new soft top

I replaced the soft top on the Jeep the other day. It is a fairly easy activity that can be done by one person, two would have made it quicker. The biggest challenge is the final fit; getting the rear flaps to synched. As long as you keep the front clamp loose (open, but make sure the hooks are in place) you can pull the canvas and flex the metal top support to fit the rear flaps in place. Then, since the hooks are in the spaces up above the windshield, you just have to clamp the top shut and you are done. If the hooks are not in the slots (ready to be clamped), you’ll get the rear flaps in place easier, but then won’t be able close the clamps since the hooks won’t reach the holes. Ok, this is much easier if you are standing and looking at these parts of the Jeep.


The old soft top was faded, the windows had turned yellow, the exterior Velcro wasn’t working (appeared to be full of pollen, dirt and gunk), and there was a rip along the seam above the passenger side rear window. The rip had finally propagated the entire length of the window. It was obvious the previous owner had left the Jeep outside in the sun and the UV had taken its toll.
Now with a new soft top, the zippers work great and it was easy to fit the windows on, there was a lot of tugging and pulling and saying mean words with the old top. The advantage is that the zippers work without a tug of war.

With the Kargo Master Congo Cage – rack on top of the Jeep – (where they came up with that name is beyond me, it’s hardly likely there is any correlation to the real Congo), it has to be removed prior to removing the soft top. There are two hinges in the rear, mounted to the Jeep and the front is bolted to the Jeep in the front. The rack basically swings over the Jeep. To remove, it swings to the rear and lies behind the Jeep, still attached by the hinges. Getting it to swing off the Jeep wasn’t too difficult, however the rack is heavy and getting it back on was a bit tricky just due to the weight. Once I had the rack perpendicular with the ground and it was going to fall down on the Jeep, I leveraged my body behind the spare tire and slowly let it down into place. If it was any heavier or me any lighter, I might have flown over the Jeep with the rack.

With a Necky Zoar Sport Kayak in possession, the rack has come in handy so far, so I will not remove it, even though it adds an extra couple steps in removing the soft top.