CJK440

I have been searching and unless I screwed up I couldn't find a lot of feedback on Mastertop despite Quadratec who thinks they are great. I need to replace a factory or factory style top with one for year round use in New England. I looked at Pavement ends (by bestop but reviews were critical of the material weight etc.) The mastertop kit for the 07-09 comes with a cable style conversion to be like the 10+, not quite sure how much of a plus that is. They also advertise 40 mil windows which seems to be what the top of the line tops have.

The other I am considering is what appears to be the gold standard Bestop replace-a-top.

Mastertop with the cable conversion for $500 or the Bestop for $650. If they are on similar playing fields quality and substance and I can save a little and gain an advantage with the cable conversion, they I'll go for the Mastertop. Thoughts?

rob_engineer

I can't comment on this top, but some on here convinced me to upgrade to the twill material (resharp) and I'm glad I did. It will be a little better insulated compared to non twill. I got the bestop glide NX complete for my 2014 JK. Was around $1500 but I then got $150 back from quadratec and $100 back from bestop

resharp001

I'm not a huge soft top person myself, BUT, I do currently have a premium twill top I use on occasion and having had various "trail" quality soft tops in the past for wheelin trips I would wholeheartedly tell anyone that the "premium" twill material is heads and heals better than the standard material. Karls10jk has been tied up with life lately, but he has been a 100% soft-top user for over a decade and would profess the same, that the twill material is so worth it regardless of the additional cost.

Separate from the material, is this top for a JK or JKU? I've had both spring-assist and older non-spring-assist tops. On the 4dr not sure it makes a huge difference as I feel they are cumbersome either way and you kinda have to guide it down off the top rails. If anything, the spring-assist/cable tops are a little more cumbersome to remove completely cuz you have to secure the arms or else they try to expand on you once the top is removed. Maybe this is why the newer tops frustrate me a bit cuz I put one on for a long trip and then remove it once home.....where some people just have it on 100% of the time and never remove em. On a 2dr that feature might actually be worth a bit more as pulling the top back might be easier.....but I've never had a 2dr so not sure. Keep in mind this is all just 1 person's opinion, and that person doesn't "love" softtops.

I've not heard much of anything about Mastertops, but Bestop is about as good as your going to get for the wrangler......for better or worse.

CJK440

I'm sure the twill is real nice but this is a pretty clapped out jeep not deserving of such opulence. Its a 2 door and since I am looking for a year round solution given New England winters I'm looking for a well built heavy weight top. I dismissed the budget options but it seems the full mastertop is trying to be a competitor with the bestop/oe setup.

Is the cable conversion to '10+ style the same as spring assist? Still learning.

resharp001

Sorry for the confusion. In the very early years the tops clipped into the top of the door surrounds like what I assume you have on your '07. My first soft top off craigslist was off an '07 and it sucked. It was the worst top I ever owned and clipping in around the door surrounds was part of that suck. Then they came out with the "cable" tops which included a redesigned version of the door surrounds. WIth those the tops did not snap in around the door surrounds but were simply held tight to the surround via tension from the cables that ran along the edge. This was a better design as it made flipping the front portion of the top back easier.....simply unclip from the windshield and throw it back. Next they came up with "spring" assist tops which helped ease the process of pulling the top back up off the tailgate.

So, you currently have an old top that clips in around the door surrounds. Assuming I have that sorted out properly I would say a couple things. Moving to a "cable" top would be nicer than having to snap the top into the top of the door surrounds. That said, I looked at the master top directions and the "conversion" they offer seems a little janky IMO -



There's no telling how that strap and little spring are going to hold up. It definitely isn't the most visually appealing thing.

The 2nd part of their conversion is installing "rain gutters" into the slots your old soft top used to clip into above the door surrounds -


I'm not quite sure what to tell you, or what I might do in this situation. $500 is a lot to gamble with on a new top that has a 50/50 shot of being better IMO. I do think that the cable tops are a lot better and more convenient though depending on your use this might not be a big deal. I'd be on the fence with the decision between the two......which seems to be right where you are hence the post.

I'm guessing that given your location, maybe Craigslist/Facebook marketplace don't have a lot of used soft tops for sale where you might be able to pick up something better than what you have for less cost of replacing the fabric?

CJK440

There are a lot of soft tops for sale around me but pretty much all are for JKUs.

Thanks for the help, I presume the cable conversion was a good thing but wonder if the "gimicky" setup won't work.

CJK440

And if I found one used and local wouldn't I need to find one off an 07-09 that doesn't use the '10+ cable setup??

resharp001

Any soft top you purchase 2nd hand should come will all hardware to install, including the corresponding door surrounds. That is really the difference between what you have and the cable tops. The door surrounds are a bit different with the newer ones having a little "gutter" and not having a place to clip the top in around it since the top is held in place with the cable pressure instead. To clarify, any year soft top will fit on your jeep as long as it has all the corresponding hardware (ie, door surrounds).