Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ engine mounts

Is a Bestop top worth the upgrade?

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With my previous fastback my normal routine was to unzip the rear window 90% of the way on both sides, flip it up into the top, then flip the sunrider top back on top of it and take the upper doors off. It was plenty open for me to get the experience I wanted, the sunrider held the rear window down, and it could be fully closed again in about 2 minutes.
 
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NashvilleTJ said:
I love the Rampage on the LJ.

Goes from this:

View attachment 479626

To this:

View attachment 479628

In about 2 minutes. It's also fairly quick to put the windows back in. Perhaps 5 minutes.

I've gone through quite a few of these as I'm always tearing them up on the trail - but at about $400 it's a good value. Mine is pretty tight - as I built the cage to fit the top - so it's fairly quiet on the road.

I'm personally not a fan of the extra hardware associated to the retractable Sunrider feature in the Trektop NX, but it is a great top as well.
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Twinsies!
20231118_164138.jpg
 
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John Cooper said:
I have had 2 Bestop Trektop NX on 2 of my TJ's. Both of them exceeded my expectations.
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I am on my third Trektop NX. First two on JKs and now on the TJ. I have zero complaints. The TJ PO had some cheap shit top on the flopped and flapped and pooled water when it rained. Plus I couldn't deal with the frame. I have an InstaTrunk outback so there is nowhere for the frame to gather when folded back it all sits on top of the InstaTrunk.

The NX is an absolute breeze. I can pull the windows and go bikini top in minutes. Flip the Sunrider back for added air. I do it while stopped at a traffic light. That easy. Put it all back to gather in minutes.

I do leave the plastic corner stiffeners out so the windows are easier to roll up when out and the rear window is easier to get back in. The top still fits tight with no wrinkles in the windows and no flutter.

NashvilleTJ said:
I love the Rampage on the LJ.

Goes from this:

View attachment 479626

To this:

View attachment 479628

In about 2 minutes. It's also fairly quick to put the windows back in. Perhaps 5 minutes.

I've gone through quite a few of these as I'm always tearing them up on the trail - but at about $400 it's a good value. Mine is pretty tight - as I built the cage to fit the top - so it's fairly quiet on the road.

I'm personally not a fan of the extra hardware associated to the retractable Sunrider feature in the Trektop NX, but it is a great top as well.
Click to expand...
Good lord.. That is one sweet looking TJ. Yellow is by far my favorite color..

PNW_LJ said:
Is that not possible with a frameless? Can you flip the rear window up by unzipping the sides like 90% of the way?
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You can can flip it up onto the roof if that's what you mean. No problem. If there is any shortcoming, you can't unzip the rear window and roll it up like you can with a framed top. No room to store the window because the top sits right up against the roll bar in the back.
 
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1904-06LJR said:
Same. Not sure if it's making a difference, but I fold the sunrider back and zip about 3" of the rear window on both sides. Then I work the bottom of the side windows from front to rear into the lip of the tub. As I get to the rear corner, I pull on those little nylon straps towards the rear at the same time I'm snapping in the corner plastic under the lip of the tub. Then I'll zip about half way down and snap the tailgate bar in. Zip a little more on each side until it's done. Last, I'll flip the sunrider back and secure it. Seems to work every time and I've never felt like it was going to rip. For what it's worth, I've not found a huge difference with or without the aluminum flap bar in...
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100% what I do. I leave the corner stiffeners out of the windows as mentioned above.

I often leave the flap bar out as well. Only downside is water pools a bit more if it rains. No rain gutters on the Nx for the TJ. The JK version does have a rain gutter. Not sure why Bestop couldn't design that into the door surrounds. That said.. there is less hardware to deal on the TJ frameless than on the JK

Some folks complain about the j-hooks in the rear not staying connected to the tub rail. Really easy fix for that...
IMG_4101.jpg


And, give some thought to painting the underside of the soft top and inside of the windows. Duplicolor Vinyl & Fabric rattle can. Looks a gajillion times better. I had not yet done the windows in the pic below. The paint/dye remains flexible and today looks exactly as it did when I first did it a few years ago.
2022-06-26 TJ Painted TrekTop 09.jpg
 
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My only thought on that used Bestop is the older the better. Older Bestop tops had a superb fit, I installed several of them. Then they apparently switched manufacturers (to China?) and the fit then got pretty damned sloppy/loose. The last top I bought from Bestop was a Safari top and its fit was shockingly loose and sloppy, it wouldn't even stay seated in the door surrounds more than a mile or two at highway speeds. Previous Safari tops from them had a great fit, just the last ones I received did not.

To Bestop's credit they sent me two replacements but they were all just as bad. I ended up screwing the sides down into the door surrounds so they'd stay put. That gray fabric on top was my Jeep cover pulled back for this photo.

DSC_0123 Edited.jpg
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
My only thought on that used Bestop is the older the better. Older Bestop tops had a superb fit, I installed several of them. Then they apparently switched manufacturers (to China?) and the fit then got pretty damned sloppy/loose. The last top I bought from Bestop was a Safari top and its fit was shockingly loose and sloppy, it wouldn't even stay seated in the door surrounds more than a mile or two at highway speeds. Previous Safari tops from them had a great fit, just the last ones I received did not.

To Bestop's credit they sent me two replacements but they were all just as bad. I ended up screwing the sides down into the door surrounds so they'd stay put. That gray fabric on top was my Jeep cover pulled back for this photo.

View attachment 480279
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That’s unfortunate. Hard to believe that would be the area which would come undone. On my Rampage, that area is so tight I sometimes need to get out the Port-A-Power to get it in…

😉
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
My only thought on that used Bestop is the older the better. Older Bestop tops had a superb fit, I installed several of them. Then they apparently switched manufacturers (to China?) and the fit then got pretty damned sloppy/loose. The last top I bought from Bestop was a Safari top and its fit was shockingly loose and sloppy, it wouldn't even stay seated in the door surrounds more than a mile or two at highway speeds. Previous Safari tops from them had a great fit, just the last ones I received did not.

To Bestop's credit they sent me two replacements but they were all just as bad. I ended up screwing the sides down into the door surrounds so they'd stay put. That gray fabric on top was my Jeep cover pulled back for this photo.

View attachment 480279
Click to expand...

Can't imagine how that would come loose. Did it not have the plastic runners that clip into the surround?

On a different note.. what's the age difference between the uppers and the top? Interesting how they have aged
 
MikekiM said:
Can't imagine how that would come loose. Did it not have the plastic runners that clip into the surround?

On a different note.. what's the age difference between the uppers and the top? Interesting how they have aged
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The side to side fit was sloppy due to having been made slightly too wide. It wasn't tight enough so the plastic edges on the sides would securely snap into place on the door surrounds as required.

The color variation between the Safari top and door uppers is because the Safari top was black and my soft top and door fabric were khaki color. You can see its khaki color below. And yes I punched a hole through its corner on this trail called Isham Canyon in the Panamint Mountains in Death Valley.

DSC_0299.JPG
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
The side to side fit was sloppy due to having been made slightly too wide. It wasn't tight enough so the plastic edges on the sides would securely snap into place on the door surrounds as required.

The color variation is because the Safari top was black and my soft top and door fabric were both khaki color. You can see its khaki color below. And yes I punched a hole through its corner on this trail called Isham Canyon in the Panamint Mountains in Death Valley.

View attachment 480287
Click to expand...

I'd love to trailer my jeep back to death valley and spend a couple weeks on those old wagon trails!
 
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Rickyd said:
I'd love to trailer my jeep back to death valley and spend a couple weeks on those old wagon trails!
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I've wheeled the Death Valley area twice now and really loved it. One outstanding event happens every year there called Panamint Valley Days. It was canceled for 2023 due to damage from heavy rains but I'd sure look it up for 2024 if you can then.
 
Jerry Bransford said:
I've wheeled the Death Valley area twice now and really loved it. One outstanding event happens every year there called Panamint Valley Days. It was canceled for 2023 due to damage from heavy rains but I'd sure look it up for 2024 if you can then.
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Thank you I'll look into it. I was there in jan 2019 the first time. Had my lifted truck,trying to get as far away from the paved sections and people as possible. It would be a blast to use my grandparents old maps and go explore in the jeep!
 
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Rickyd said:
Thank you I'll look into it. I was there in jan 2019 the first time. Had my lifted truck,trying to get as far away from the paved sections and people as possible. It would be a blast to use my grandparents old maps and go explore in the jeep!
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One thing to keep in mind is to stick to established trails in Death Valley National Park, the park rangers there go berserk if you get off the established trails.

I was there with 5-6 Jeeps around 2000 and we were lost at one point. 2-3 of our Jeeps were off the trail for maybe 10 yards before they turned around looking for where we should be when a park ranger saw them as they got back on the main trail. He loudly lectured us for 15 minutes before one of our group stepped forward and showed him his gold FBI badge (really) and asked him if he wasn't going just a little overboard? He shut up and but give the 3 guys rakes and told them to get rid of their tracks. We had no idea one of the guys we were wheeling with was an FBI agent lol.
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
One thing to keep in mind is to stick to established trails in Death Valley National Park, the park rangers there go berserk if you get off the established trails.

I was there with 5-6 Jeeps around 2000 and we were lost at one point. 2-3 of our Jeeps were off the trail for maybe 10 yards before they turned around looking for where we should be when a park ranger saw them as they got back on the main trail. He loudly lectured us for 15 minutes before one of our group stepped forward and showed him his FBI badge (really) and asked him if he wasn't going just a little overboard? He shut up and but give the 3 guys rakes and told them to get rid of their tracks. We had no idea one of the guys we were wheeling with was an FBI agent lol.
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Absolutely,i don't want to be the reason more trails get closed.

The rangers don't really want people going anywhere. I had a couple insist I'd never make it to the racetrack without 7 spare tires.
 
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Rickyd said:
Absolutely,i don't want to be the reason more trails get closed.

The rangers don't really want people going anywhere. I had a couple insist I'd never make it to the racetrack without 7 spare tires.
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P.S. I think we were lost nearly half of the time while in Death Valley lol. GPS receivers weren't nearly as good then as they are now, we spent a lot of time staring at maps. I'm the guy on the right in the white Big Johnson t-shirt and hat, I can't believe I still had dark hair then. :ROFLMAO:

11PV15.JPG
 
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I have had both the rampage and the bestop on my LJ - I have to say the bestop is such a disappointment. Ignoring the giant logo, the zippers have mostly disintegrated after not even two years and only stay in because of the velcro. There's also a consistent issue in the door surrounds where the keep down clamp keeps disappearing. The rampage was a bit louder, but the zippers at least wore a lot nicer. I shouldn't have replaced it before its time with this garbage top.
 
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