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Best Soft top

pachanga

Newbie
Joined
Aug 3, 2017
Messages
4
I just purchased my first Bronco (1973) and would like to invest in a nice soft top setup. Who makes the best complete soft top?
 

ep67bro

Contributor
Bronco Junky
Joined
Aug 28, 2008
Messages
3,642
Loc.
Easton, MD
You will get a lot of different opinions on this. But there are really only three choices. Rampage, Besttop, and BC broncos top. I have had a bunch of Rampage tops and for the price It think they are best, easy up and down, multiple color choices, easy install. Not perfect but a good choice.
 

sprdv1

Contributor
REBEL
Joined
Mar 8, 2007
Messages
81,734
Welcome to the site.

Rampage and Bestop are about same, little more involved in attaching Rampage

Bestop adds a little more height w/the hoop so if you park in a garage, may inhibit that

BC's is top notch and I would own one if I could

Congrats as well. You need to post Pics :)

Good luck










Feel free to vote daily for CB as Top 4x4 site, Link/Emotican at bottom of page :)
 

AK-47

Jr. Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2015
Messages
75
Loc.
Long Island
I own a BC Bronco's soft top and love it but it's not completely a top-down situation unless you take the frame off. I generally take mine off in the summer and it takes about 25 mins to get off and on now that I'm practiced at it. I also had to install a winch on the ceiling of my garage to pull it off and store it.
 

RADO

Jr. Member
Joined
Sep 26, 2016
Messages
138
Loc.
Phoenix
I think the "best" is a bit subjective based on what your expectations are for a soft top.

I have first hand experience with the rampage & bestop, which are similar design with a few key differences. I prefer the rampage.

The BC Broncos soft top is a different frame design and would be considered the premium top over the other two.

Personally, I have a Rampage because I like the look and can quickly pull the top back and lay the frame rails down. It's also the cheapest top. I notice some slapping noise from the top windows when driving +65MPH. The canvas material is pretty nice, but the zippers are terrible. Bestop zippers are MUCH stronger and better designed. Speaking of the Bestop, it's taller and I had trouble fitting it into the garage. Overall, you're not getting a perfect fitting top with these two brands, but they'll keep you relatively comfortable and dry.

I don't have experience with the BC top. From what I've gathered it seems to have more advantages to design, fit, strength, etc. but is pricey & not easily removed.

Compromises across the board. Life with a 50 year old vehicle. ;D
 

Nothing Special

Sr. Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2016
Messages
804
I only have experience with Bestop and I've been generally happy with mine. Easy to use, and no louder than I expect from a soft top. It does make my Bronco too tall to fit in the garage with the top up, but I only need to pull it in if the top is down anyway.

One complaint I have now though is that I can't seem to get a Bestop without dark tinted windows. That's not acceptable for me, so even though I tore a hole in my top against a tree (not a quality problem, just a driving problem) I don't think I'm willing to buy another (Gorilla tape is patching it for now). I don't think Rampage comes with clear windows either though, so I don't know that there's much choice there.
 

BGBronco

Contributor
N A S H V I L L E
Joined
Jun 23, 2017
Messages
1,543
Loc.
Tennessee
Subjective and slightly off topic but I really hate the fact that you can't get a Besttop or Rampage top without tinted windows. Love tinted windows just not on a bronco and it should certainly be an option. I ordered a Rampage.
 

Z Bronco

Bronco Guru
Joined
Mar 17, 2007
Messages
1,138
I had an STC top before, but I prefer the Bestop now. It was nice to put back in my wiper motor cover with map light and have visers again when I have taken the Bronco across the country.
 

BRONCO26

Sr. Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2006
Messages
508
Loc.
SENOIA
I had the bestop and liked it a lot but sold it and bought a bc top and I love it. The bc top looks more like the original hard top to me. The bc top is also quieter inside with hardly no wind noise. They all are good choices but really depends on the person buying it.
 

Skiddy

Bronco Guru
Joined
Oct 8, 2003
Messages
11,557
Subjective and slightly off topic but I really hate the fact that you can't get a Besttop or Rampage top without tinted windows. Love tinted windows just not on a bronco and it should certainly be an option. I ordered a Rampage.

I know what you mean. for me I can't see out of tinted windows at night especially out wheeling in the dark.
I have the rampage easy up and down and pretty cheap so when I tear it on a tree%) had STC before that pretty much the same but no longer made
 

.94 OR

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
1,659
Are the Kayline tops out of business? I had one 25 years ago but can't find them now.
 

SteveL

Huge chevy guy
Joined
Jun 24, 2001
Messages
11,613
Loc.
Hawthorne ca
Kayline turned into stc. Mine tore and blew off on the freeway. When I get another soft top it will be a bc. Way better built than the others.
 

Scoop

Contributor
Have Bronco, Will Travel
Joined
Feb 1, 2006
Messages
10,581
Loc.
Cuchara, CO
Rampage is the same design as the Kayline/STC top. Only manufacturing has moved from Colorado to China. That said, I prefer the Rampage for looks and fold-down convenience over the Bestop. But Bestop overall quality is a bit better than Rampage. As said already, if you can afford a BC top, it's the premium choice - it will even support a roof rack!
 

McLeod

Full Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Messages
296
The first soft top I bought was back in the late 80's and it was a Kayline.
I thought the quality was pretty good except for the clear windows got scratched pretty easy.

So, Rampage is basically a Kayline?

Are there soft doors for use with or match the Rampage fabric?
 

Spartan76

Jr. Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2015
Messages
128
I saved up the money for a BC top after I saw it in person. The fit and finish, construction, design, etc is impressive. Think of a hard top frame covered in fabric. Tons of color options, clear or tinted windows. You can also buy the fabric components individually, so if you damage something or go with a different color option, you can do so. As others have pointed out, it is not a convertible. The sides and back are snapped off and you essentially have a safari top, or a full length bikini top. Works for me, the sun is not my friend when it comes to getting burnt. The only issue I have had is I got a little aggressive removing some panels and a couple of snaps came apart on me. Snap repair kits are readily available, just haven't done it yet. BC is also making or have available roof racks, baskets, awnings and tents that make it pretty versatile over other tops. I also put adhesive backed camper foam tape in between the bows and top section fabric, which has eliminated all the wind buffeting noise. It seals really well. It is nearly double the cost of the Rampage and Bestop, but I don't have buyers remorse in the slightest bit. The frame bolts on in all the original hard top points, and you can easily handle lifting it off by yourself. Comes in two boxes, easy to put together and install. Comes with the lowering bracket for your wiper motor. I don't have a wiper motor cover, I assume any of the soft top covers would work, but I can't confirm. I want a cover, but I'm pretty indecisive about it and I've got my eye on BC's metal wiper cover motor with the blue tooth speaker set up. That of course leads me down the road about a stereo system and about a hundred other directions of things that are all tied together that I haven't decided direction for. 1st world Bronco problems I guess.
 

Nothing Special

Sr. Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2016
Messages
804
....As others have pointed out, it is not a convertible....

That makes the BC top a non-starter for me. If I didn't want a convertible I wouldn't have removed my hard top. Might be great for some people, but not for me.

....1st world Bronco problems I guess.

I know you didn't coin that phrase, but it has always struck me as wrong. We live in the New World (the Old World being Europe). The 3rd World is what has started to develop after the first 2. So we should be dismissing our problems as New World, or possibly 2nd world problems. Europe (the 1st world) has different ones.
 

Nothing Special

Sr. Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2016
Messages
804

In that it says:
In common usage, as per Merriam-Webster, "first world" now typically refers to "the highly developed industrialized nations often considered the westernized countries of the world".​

Lots of phrases get defined through "common usage." That means that they're only valid phrases because they've been used a lot, not because they were "correct."

Like what does "peruse" mean? In common usage it typically means to read over something quickly. But originally it meant to carefully read something. Or how about "decimate?" In common usage it means to almost completely annihilate an opponent. But originally it very specifically meant to kill one out of every ten. Or how about "literally" which, in common usage means "virtually"(edit, I should have said "figuratively", but you knew what I meant ;)), which is literally its antonym.

Still, words are useful because because people know what they mean. How or why they know doesn't make them any less useful. But I go back to what I originally said, it strikes me as wrong (even though I know what is meant).
 
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