This should be a standard starting point for all Jeep related products. When simplicity is pushed aside for marketability is when you start producing junk. The Jeep soft top is no exception to this.
How hard could it be to produce a quality soft top?
It needs to have windows, keep the rain and wind out and have something to hold its shape. That is until you want it to be "convertible", have the same wind noise as a hard top (it's a soft top people, if you want a quiet vehicle buy a mini-van), look like a hard top and do all sorts of marketable things. And then you start ending up with failures.
My factory Jeep JK soft top leaked from the day I got it from the factory, same spot every time. The Jeep went back to the dealership 4-5 times to be fixed by a "leak specialist". I could have saved them some money and just held a garden hose on it instead of using a "leak specialist" and they could have given me the money. Every time it would be fine for a week or so and then leak, dripping from the door top, onto the door handle and spattering onto the seat.
Nothing is more fun than hopping in your JK in a nice cold fall morning to go to work and find a cold wet seat.
"Your freedom top is a convertible!!!" First time I flipped it back some nylon webbing ripped off, I never did re-attach it or figure where it went to. When convertible it flapped, it looked kind of stupid and did not work well. So you fold it all back and it sits like a huge lump on the tail gate. You can't remove it easily without removing the screws that hold the bows on and have fun lining those screws back up by yourself to get the top back on. When it comes time to put the top back on the stupid convertible part finds new ways to piss you off, 90% of the time I just removed all the windows and left the rest up to save the hassle.
I could handle the issues of the factory top, all of them, except for being wet. I can not stand the smell of a moldy vehicle and have no desire for my Jeep to get that way. Time to ditch the factory soft top and go with something new.
I started looking at aftermarket tops and thought that the "fast back" style looked badass on the 4dr JKs. My requirements were simple.
Easy to install
Complete with nothing else to buy.
Reputable company.
In stock and at my door in a "normal" time frame.
Well made and leak free
Everything else was just a perk, like I said, I just wanted a simple well working soft top. And with my mental list of needs I narrowed down my search to one product: The Trektop from Bestop.
I have had past experience with Bestop with my previous vehicles. There are not a lot of companies that make "new" tops for CJ-5s or Isuzu Amigos and I am glad that Bestop is one of them. Everything I have ever used from them was of top quality and construction. I called Bestop just for my own info and asked if they have Trektops in stock and ready to ship to their retailers, their reply was "yes, we have plenty of stock on hand". This put me at ease as I have no desire to order a top and wait 4-6 weeks or more for it to show up at my door. I found the best price from an online vendor and a little over a week later the huge box was sitting at my door. Inside was the complete soft top and all hardware.
Simple hand tools
Oh yes, simple tools for installation. Some wrenches and a screwdriver and that's it, you should already have them in your Jeep.
Simple assembly
You are looking at the most complex part of putting it together. Screw the clamp brackets on and snap it into the front edge.
The Trektop is designed to be used if you have either the factory hard or soft top because it re-uses nothing from the factory. It is a complete stand alone top. So I gutted my JK down to the bare cage and removed all the factory soft top hardware.
Simple frame
You are looking at the door frames from the drivers side rear forward. Solid steel bars and brackets that screw directly into the factory cage holes. This and the cage itself provide 90% of the shape of the top, the rest is when you pull everything tight. No funky folding bars, no plastic door moldings and no fluff, just simple.
I hated the one huge zipper for the entire rear window of the factory soft top. It sucked to re-install and if part of it gets damaged good luck finding a zipper that long. The Trektop rear window has 2 heavy duty zippers on either side of an upper channel. This makes putting the window in easy and should the zipper ever get damaged after the Bestop warranty is over it will be very easy to get it fixed.
Simple attachment points
Everything mounts to either itself or what came on all JKs from the factory. The bottom edge slips under the factory rail with pretty much the exact same material as the factory soft top.
Ok key point here: Install your top on a nice warm day as it will make life suck less. The material shrinks and is stiff when cold and will make it very difficult to install the top. I actually went and used a garage other than my own just so I could get the inside temp up to 70. This helped but does not quite replace a nice sunny day. I was able to install the top OK in my opinion but it could have been better. I removed the entire top a few days later when it was warm and it installed much easier.
So did it cover my requirements? Lets check.
Easy to install: Any easier and someone else would be doing it for me, someone female, in a bikini.
Complete with nothing else to buy: FAIL !!!, I had to buy some Low-carb Monster and snacks to complete the install. Bestop should include snacks in the box, maybe some beef jerky. Ok maybe that does not count.
Reputable company: Most definitely. Bestop makes factory tops for car manufactures and have been doing tops for many years.
In stock and at my door in a 'normal" time frame: Check.
Well made and leak free: It rained a lot in the last few weeks and my butt has been perfectly dry.
Simple plus more? It has those "other features" that usually make soft tops suck. Its convertible, it stores small and complete, it goes up easy and it looks good. The top rolls back to expose the passenger compartment and does not look stupid or flap in the wind. It is also just as quiet as my factory soft top with no flapping or annoyances.
Listen for yourself as here is video of its maiden run:
K.I.S.S. makes things better. By getting rid of the fluff not only do you have a great soft top but one where form follows function. The lines of the JK look so much better with a "fast back" in my opinion, it just looks right!
The tinted windows are a nice touch and in addition to keeping the interior cool it also complements the look of my JK well. This feature comes with all of the Trektops in either 2 or 4 door.
And yes, I used this image in my fender review and yes I am using it again. My ego got in the way and a picture this good deserves to be used twice.
So if you are in the market for a new soft top, a replacement soft top or just a simple top that simply does not suck then I recommend you seriously consider the Trektop from Bestop.
Bestop does not sell directly so please visit our vendor forum and find a JKOwners vendor to supply your soft top and other JK needs.
CONTACT
Bestop, Inc.
P.O. Box 307
Broomfield, CO 80038 U.S.A. www.bestop.com
Toll Free: (800) 845-3567 (U.S. and Canada)
Main: (303) 465-1755 (Internation
