Its been several months with the new rampage trailview half top on the jeep and I wanted to give all those interested the run down on the installation.
It was our hope to have removed the factory soft top and install the rampage trailview half top. As we ordered the trailview before the pandemic, it actually was delivered in a timely manor during the pandemic. We ordered the soft top through Rockauto and it took two weeks for delivery. The worse thing about the delivery was that the Fedex driver could not lift the box was was as tall as a refrigerator just not as wide.
Several times the tracking claim it was in route but it never showed up. At this time and maybe you don't like sites like twitter, I found this is the best way yo get in touch with many of these manufactures and delivery services. as the contact is nearly instantaneous. Fedex sent out this big dude who lifted the box onto his shoulder and carried it up the steps to our front door. I miss our old UPS guy as he would know if the box was that big, Knowing I couldn't lift it, he would drive down the back alley and drop it off in our garage.
The larger refrigerator box opens up and then separates into two thinner boxes, so I wasn't sure which box or groups of boxes I should open first. The main thing and this is not the first time I've ordered a third party soft top, I came prepared to weather seal the seams with a formula of elmers glue, water while using a foam paint brush. But the sealer wasn't needed as the soft top came already sealed or rubberized from the factory.
With all the parts spread out, it was like putting a model car kit together. One of the hardest things was that rampage didn't include enough screws within the assembly bag so I had to reach for my box of extras saved from previous installations on other jeeps.
Couple of things we encountered with assembling the door surrounds. several areas did not have holes drilled nor did the instructions say to drill holes in these locations. So sometimes one has to make things up as they go along. Drilling the holes myself I was able to assemble the door surrounds and I was ready to mount these to the jeep.
A couple of weeks before the soft top arrived, I made ready by removing the rear seat belts from the rear roll cage, reason here, is we don't use the rear seat and I wasn't going to run the seat belt though and opening in the rear window of the soft top.
With it being a warm day, it was time t install the stop. we ran into a couple of issues with a cross bar that lifted the cargo cover it was too long and wouldn't stay in place. In order to correct this, we flatted the bar and cut it to length. if one noticed near the middle of the side rail in the cargo area, there is a notch with a hole. Having a couple of bolts with rubber grommets, we mounted the cross bar with the grommets so it wouldn't rattle in the future.
The only other issues we encountered was that the rear plastic flaps which fold down and into the rail edge were too long. Then the tailgate retaining bar supplied with the kit didn't fit right and the 2 piece retaining mounts actually broke when trying to mount these in place on the left and right of the side opening. I ended up using the factory mounts and retaining bar.
Lastly, over these last few months and while it rains we've not had any leaks until now. I've had to reseat the header several times, but just learn that there is a gap between the sunrider lift back portion and the door surround. the gap is approx 2 inches wide and I'm going to have to figure out something to seal this area up. Still having the factory door surrounds, I map opt to create something homemade like extend the drip edge down and out away from this opening or space between the two areas.
Even after snugging the soft top to the roll bars, we still get some fluttering right at the speaker bar. In order to correct this, we place a large beach towel on top of the speaker bar to muffle the sound.
Even with all the small issues and some parts being left out and we've had to make a few of our own adjustments, we like this top and it's one of the best decisions we've made for the jeep. Getting rid of the factory top was extremely important to us. The factory soft top has been sitting in the basement since then and I've tried to sell it a number of times. I've even contacted the local police department and informed them I was willing to give this top to any officer who needed a new top for their jeep. But we didn't have any takers. I've since started deconstruction the fabric from the soft top as I'm working on using the metal for other projects.
Over the last year, while at truck stops or gas stations, we've had several jeep owners and none jeep owners come over to have a closer look at the top. Some have asked did the jeep come this way as it looks like a very short bed truck. The main interest to them was that I've seen other jeepers with home made conversion where they used the best top soft top and cargo cover but opted to install the wind jammer as the rear window and it's a very tight fit. But now they have a better option.
Rockauto sells this top for $640.00 and has extremely prompt shipping.
It was our hope to have removed the factory soft top and install the rampage trailview half top. As we ordered the trailview before the pandemic, it actually was delivered in a timely manor during the pandemic. We ordered the soft top through Rockauto and it took two weeks for delivery. The worse thing about the delivery was that the Fedex driver could not lift the box was was as tall as a refrigerator just not as wide.
Several times the tracking claim it was in route but it never showed up. At this time and maybe you don't like sites like twitter, I found this is the best way yo get in touch with many of these manufactures and delivery services. as the contact is nearly instantaneous. Fedex sent out this big dude who lifted the box onto his shoulder and carried it up the steps to our front door. I miss our old UPS guy as he would know if the box was that big, Knowing I couldn't lift it, he would drive down the back alley and drop it off in our garage.
The larger refrigerator box opens up and then separates into two thinner boxes, so I wasn't sure which box or groups of boxes I should open first. The main thing and this is not the first time I've ordered a third party soft top, I came prepared to weather seal the seams with a formula of elmers glue, water while using a foam paint brush. But the sealer wasn't needed as the soft top came already sealed or rubberized from the factory.
With all the parts spread out, it was like putting a model car kit together. One of the hardest things was that rampage didn't include enough screws within the assembly bag so I had to reach for my box of extras saved from previous installations on other jeeps.
Couple of things we encountered with assembling the door surrounds. several areas did not have holes drilled nor did the instructions say to drill holes in these locations. So sometimes one has to make things up as they go along. Drilling the holes myself I was able to assemble the door surrounds and I was ready to mount these to the jeep.
A couple of weeks before the soft top arrived, I made ready by removing the rear seat belts from the rear roll cage, reason here, is we don't use the rear seat and I wasn't going to run the seat belt though and opening in the rear window of the soft top.
With it being a warm day, it was time t install the stop. we ran into a couple of issues with a cross bar that lifted the cargo cover it was too long and wouldn't stay in place. In order to correct this, we flatted the bar and cut it to length. if one noticed near the middle of the side rail in the cargo area, there is a notch with a hole. Having a couple of bolts with rubber grommets, we mounted the cross bar with the grommets so it wouldn't rattle in the future.
The only other issues we encountered was that the rear plastic flaps which fold down and into the rail edge were too long. Then the tailgate retaining bar supplied with the kit didn't fit right and the 2 piece retaining mounts actually broke when trying to mount these in place on the left and right of the side opening. I ended up using the factory mounts and retaining bar.
Lastly, over these last few months and while it rains we've not had any leaks until now. I've had to reseat the header several times, but just learn that there is a gap between the sunrider lift back portion and the door surround. the gap is approx 2 inches wide and I'm going to have to figure out something to seal this area up. Still having the factory door surrounds, I map opt to create something homemade like extend the drip edge down and out away from this opening or space between the two areas.
Even after snugging the soft top to the roll bars, we still get some fluttering right at the speaker bar. In order to correct this, we place a large beach towel on top of the speaker bar to muffle the sound.
Even with all the small issues and some parts being left out and we've had to make a few of our own adjustments, we like this top and it's one of the best decisions we've made for the jeep. Getting rid of the factory top was extremely important to us. The factory soft top has been sitting in the basement since then and I've tried to sell it a number of times. I've even contacted the local police department and informed them I was willing to give this top to any officer who needed a new top for their jeep. But we didn't have any takers. I've since started deconstruction the fabric from the soft top as I'm working on using the metal for other projects.
Over the last year, while at truck stops or gas stations, we've had several jeep owners and none jeep owners come over to have a closer look at the top. Some have asked did the jeep come this way as it looks like a very short bed truck. The main interest to them was that I've seen other jeepers with home made conversion where they used the best top soft top and cargo cover but opted to install the wind jammer as the rear window and it's a very tight fit. But now they have a better option.
Rockauto sells this top for $640.00 and has extremely prompt shipping.