 24% in total), those costs now apply to bringing anything in from EU countries as well. If you find one and don't want to retain the soft top it may well be economic to drive across, dump the soft top and return with the hard top fitted. There are a number of Jeep events in continental Europe you could potentially combine with this to make it an even more worthwhile trip. If the US is by far the cheapest source you may want to consider container shipping. I currently have some parts coming this route at the moment, once they arrive I will report back on how successful the experiment was, but I have had very positive feedback about the service from another UK TJ owner. The cost of shipping may well make it an economic option. In the end I did not do it, but I was recently quoted £250 for shipping a crate axle to the UK which I thought was pretty reasonable.

I hope that helps and good luck with your search!
 
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UKTJ said:
@Beardy I must have missed your original post and have only just seen this thread now. I have a few thoughts, that may be helpful.

For a while I thought about getting a used hard top for my TJ, but in the end I decided not to for a number of reasons. First, I am not sure how many TJs sold in the UK came with hard tops, but mine certainly didn't. So in my case fitting a hard top would not just be a matter of buying a hard top and slapping it on, it would also require a fair bit of additional wiring and switches to be fitted. Not insurmountable, but another complexity. The hard top weighs a reasonable amount more than my soft top, when I started to take my TJ off road I decided I wanted to keep the weight down as far as possible. I still wanted to run a soft top in better weather and that meant the hard top would be off the TJ at least half the year. I have enough space to store it, but it would still be another thing clogging up the drive.

In the end I bought a replacement soft top and bought the best I could see, the Bestop Twill top. I only needed a new 'skin' as all the soft top frame was already there. I am sure a hard top would be quieter, but the new top is definitely better than the one on the TJ when I bought it. I have absolutely no issue with warmth, the heater is more than efficient enough to get the relatively small TJ interior very toasty with the soft top.

When I looked I found the same as you, hard tops were scarce and when I did see one it was very pricey. I would not necessarily discount getting one from the US if they are significantly cheaper there. While there is no avoiding the duty and VAT (about 24% in total), those costs now apply to bringing anything in from EU countries as well. If you find one and don't want to retain the soft top it may well be economic to drive across, dump the soft top and return with the hard top fitted. There are a number of Jeep events in continental Europe you could potentially combine with this to make it an even more worthwhile trip. If the US is by far the cheapest source you may want to consider container shipping. I currently have some parts coming this route at the moment, once they arrive I will report back on how successful the experiment was, but I have had very positive feedback about the service from another UK TJ owner. The cost of shipping may well make it an economic option. In the end I did not do it, but I was recently quoted £250 for shipping a crate axle to the UK which I thought was pretty reasonable.

I hope that helps and good luck with your search!
Click to expand...

Hi Mate,

Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed response. It’s really useful so thank you.

I have actually been looking at the Bestop soft tops from Jeepey. I currently have a Bowless top so have the factory fitted frame parts like tailgate bar, door frame and windscreen frame, would you be able to help answer a few questions please if I was to upgrade my current top to a Bestop.

As I already have factory frame would I need a brand new frame to go with the roof?

I see some people have thin bars that come down the side that enables you to put the roof down into the boot area like an old style cabriolet. Can you buy these bars separately on their own?

Can you get a Bestop replacement roof that just uses the factory frame?

Would Bestop be your recommendation for a new soft top?

Thanks again for your help. It’s very much appreciated.
 
No problem at all, I am happy to try and pay forward just a little of the help I have had here.

I've neve had a bowless top so do not know if it uses all of the factory frame or not. But my top does indeed fold down and 'pleat' sitting on the tailgate. I'd suggest checking the parts you have against an image such as the one below to check if there is anything you don't have.
bes-oem-hardware-5500201-installed-main-crop_0-1.jpg

If there is anything missing you may be able to source it from one of the UK scrap yards that specialise in 4x4s, incl. Jeeps, such as Charltons in Cambridge who will deliver nationally.

If / once you have a complete factory frame you can then just buy a new 'skin' to fit onto the frame, that is exactly what I did. Jeepey do sell them, but when I bought mine i found it much cheaper to buy it from Quadratec in the US and have it shipped to the UK, at that time I believe it saved me something like £500 versus Jeepey's price, even after it being sent by FedEx and payjng duty and VAT. You'll find a number on here who are not fans of Quadratec, but for those of us in the UK they are a God Send as they make buying parts and having them shipped to the UK very easy. I have always found their customer service to be excellent.

I am very happy with my Bestop Twill top, though I acknowledge it is at the top of the price spectrum, I think it is worth it as it is better quality than the OEM top I replaced. However, others on here are fans of other tops, but as I have only had OEM and Bestop Twill I can't really give a comparative view. You will also hear comments about the recent addition of the Bestop logo on the top of the back of the top than many here dislike. Having had mine on I can't say it bothers me much now.

The only other thing to consider is the style difference between your current top and the OEM style. Yours likely has more of a 'fast back' look, than the somewhat more squared off style of the OEM style top.
 
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PS @Beardy I just watched an install video kn a Bestop NX Trektop which I think is a similar style to the one you describe having. That referred to different door surrounds, it may be worth double checking those and if they have been changed confirming they would also work with an OEM style top.
 
I ordered a new Bestop Supertop soft top from Quadratec and had it shipped - no issues, and worked out cheaper than Jeepey. Have you tried them?

Brexit has made it ironically harder to order from the EU than from the States. I had a hell of a job getting a type approved towbar - multiple places in the EU refused to ship ‘because Brexit'. Eventually found a nice chap in Spain and DHL promptly lost the parcel... second attempt was successful!
 
Succentor said:
I ordered a new Bestop Supertop soft top from Quadratec and had it shipped - no issues, and worked out cheaper than Jeepey. Have you tried them?

Brexit has made it ironically harder to order from the EU than from the States. I had a hell of a job getting a type approved towbar - multiple places in the EU refused to ship ‘because Brexit'. Eventually found a nice chap in Spain and DHL promptly lost the parcel... second attempt was successful!
Click to expand...

I have just had a look on Quadratec and wow what a difference in price. I have been looking at the Bestop Supertop NX in twill and it’s $1700 from Quadratec or £2600 from Jeepey which is quite a significant difference. Do you know if that roof is any good? Many thanks
 
Succentor said:
I ordered a new Bestop Supertop soft top from Quadratec and had it shipped - no issues, and worked out cheaper than Jeepey. Have you tried them?

Brexit has made it ironically harder to order from the EU than from the States. I had a hell of a job getting a type approved towbar - multiple places in the EU refused to ship ‘because Brexit'. Eventually found a nice chap in Spain and DHL promptly lost the parcel... second attempt was successful!
Click to expand...

Also looking at this. Do you know if it’s any good?

https://www.quadratec.com/p/mastertop/complete-soft-top-kits-mastertwill-fabric-jeep-wrangler-tj
 
Bear in mind you will (as mentioned above) have to pay import duties - around 24% total - on top of that price, and of course international shipping, but yes, for large purchases it’s a no-brainer.

I like the SuperTop NX in black twill - the quality of the fabric is excellent, it looks superb and I like the sun rider top which my 2001 TJ did not come with. On the other hand, the top is noisier than the factory one (which I have kept in storage in case I want it back one day) and the hardware is of lower quality, too. With hindsight I would have forgone the sun rider and bought a new fabric cover for the existing hardware.

Bestop consistently come out as the best option according to people on this forum. Mastertop less so, but cheaper. Depends what you need to spend on the rest of the rig!
 
Succentor said:
Bear in mind you will (as mentioned above) have to pay import duties - around 24% total - on top of that price, and of course international shipping, but yes, for large purchases it’s a no-brainer.

I like the SuperTop NX in black twill - the quality of the fabric is excellent, it looks superb and I like the sun rider top which my 2001 TJ did not come with. On the other hand, the top is noisier than the factory one (which I have kept in storage in case I want it back one day) and the hardware is of lower quality, too. With hindsight I would have forgone the sun rider and bought a new fabric cover for the existing hardware.

Bestop consistently come out as the best option according to people on this forum. Mastertop less so, but cheaper. Depends what you need to spend on the rest of the rig!
Click to expand...

I also have a 2001 TJ which currently has a bowless top but it’s old and needs changing. It has the tailgate bar, the windscreen bar and the door clips but it doesn’t have the rest of the frame that enables you to fold a roof down. There is so much choice on what to get it’s a bit of a mine field and everyone keeps mentioning fitting a new roof when it’s warm but not much chance of that in the UK 😂. Really appreciate your input so thank you.
 
It’s definitely a challenge finding a day 70 Fahrenheit or above to install a soft top :). I did manage it and laid it out in the sun for an hour or so as well, and it was still pretty tight…
 
@Beardy I’ve come across a guy who is looking to sell a TJ hard top in one of the UK FaceBook Groups I follow. Drop me a PM and I will give you the details.
 
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