[Richsap]

Got the bug to start my summer top-is-off "trunk"anti-theft project. I saw the one where diamond plate was cut and formed into a removable top and liked it a lot, but don't have the funding, tools or skills for that at this time. I took two 4' sections of 1/2" conduit and four 1/2" x 3/8" adapters, all found at Lowe's for around $9. I drilled 8 small mounting holes through the lip in the back (2 per mount) and blind riveted the the adapters to the lip AFTER I had painted all the hardware primer black, drilled the screw holes on the adapters out (so the rivets would fit) and tightened the adapters to each of the 1/2" conduit pieces. Had to trim the conduit about 6". The bow seen on the forward one is on purpose as I wanted adequate clearance over my sub with the flux capacitor mounted on top. The end result at the halfway point looks good. To finish it off I'm going to cover the aft end with a waterproof black material attached with Velcro from the rear seat to the tailgate. I also added a piece of leftover sheet metal behind the seat that covers the rear seat latch... my recovery bag blocks the sheet metal from being moved, and the recovery bag can't be pulled out through the cage.

The first pic (which is sideways) shows the entire installation. The two pieces of conduit going over the recovery bag, subwoofer/amp and tool kit on the other side of the amp.

The second pic shows a better view of the conduit.

The third pic is of the adapters riveted to the aft lip of the tub.

 

[Richsap]

Pretty solid. The conduit could be bent, but my goal was to deter the kid beboppin' along that decides to reach in for a quick buck. They will have to work hard to get my stuff now, and with the cover I will be removing the temptation. I'm planning on tying the tubes together, which would pretty much make it impossible to bend them.

 

[Richsap]

will you have to remove all of that to put your hard top back on? Or any top for that matter?

Don't own a hard top, no interference on the soft top. You could mount the adapters under the lip of the tub, but this was so easy.