Soft Top Assembly Confusion
1600
8
OK, so I recently bought a 99 TJ for a deal I couldn't pass up ($5k and has only 94K miles on it). That being said, there are some cosmetic things that needed addressing but I was fine with that since I already had been through the beautification process once before with my previous 06 TJ. One simple (I thought) fix was replacing the top. After purchasing a replacement OEM top, and removing the old one, I realized the hardware was completely different than my old stock hardware. There were no door surrounds and instead had these metal brackets. It was leaking at the door contacts because of this. The header was also not the factory one with the screw holes, but had a groove where a plastic flap was inserted. After some research it appears to be the Bestop Supertop hardware and a Sunrider top:
https://www.quadratec.com/Assets/Installation/70627.pdf
So I bought some factory door surrounds and a factory header thinking that would solve the problem, but then I realized the buttons don't match up exactly on the back bow and there is no hole for the pull pin on the door surround to go into. Does anyone know where I can buy just the factory bow assembly, without the door surrounds, header, and tailgate pieces? See picture below. Since I have already bought the header and surrounds separate I am assuming (praying) just the bows are available by themselves. Or does anyone think rigging this pivot bracket to the current bow might be a workable solution for the pull pin connection?:
Bestop 319.95 - Bestop® Passenger Side Main Pivot Bracket for 97-02 Jeep® Wrangler TJ with Sunrider - Quadratec
I'm now annoyingly kicking myself that I didn't just buy the complete assembly kit to begin with :banghead:
Any help is much appreciated.
https://www.quadratec.com/Assets/Installation/70627.pdf
So I bought some factory door surrounds and a factory header thinking that would solve the problem, but then I realized the buttons don't match up exactly on the back bow and there is no hole for the pull pin on the door surround to go into. Does anyone know where I can buy just the factory bow assembly, without the door surrounds, header, and tailgate pieces? See picture below. Since I have already bought the header and surrounds separate I am assuming (praying) just the bows are available by themselves. Or does anyone think rigging this pivot bracket to the current bow might be a workable solution for the pull pin connection?:
Bestop 319.95 - Bestop® Passenger Side Main Pivot Bracket for 97-02 Jeep® Wrangler TJ with Sunrider - Quadratec
I'm now annoyingly kicking myself that I didn't just buy the complete assembly kit to begin with :banghead:
Any help is much appreciated.
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Quadratec is just the retailer and sells what Bestop offers from what I can tell. I don't see just the bow assembly available for sale anywhere (eBay, Amazon, online retailers) and have a question into Bestop to see if they sell just the bows without the rest of it. Otherwise, I'll probably just have to buy the whole kit and resell the header and surrounds that I already bought separetly. Which is annoying as balls.
I was hoping someone might have a work around but it seems like it makes sense to just buy the factory bows as well so the buttons align properly too.
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Just spoke with Quadratec and they said they only sell the full kit and weren't sure if Bestop Sells only the bows.
At this point I may just say screw it to the whole thing and order one of those frameless tops and sell all of the current hardware I have.
Anybody had experience with the frameless ones as far as quality/ease of use taking on and off?
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Well I finally spoke to Bestop and they do offer just the bows in individual parts. But considering the total cost it makes sense to just buy the complete kit and then resell the door surrounds and header and tailgate stuff I don't need.
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671 Posts
I have the Spirit Top from Pavement Ends. It's frameless and you re use your factory surrounds, header bar, and tailgate bar. Or you can buy them as a Kit if you don't have them. I LOVE the sun rider feature and rolling up the rear window. Last summer I only completely removed the rear side windows once just because I wanted to. But when driving you don't really notice if they are still on. I have 2 kids in car seats that love riding back there and I can enjoy the Open Air experience while they don't get pummeled by wind like they used to with my old factory top down. Plus the top is so cheap you can replace it twice for the cost of some of these other ones. The fabric and windows are noticeably thinner than stock but no leaks to report and it's easier to fold up everything. The fabric matches the stock fabric in texture and color (well my black top anyway) so I was happy my factory windows matched up. I definitely am happy with my choice. The hardest thing was to drill the holes in the door surrounds to mount the sun rider mount brackets. The instructions are a bit vague and want you to use Milimeters to measure, but the fabric will stretch if you are off a little bit.
Top only:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00FB...sprint+top&dpPl=1&dpID=31cMordYaHL&ref=plSrch
Factory style door surrounds (only if you don't have the factory style ones already)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004P..._UL100_SR100,100_&refRID=0GYM6YJER1BTB94X9HJC
Tailgate bar (you can re use the factory one)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000V...C_UL100_SR100,24_&refRID=0GYM6YJER1BTB94X9HJC
Windshield Header Bar (re use the factory one)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004P...=_SL500_SR100,24_&refRID=1339R59XT4PHZWQ6NE6B
The top, header bar, and tailgate bar will set you back about $450 for all 3. The door surrounds are another $160, but you can sometimes find them at a parts yard or on Craigslist, etc. Still way cheaper than buying a complete softop kit elsewhere.
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This is the one I'm looking into getting ! It looks great !
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