HardTop mounting - HOW ?

[brian72]

OK - I don't have a top for my bronco, but ONE day maybe. The body guys are trying to talk me into filling in the bed rail holes. If I do that, is there a way to mount the hardtop later down the road?

brian

 

[Gummi Bear]

You'll just have to drill them out later on. Leave them if you ever plan on bolting on a full wagon top.

If they really have a hankerin' to fill some holes, they can fill all the snap holes in the side of my rig for me where the old school top snapped down... ;D

 

[DPM77]

I think you will need those holes, but drilling them out would probably be easy. The rear braces act as a guide back there, and the bolt holes over the windshield locate the front. The sides do flex though, so you might want to take some measurements of the existing holes just behind the doors so that you locate them correctly later on.

Sometimes I wish that I had kept a log or diary of all the little details of all of my work on the EB. Then there would be somewhere to put all of that kind of information.

dpm

 

[bowhunter]

You could always do it the red-neck way and clamp it down with small c-clamps. Or for a little more professional look, you could rob some of the clamps off of a tonneau cover. This may actually be a really good idea!

 

[evil69]

Just buy this top.
http://www.classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67542
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Are they wanting to fill all of the holes along the bedside or the stake holes only or.....?

Keep the windsheild frame with the holes in the top. I think trying to line those up and redrilling would be next to impossible.

 

[SaddleUp]

Why not bolt bed rails on instead?

 

[74BroncoCO]

bowhunter and I have the same idea. You should be able to find some nice looking ones at a topper place. Don't allow them to fill the stake pockets tho, as that will align everything. It would look clean without the topper on to do this tho, I like the idea!

J.D.

 

[brian72]

It is just to fill the 5 or 6 bolt holes on the bed rails. The holes in the windshield frame will stay. Just wondering if how much better it may look with the holes filled, since I won't be running a top.

I too think I could get some nice clamps down the road IF %) I get a top.

>>SaddleUp......Why not bolt bed rails on instead?
What are you thinking here???

 

[SaddleUp]

It is just to fill the 5 or 6 bolt holes on the bed rails. The holes in the windshield frame will stay. Just wondering if how much better it may look with the holes filled, since I won't be running a top.

I too think I could get some nice clamps down the road IF %) I get a top.

>>SaddleUp......Why not bolt bed rails on instead?
What are you thinking here???

Some nice bed caps with stainless cap bolts or screws. You could also just put bolts or cap screws in the holes and then cover them with bedliner. Either one could be done to fill the holes while keeping them functional. My holes are covered with the soft top rail but I used bedliner over the edge to protect the top of the bed rails. You also might be able to find some plugs that would fit flush that you could just pop out down the road. (Just throwing out some options here)

 

[kcmacg]

Mine are filled, i will take a picture tonight and post it for you. I like it, it is a clean look. BUT... I dont drive mine except for fun, never in the rain or when its to cold. I do have a full hard top, that I hold on with C-clamps on the rails, the windsheild boltholes are still there. Have pulled it at Highway speeds like this and had no problems.
So it just depends how you use yours, if you want the top to seal real tight and fit properly, leave em, if its not a concren fill em.