Struggle Putting Softtop On
11-04-2010, 09:54 AM
#1
JK Jedi Master
Thread Starter
Struggle Putting Softtop On
Okay, maybe I should have put the softtop on a couple weeks ago when the temperature was in the 70s, rather than doing it in the mid-40s. But, then I wouldn't have had the entertainment that would ensue this morning.
I laid out the top to warm up on the driveway while I removed the safari top. But, that wasn't enough. The top just would not stretch such that I could engage the latches onto the windshield--there was a two or three inch gap I could not close.
So, after carefully surveying the situation, I decided that maybe a cargo strap pulling on the softtop bow just right would lower the softtop, pulling the latch into place. I took my one and only cargo strap (having given all the others to my son, who now owns my former pick-up truck), and looped it around the right side of the middle bow, then around a rear seat strut, and cinched it down. And, voila, there was now only about a 1/8" gap I could not close. But, the softtop was now also pulling to one side slightly, and the left side was still buckled up slightly.
So, wishing that I had another cargo strap, I took a piece of tubular webbing and looped it around the other side of the same bow as the cargo strap was cinching down. I then formed a loop around me feet. So, picture this in your mind, please, because I was too busy with my feet and hands to take any pictures, I'm pushing down with my feet against the webbing (green webbing, if that helps improve your minds' eye image), back against the seat, pulling the left side of the top into place. On the right, the cargo strap is holding that side in place. My two hands are pulling the latch and certainly I'm making horrible grimaces on my face in 49 degree weather as I get the last latch to just barely clear the footman's loop and snap into place. Whew!
Now, you're probably wondering what my neighbors think about this (admission: they already think I'm crazy, but as fellow Jeep owners you already know that). Before I share that part of my tale with you, let me digress. Have you even been in a neighborhood that has concrete bunkers for their mailboxes? Mine does. And sometimes they get tipped over. I take a walk each morning and I wonder when I see that, "How the heck ...?"
And, let me digress further: Certainly you've seen a single car wreck where the car is in some odd juxtaposition, and you wonder, "How the heck ...?"
Well, let's double those up, because no one was paying any attention to me and my softtop struggles because, three doors down, was this showstopper:
Now, you must wonder how this could happen. I asked the owner of the Ford Freestyle, and she told me, "My sixteen year old is just learning to drive." Hmmm. All I have to say is if this is how he's going to park, she better buy him a Jeep!
BTW: Note that it's true not only about rain, snow, sleet, nor hail, but also tipped mail boxes.
I laid out the top to warm up on the driveway while I removed the safari top. But, that wasn't enough. The top just would not stretch such that I could engage the latches onto the windshield--there was a two or three inch gap I could not close.
So, after carefully surveying the situation, I decided that maybe a cargo strap pulling on the softtop bow just right would lower the softtop, pulling the latch into place. I took my one and only cargo strap (having given all the others to my son, who now owns my former pick-up truck), and looped it around the right side of the middle bow, then around a rear seat strut, and cinched it down. And, voila, there was now only about a 1/8" gap I could not close. But, the softtop was now also pulling to one side slightly, and the left side was still buckled up slightly.
So, wishing that I had another cargo strap, I took a piece of tubular webbing and looped it around the other side of the same bow as the cargo strap was cinching down. I then formed a loop around me feet. So, picture this in your mind, please, because I was too busy with my feet and hands to take any pictures, I'm pushing down with my feet against the webbing (green webbing, if that helps improve your minds' eye image), back against the seat, pulling the left side of the top into place. On the right, the cargo strap is holding that side in place. My two hands are pulling the latch and certainly I'm making horrible grimaces on my face in 49 degree weather as I get the last latch to just barely clear the footman's loop and snap into place. Whew!
Now, you're probably wondering what my neighbors think about this (admission: they already think I'm crazy, but as fellow Jeep owners you already know that). Before I share that part of my tale with you, let me digress. Have you even been in a neighborhood that has concrete bunkers for their mailboxes? Mine does. And sometimes they get tipped over. I take a walk each morning and I wonder when I see that, "How the heck ...?"
And, let me digress further: Certainly you've seen a single car wreck where the car is in some odd juxtaposition, and you wonder, "How the heck ...?"
Well, let's double those up, because no one was paying any attention to me and my softtop struggles because, three doors down, was this showstopper:
Now, you must wonder how this could happen. I asked the owner of the Ford Freestyle, and she told me, "My sixteen year old is just learning to drive." Hmmm. All I have to say is if this is how he's going to park, she better buy him a Jeep!
BTW: Note that it's true not only about rain, snow, sleet, nor hail, but also tipped mail boxes.
11-04-2010, 10:12 AM
#2
JK Super Freak
