Bestop Trektop NX issue on 2012 JKU
04-22-2012 | 08:06 PM
#12
JK Newbie
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
From: Kansas
HOLLY F%$@ STIX!! My finger tips hurt! I bought my NX a couple of weeks ago for my '12 JK 2dr. Weather went south, so I have been impatiently waiting. Yesterday was about 70 deg. I did some yard work in the morning waiting for it to warm up. Then I laid all the material out in the drive. I put on all the attachments’. Step 7 is about stupid. You can’t tell me that they didn’t have two seconds to slap on a silly piece of foam?! The illustration is confusing at that. Skipped it until I went to put the top on and noticed the front header of the material looked familiar.
This SOB is tight! At points, it’s a bit confusing. I tend to read instructions then figure out how it should be done. Overall it fit great. The rear window does put up one hell of a fight. There is a stupid collar tag on the back left top… What the heck is the point of that? That and it is so frayed you can’t read it. I’ll be taking a razor blade to that. The instructions should specify which bolt on the sound bar you put the cable support piece on. Got an un-needed slit in sport bar cover for that one. Allso the rear left J strap is sewn in backwards. It has to be twisted to work. May find a better way to do that later. And the stupid clip for the inside sound bar strap!! Cranked’em down as tight as they will go and still a lot of slack. But I wouldn’t expect much from those wimpy clips anyway.
Overall looks freak’n awesome. I think removal of the widows will be easier after a few days in temps above 80 deg. After that, they should do fine.
Took it on a test run, and yes there is a bit of more road noise. Its freak’n material not soundproofing. (Sorry, keep reading posts where that is a complaint). Rolled the top back and hit 75mph, no flapping around a lot quieter than expected. Amazed that it just lays there not strapped down. Wind was around 25mph, drove straight into it, turned every direction, and the top didn’t move. (Wife stuck her head up and watched to verify).
So I can’t find any detrimental issues with this top, excluding the strap, oh, seen a pin hole back by the stupid collar tag. I got some tent sealer somewhere to fix that. Seems like a solid product.
Here is what I would like to see…
Get rid of the stupid collar tag!
Better back straps/J strap.
Improved solution to the sound bar straps.
Maybe suggest temps over 80deg. But I wouldn’t have waited another week to be honest.
A six week program to build up finger tip muscle. Man they hurt!
Just another reason to get in and drive somewhere.....
This SOB is tight! At points, it’s a bit confusing. I tend to read instructions then figure out how it should be done. Overall it fit great. The rear window does put up one hell of a fight. There is a stupid collar tag on the back left top… What the heck is the point of that? That and it is so frayed you can’t read it. I’ll be taking a razor blade to that. The instructions should specify which bolt on the sound bar you put the cable support piece on. Got an un-needed slit in sport bar cover for that one. Allso the rear left J strap is sewn in backwards. It has to be twisted to work. May find a better way to do that later. And the stupid clip for the inside sound bar strap!! Cranked’em down as tight as they will go and still a lot of slack. But I wouldn’t expect much from those wimpy clips anyway.
Overall looks freak’n awesome. I think removal of the widows will be easier after a few days in temps above 80 deg. After that, they should do fine.
Took it on a test run, and yes there is a bit of more road noise. Its freak’n material not soundproofing. (Sorry, keep reading posts where that is a complaint). Rolled the top back and hit 75mph, no flapping around a lot quieter than expected. Amazed that it just lays there not strapped down. Wind was around 25mph, drove straight into it, turned every direction, and the top didn’t move. (Wife stuck her head up and watched to verify).
So I can’t find any detrimental issues with this top, excluding the strap, oh, seen a pin hole back by the stupid collar tag. I got some tent sealer somewhere to fix that. Seems like a solid product.
Here is what I would like to see…
Get rid of the stupid collar tag!
Better back straps/J strap.
Improved solution to the sound bar straps.
Maybe suggest temps over 80deg. But I wouldn’t have waited another week to be honest.
A six week program to build up finger tip muscle. Man they hurt!
Just another reason to get in and drive somewhere.....
04-16-2013 | 06:32 PM
#13
Thread Starter
JK Newbie
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 15
Likes: 1
From: Minneapolis, MN
Sorry about the 12 Month delay... I just returned from an extended abroad work assignment.
Minus the issue noted above, the Top has been awesome and I really like the look the angled rear window provides.
It does a pretty good job of keeping water out of my rig and it's pretty easy to zip out the rear windows (putting then back in in cooler weather can be challenging though…). Because of the tight fit, the stitching between the back window and fabric stretched out and make small pinholes, but I covered them with sealant and haven’t had any leakage problems since. Did you end up getting one? I haven't seen many other jeeps driving around with this top.CRV_05
10-21-2015 | 06:05 PM
#14
JK Newbie
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
From: CANADA
loving the look of it but incomplete
have a 2007 JK and like a few on here am having trouble completing the tailgate, saw somewhere to take a blow dryer to stretch things out so will be trying that tomorrow...... The biggest issue and longest delay was with the 8 screws in the pivot bar where it installs to the header, screws either went in only halfway or not at all, resulting in over an hour of drilling every hole to get the screws in, anyone else with that problem? also, yes getting the rear windows wrapped was not easy. have to admit it was fairly cool up here in Vàncouver BC in October but cool should not have affected those screws, love it right now, will be loving it even more with the tailgate finished.
Last edited by wetweathergirl; 10-21-2015 at 06:09 PM. Reason: color of print wrong
08-25-2017 | 07:55 PM
#15
JK Freak
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 557
Likes: 1
From: Middle river, Md
Hi Everyone!
Thanks in advance for reading.
Well it’s been unusually warm in the northern states this winter/spring so I have had the itch to ditch the hardtop and purchase a nice soft top for the summer.
I recently bought the Bestop Trektop NX (I really like the fast back look on the JKU’s) and decided to install it. I did my fair share of research on the top before buying and came across a wide variety of opinions regarding the ease of installation. Everyone who owns one seems to only have good things to say about their Trektop NX! Needless to say I was excited to get the hardtop off and the Trektop NX on! I had come across some threads where people were having difficulties installing the Trektop NX because of how tight the material was. Most of these issues seemed to be related to cold external temperatures during the initial install. Because temps had been between 60-80ºF in Minnesota, and Bestop recommends installation in temperatures above 72ºF I placed the fabric portions of the Trektop NX in my sauna and set it to 90ºF and let the top soak in the heat overnight prior to install.
The next day was overcast and about 70ºF at the time of installation. I figured this would be warm enough and couldn’t wait to get the top on. The first couple steps went really smoothly. The installation guide was pretty good, and I was able to follow the pictures and text for the most part. (Some instructions could have been a little better worded and pictures improved, but I am an engineer by profession so that is me nit picking… I have come across much worse!)
I encountered my first problem during install step # 17 & 20. The rear side window panels were hard to insert into the door surrounds. They would go in, but not want to stay in towards the top, took a couple of tries, but nothing too hard to figure out. Once I got it, I shut the rear doors to lock in into the groove. In step #20 the zippers were really hard to fully close; requiring substantial pulling force… not a big deal, but this worried me somewhat about the rest of the top.
Attachment 296105
Attachment 296106
Attachment 296110
The next step I had trouble with was the #23. The step requires you to attach the tailgate bar to the rear tabs of the vehicle. Initially it appears that something was seriously wrong as there was a good 2 inches between the tailgate bar attachment clamps and the sheet metal tabs built into the body panel of the jeep.
At this point, after some thought, I decided that I should loosen the rear bow brackets which dictate the position of the rear window and top of the assembly. These brackets have some play front to back and if I positioned them too far forward, it may be causing the problems attaching the tailgate bar. (These brackets can be seen in install step # 2 and #13). By loosening the brackets I was able to eventually get the passenger side of the tailgate bar attached and with the help of a friend I was able to get the driver side attached… but something seemed wrong. Should it have required the strength of two to get this attached to the rear sheet metal attachment tab??? The zippers of the rear window were eassly closed and life was good! Almost don’t with my install! 
Or so I thought…
Step #27 would prove to give me even more trouble!
When the top of the cover was flipped over to complete the installation, I noticed there was a noticeable gap between the front window seal and the front of the trektop nx top header. I tried to reach the factory attachment bars on the front window assembly with the hook levers attached to the header of the trektop nx and was no ware close… we tried everything we could and the hooks were still too far away from the latches… finally we thought we should loosen the brackets in step #2 a second time to try and get the top a bit closer to the front in order to engage the lever hooks into the attachment bars on the front window.
This finally worked and I was able to clamped the top down to the front window!
At this point I turned the heat on full blast and let the jeep sit for 45 minutes with the heat cranked to allow the soft top to “break in” or loosen up a bit.
The next day after work I was walking up to the jeep and I noticed the rear tailgate bar looked strange on the driver side…
Upon a closer look I realized that the tailgate bar had actually bent the sheet metal tab upwards
as seen in the pictures below.
Attachment 296109
Attachment 296111
I called Bestop and they said they have never heard of this problem before with their Trektop NX’s and usually have the opposite problem, where the top is too loose and people call to figure out how to make it tighter!
The Customer service people were really helpful and kind. They asked me to send in pictures of what had happened. I sent the pictures yesterday. I will update you all on their response to this damage.
I have also taken the jeep to the dealership to see what they had to say about it. They think this may be covered under warranty somehow… well see, I find it hard to believe Chrysler would cover damage caused by an aftermarket product… but I will update you on that front as well!
Have any of you have similar problems or similar experiences? I really like the look of the top and hope I can find a solution to this problem.
Thanks for reading and as always Happy Jeeping!
Thanks in advance for reading.
Well it’s been unusually warm in the northern states this winter/spring so I have had the itch to ditch the hardtop and purchase a nice soft top for the summer.
I recently bought the Bestop Trektop NX (I really like the fast back look on the JKU’s) and decided to install it. I did my fair share of research on the top before buying and came across a wide variety of opinions regarding the ease of installation. Everyone who owns one seems to only have good things to say about their Trektop NX! Needless to say I was excited to get the hardtop off and the Trektop NX on! I had come across some threads where people were having difficulties installing the Trektop NX because of how tight the material was. Most of these issues seemed to be related to cold external temperatures during the initial install. Because temps had been between 60-80ºF in Minnesota, and Bestop recommends installation in temperatures above 72ºF I placed the fabric portions of the Trektop NX in my sauna and set it to 90ºF and let the top soak in the heat overnight prior to install. The next day was overcast and about 70ºF at the time of installation. I figured this would be warm enough and couldn’t wait to get the top on. The first couple steps went really smoothly. The installation guide was pretty good, and I was able to follow the pictures and text for the most part. (Some instructions could have been a little better worded and pictures improved, but I am an engineer by profession so that is me nit picking… I have come across much worse!)
I encountered my first problem during install step # 17 & 20. The rear side window panels were hard to insert into the door surrounds. They would go in, but not want to stay in towards the top, took a couple of tries, but nothing too hard to figure out. Once I got it, I shut the rear doors to lock in into the groove. In step #20 the zippers were really hard to fully close; requiring substantial pulling force… not a big deal, but this worried me somewhat about the rest of the top.
Attachment 296105
Attachment 296106
Attachment 296110
The next step I had trouble with was the #23. The step requires you to attach the tailgate bar to the rear tabs of the vehicle. Initially it appears that something was seriously wrong as there was a good 2 inches between the tailgate bar attachment clamps and the sheet metal tabs built into the body panel of the jeep.
At this point, after some thought, I decided that I should loosen the rear bow brackets which dictate the position of the rear window and top of the assembly. These brackets have some play front to back and if I positioned them too far forward, it may be causing the problems attaching the tailgate bar. (These brackets can be seen in install step # 2 and #13). By loosening the brackets I was able to eventually get the passenger side of the tailgate bar attached and with the help of a friend I was able to get the driver side attached… but something seemed wrong. Should it have required the strength of two to get this attached to the rear sheet metal attachment tab??? The zippers of the rear window were eassly closed and life was good! Almost don’t with my install! Or so I thought…
Step #27 would prove to give me even more trouble!
When the top of the cover was flipped over to complete the installation, I noticed there was a noticeable gap between the front window seal and the front of the trektop nx top header. I tried to reach the factory attachment bars on the front window assembly with the hook levers attached to the header of the trektop nx and was no ware close… we tried everything we could and the hooks were still too far away from the latches… finally we thought we should loosen the brackets in step #2 a second time to try and get the top a bit closer to the front in order to engage the lever hooks into the attachment bars on the front window. This finally worked and I was able to clamped the top down to the front window!
At this point I turned the heat on full blast and let the jeep sit for 45 minutes with the heat cranked to allow the soft top to “break in” or loosen up a bit.
The next day after work I was walking up to the jeep and I noticed the rear tailgate bar looked strange on the driver side…
Upon a closer look I realized that the tailgate bar had actually bent the sheet metal tab upwards
as seen in the pictures below.Attachment 296109
Attachment 296111
I called Bestop and they said they have never heard of this problem before with their Trektop NX’s and usually have the opposite problem, where the top is too loose and people call to figure out how to make it tighter!
The Customer service people were really helpful and kind. They asked me to send in pictures of what had happened. I sent the pictures yesterday. I will update you all on their response to this damage.
I have also taken the jeep to the dealership to see what they had to say about it. They think this may be covered under warranty somehow… well see, I find it hard to believe Chrysler would cover damage caused by an aftermarket product… but I will update you on that front as well!
Have any of you have similar problems or similar experiences? I really like the look of the top and hope I can find a solution to this problem.
Thanks for reading and as always Happy Jeeping!
