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Going from Hard Top to Soft soon

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Old 04-10-2009, 01:42 PM
  #11  
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Watch the video on the Jeep site and follow the order it says. The owners manual is more complicated.
Old 04-10-2009, 02:52 PM
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Watch the video on the Jeep sight several times!!! The first time I did the hard top to soft top switch was last summer and it was a PITA. But now that I know what to do, it took me about 15 minutes last weekend to do the entire switch!!!
Old 04-10-2009, 04:36 PM
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Sell the factory soft top its a pain in the ass and get a trektop.
Old 04-10-2009, 07:47 PM
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watch the video (it's on YouTube btw)!!!
X4

I watched the video and took step by step instructions on a note pad. Immediately went out to the garage with my notes, 20 minutes was all it took!

The soft top is really quite impressive. It's very strong, tight and clever. You just have to stay focused and do it correctly.
Once youve done it a couple of times it's really no biggie & pretty simple!!
Old 04-11-2009, 07:18 AM
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the thing that gave me the biggest PIA the first time was putting the soft top down. folding the top is a bit tricky.

make sure all the folds of the top are resting behind the rear doors when you fold back the front portion of the top ( as in drawing on page 152 of the 2007 manual)

if you let it fold naturally on its own it will not fold like this. you have to physically manipulate it to get it like this. the top material will hit the roll bar before it folds completely down into the rear tub and sit too high if the top does not fold properly.

it took me awhile to figure this out the first time. once you get the hang of it, it is really pretty easy.

hope this isn't too confusing and helps.....good luck!!
Old 04-13-2009, 08:40 PM
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I have watched the video on jeep.com and again on Youtube. Neither is showing me what I am looking for.

All the videos show how to put the soft top up and down etc, but none seem to show how to INSTALL the soft top onto the Jeep after taking the hard top off. It seems like the only one I have found on Youtube is in Polish (maybe Russian).

I'm gonna be trying this tomorrow using my brother-in-law, the manual, and the FORCE. I'll post to let you know how it went.

If it all works out well, maybe I'll remove everything and reinstall it under video surveilance and post on youtube.

Anyone have any ideas on this. Mostly looking for where all the little hardware goes etc.
Old 04-14-2009, 05:09 AM
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Originally Posted by Prpltrck
Anyone have any ideas on this. Mostly looking for where all the little hardware goes etc.
It's a very simple install and doesn't really require a write-up. There are two roll bar brackets with screws that get installed on the roll bar right where the slit is in the roll bar padding. Then attach the soft top bows to the brackets using the provided screws. The door surrounds clamp on to the roll bar then screw the large knobs through the surrounds to secure them to the roll bar. The plastic rear window brackets also just snap to the body on either side of the rear gate. Refer to the video you mentioned for how to get the top up/down once it's installed.
Old 04-14-2009, 10:34 AM
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T-40 for the Hardtop (8)
T-30 for the softtop (4)
T-50 for the Doors

I agree about folding the soft top. Pay attention to the video and the owner's manual. It was the only part of the process that was not intuitive.

The part about letting the soft top "warm up in the sun" is very true. It will make things a lot easier. Trust me, I did it when it was 45 degrees ... not fun

The video is not complete. It doesn't show the installation of the door frames. However, this is very straight forward and there should be directions in the box. I switched tops for the first time last week. Unfortunately, there were two "passenger side" front door frames in my box. Hope that doesn't happen to you. Much to my surprise, the dealer had a "driver side" piece in stock and swapped ot out no questions asked!

Now if it would just get about 40 degrees in NY
Old 04-17-2009, 10:36 AM
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Okay, so I've been rockin the soft top for a couple of days now, and have even had a chance to put it down once.

One problem though, the 2 bow doesn't sit nicely in that little cut out for it. Makes my Jeep look like a hunchback. Any suggestions?
~prpl
Old 04-17-2009, 05:16 PM
  #20  
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Originally Posted by joepile
im chaning over tonight!!!!!!!!
LoL!!! You should have done it weeks ago. We've had a few "topless" days in Jersey over the last few weeks.


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