Soft topper installed/review

[Thealien]

Originally Posted by hemi43

Your rails are mounted too far forward. That rubber block must have a 1/8-1/4 gap so it doesnt rub against the top fabric. If you leave it like that, you will eventually wear through the fabric. This should solve some of your wrinkling issue too. I would also check the aluminum bow right behind the glass. moving the rails back a bit will help, but you may have to adjust the bow also so the top edge of the glass doesn't deform the fabric so much.

It is exactly where the instructions show.

[hemi43]

Originally Posted by Thealien

It is exactly where the instructions show.

Who reads those? Regardless, they are too far forward.

[RustyBucket]

The previous owner of my Blazer had modified a soft top as a half cab cover. I think it is a BES-TOP... not sure, I haven't used it in a long while. He is a pretty crafty guy and he'd trimmed the inner roof liner out of a '67-'72 to use under the soft top just behind the windshield. It makes the top contour much
smoother. The panel isn't very heavy & has trim around the edge so it isn't sharp. I can take a picture of the panel next time I'm in the shop. The half top seals pretty well and doesn't flap.

[Thealien]

Originally Posted by RustyBucket

The previous owner of my Blazer had modified a soft top as a half cab cover. I think it is a BES-TOP... not sure, I haven't used it in a long while. He is a pretty crafty guy and he'd trimmed the inner roof liner out of a '67-'72 to use under the soft top just behind the windshield. It makes the top contour much
smoother. The panel isn't very heavy & has trim around the edge so it isn't sharp. I can take a picture of the panel next time I'm in the shop. The half top seals pretty well and doesn't flap.

I would like to see more pictures and details of that top please.

[RustyBucket]

Here's a couple of pictures of the metal interior roof panel. I don't have any pictures of the inside w/the half top installed. There's some more hardware for it in the loft in the shop. The complete full length top could also be attached w/a big zipper. As I said it's been a long time since I used the top. Luckily the weather is pretty predictable here & it's been a while since I got caught topless in the rain.
`

[CJM72]

Looks great! Eagerly awaiting mine to show up, but they are a bit backordered. Did you screw the aluminum header bar directly to your windshield frame? For some reason I'm hesitant to do this even though I'll probably run with the top on (rolled up like you pictured) 95% of the time.

[truckster]

Originally Posted by CJM72

Looks great! Eagerly awaiting mine to show up, but they are a bit backordered. Did you screw the aluminum header bar directly to your windshield frame? For some reason I'm hesitant to do this even though I'll probably run with the top on (rolled up like you pictured) 95% of the time.

I was hesitant to put screws into my header, but I bit the bullet. I thought about building an aluminum header bar that would bolt to existing holes, but I wanted to get the thing installed and didn't want to take the time to fabricate and fit my own.

The instructions say to use a 9/64 bit. The screws are pretty soft and break easily. I think if I were to do it over again I would buy better screws.

[hemi43]

Originally Posted by CJM72

Looks great! Eagerly awaiting mine to show up, but they are a bit backordered. Did you screw the aluminum header bar directly to your windshield frame? For some reason I'm hesitant to do this even though I'll probably run with the top on (rolled up like you pictured) 95% of the time.

FWIW, I removed the snaps from the aluminum header bar and mounted them separately right on the truck's windshield header. The top fits tighter and you dont need to see that ugly strip of aluminum.