Soft Top Hell

[jwoodywild]

Why does the soft top for my restored Bronco suck so much? Why is it so damn hard and such a pain in the arse to put on and off? I do not have a garage and so I typically keep a soft top on my Bronco with a cover.

But I am in the South and its nice here now and for the next few months. So the Bronco with no top, in all its glory, is the best. But it also rains...and so trying to take the top on and off is so labor intensive and such a pain that I almost never take it off again....

Ugh! Anyone else every have this issue? Feel the same way?

 

[travis77]

Yeah, they're a PITA. I go no top from may to november, soft top december to april. you get wet.

 

[jwoodywild]

yeah. I have a line-x so that part is ok. But the seats - what do you do about those? Also, I am no mechanic - is there an issue with everything getting wet all the time? Last question - any cover work well with no top?

 

[travis77]

yeah. I have a line-x so that part is ok. But the seats - what do you do about those? Also, I am no mechanic - is there an issue with everything getting wet all the time? Last question - any cover work well with no top?

1. I have liner too...thankfully
2. Everything gets wet, but only when it rains. No issues but rust.
3. Not from what i've seen, but a bikini would help. it's on my list.

Sorry, I gave you no solutions at all. Hopefully someone else has better ideas.

 

[Revelation]

My only issue when I am running without a top is the gauges getting wet, I solved that one, just use cheap gauges.

seats get wet but dry when the sun comes out, as for rust, I have no fear about my floors staying wet all the time, they will not rust.

 

[SteveL]

I just throw a trash bag over the seats when it rains

 

[NYLES]

get a bikini top and seat covers

 

[MartyG]

Hey...I gotta ask what top you have? Or are they all a PITA? I'm looking to get one.

 

[Hank_]

I always used one of these on my jeep

. The one in the pic is from BC Broncos. I dont know if others offer the same type of cover. I put in on every night and kept it behind the rear seat whenever I went out. If it starter to rain I would just throw it on and wait for the rain to end.


Henry

 

[WyleCoyote]

I always used one of these on my jeep

. The one in the pic is from BC Broncos. I dont know if others offer the same type of cover. I put in on every night and kept it behind the rear seat whenever I went out. If it starter to rain I would just throw it on and wait for the rain to end.


Henry

Yeah, kinda hard to drive with that on. I have a safari top that I have been running year round up here in sunny dry western Washington. It has done a pretty good job of keeping the dash and stuff mostly dry. It still gives me the feeling of being in a totally open rig though!

 

[roundhouse]

Yeah, the soft top really sucks, its a caveman design. Better than nothing but it sure would be nice if someone would take a Wrangler top and modify/ re size it to fit EBs.

 

[muskrat]

I have the rampage top from Tom's. I think it goes up and down pretty quick. I can get it down in under 5 minutes and up a little over 5 minutes. I have heard the Best Top is tough ton drop and raise.

 

[trailpsycho]

I have the rampage top from Tom's. I think it goes up and down pretty quick. I can get it down in under 5 minutes and up a little over 5 minutes. I have heard the Best Top is tough ton drop and raise.

Here, Here. Not sure what soft-top you have, but there are good options out there. Not sure if you bought the truck with the top on it or built it and bought the top, but a little research would have told you that for a quick up and down top, the Rampage (same design as STC and Kayline before that) is really the best/ only choice for a true convertible top. I run mine without the side wiondows 95% of the time. Even in a strong downpour, I rarely end up with water in the front. I built my truck, so everything in it is designed to take a little water, shake it off and not skip a beat. Ultimately, it depends how you like to roll. I have had more than a few days--over the years--rolling without a top in a torrential downpour, kids waving or making faces...it can be fun or a total cluster...to me its part of the bronco-lifestyle. If you like the wind in your hair and -at times- grime on your face, switch to the new Rampage top, store the windows. As Muskrat said, you can have it up or down in just a couple of minutes...and thats if you run the door frames. If you dont include the door frames, its like 1 minute up and down...the longest part of that is rolling it up (or unrolling it)...if you have a storage box in the back behind the seat, once rolled up, it will sit back there nicely tucked under the rear quarter rails.

To me, its the only way to roll in a Bronco...I mean the 4WD muscle car thing is awesome, but the no-top thing is the best. Even now, since there is no salt on the roads, its hovering in the low to mid 30s (in the morning) and I'm rolling around safari, without the heater on. Cold, but fun.

 

[bosshoff]

I always thought that a cover / bag that could slip over the windshield, and then drape over the inside of the dash to the floorpans would be a good idea. Obviosly, provided you had a stocker, or a cage not tied into the windsheild frame.

 

[Revelation]

I have it to where I can remove or install my Kayline in about 5 min. I replaced some of the connectors with spring pins.