Monday, March 26, 2007

Bestop Sailcloth Replace-a-top

March 9, 2007
Today I replaced my old worn (and now vandalized) soft top with a heavier-weight "sailcloth" top. The instructions were written clearly, there were not a lot of "if you have this model, do this, but if you have this other model... blah blah blah).

You did have to have a good sense of orientation to install it. Attaching the new top required you to flip it in a weird sort-of inside out manner. You then screwed it in, and wrapped it back over itself to cover up the screws. The new top seems a little looser above the doors, where it tucks into the plastic door-surround, but it doesn't seem to flap.

I am very happy with it. It seems much quieter than the old top. When it rained, you could hearthe road noise through the old top like the top wasn't even on. The new top really quiets the sound of the tires, and doesn't flap at all. The tint is also very nice and dark.It is so dark, that I don't have to use the "night" switch on my rear view mirror. The wrinkles in the picture worked themselves out over time. The back is wrinkled because the tailgate bar has a little bend in it, so there isn't as much tension as there should be. I would highly recommend it.

Break In!

March 2, 2007
This morning, my neighbor rang my doorbell to tell me that my Jeep had been broke into. Someone sut the passenger side quarter panel and then was able to open the doors. It is strange because they didn't take anything. They opened the glove box, but took nothing, just made a mess; and my Christian CDs were of no interest, either. Fortunately, everything valuable was locked up in my Tuffy console.