Anderson Composites Hardtop Installed - Review, Tips, and Pics

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Is this an optical illusion from the photo?

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[Kyleshemesh]

Is this an optical illusion from the photo?

I just went outside to look at it again, must be the angle of the photo and driveway. Both sides measure at 3/16" separation between the glass and fiberglass.

 

[DUSTYcazOREGON]

I received mine a couple days ago as well, the latches were a tight and hard to turn but I didn't lose them. Everything is flush and there are no quality defects. I think the key is not to losen the latches.

Well worth the wait though, the headliner is so nice. That's the first thing that everyone points out.

Was it delivered to your home? If so, what carrier? Thanks

 

[Kyleshemesh]

Was it delivered to your home? If so, what carrier? Thanks

I can't remember the name of the carrier but they deal with heavy and big freight. They called me to set up a delivery time. Here is how big the box was.

 

[Grey Pony]

I can't remember the name of the carrier but they deal with heavy and big freight. They called me to set up a delivery time. Here is how big the box was.

I installed mine last Saturday. Been through the carwash and all around with it. SO much quieter than the soft top.
Mine was delivered the same way. Estes was the carrier. My driveway is a 1/2 mile long and I met the driver at a spot where trucks pull over to rest and stretch. We unloaded it into the back of my dually. My sons and I lifted it out onto the driveway. Packed extremely well and took longer to unpack than to install.

Are you at liberty to divulge who you purchased your top through ?

 

[Kyleshemesh]

I installed mine last Saturday. Been through the carwash and all around with it. SO much quieter than the soft top.
Mine was delivered the same way. Estes was the carrier. My driveway is a 1/2 mile long and I met the driver at a spot where trucks pull over to rest and stretch. We unloaded it into the back of my dually. My sons and I lifted it out onto the driveway. Packed extremely well and took longer to unpack than to install.

Are you at liberty to divulge who you purchased your top through ?

Looks good! I agree, it's so much quieter than the soft top. I purchased mine through vivid racing

 

[Grey Pony]

Looks good! I agree, it's so much quieter than the soft top. I purchased mine through vivid racing

Vivid is where I ordered mine through as well. They were great to deal with. Much closer to you than I am.

 

[AMBBD_TX]

Vivid is where I ordered mine through as well. They were great to deal with. Much closer to you than I am.

I just ordered mine through Vivid and was given an 8-10 week lead time, is this comparable to what they told you?

 

[Grey Pony]

I just ordered mine through Vivid and was given an 8-10 week lead time, is this comparable to what they told you?

Yes

 

[Off road enthusiast]

In

I installed mine last Saturday. Been through the carwash and all around with it. SO much quieter than the soft top.
Mine was delivered the same way. Estes was the carrier. My driveway is a 1/2 mile long and I met the driver at a spot where trucks pull over to rest and stretch. We unloaded it into the back of my dually. My sons and I lifted it out onto the driveway. Packed extremely well and took longer to unpack than to install.

Are you at liberty to divulge who you purchased your top through ?

[/QUOT

I installed mine last Saturday. Been through the carwash and all around with it. SO much quieter than the soft top.
Mine was delivered the same way. Estes was the carrier. My driveway is a 1/2 mile long and I met the driver at a spot where trucks pull over to rest and stretch. We unloaded it into the back of my dually. My sons and I lifted it out onto the driveway. Packed extremely well and took longer to unpack than to install.

Are you at liberty to divulge who you purchased your top through ?

I ordered the primed one, and this is completely garbage, total waste of money.

 

[Zogman]

In December, 2023 I installed the Anderson Composites Hardtop ordered in April, 2023. Overall, very pleased with the top and impressed with the significant wind noise reduction from my factory soft top. As seen in one pic, I have a 50" Baja Designs roof light bar (purchased from 4x4TruckLEDs.com - love those guys) with an AeroLidz light cover. The cover helped significantly with wind noise, but it remained quite loud. The hard top made a huge impact.

A few notes based on my experience:
- Very simple install - was able to do mostly myself, with my wife and daughter easily helping lift the rear piece onto the Bronco
- Adjustment of the latch bolts was required to effectively latch (loosened)
- Every 6-8 weeks I've had to tighten the latch bolts to reduce increasing wind noise. Makes a big difference, but unsure how that will impact ease of latching / unlatching when removing panels (Flagstaff has been cold! Will update post as the weather warms...)
- Pictures illustrate non-uniform gaps of rear window. Anderson customer service says this can be adjusted by reinstalling the window latches, but advises customers not to do so. I haven't yet tried. (They also offered to send me a 'wind reduction kit' when I mentioned wind noise on initial install, but never sent. Not sure what that kit entails.)
- Pictures also show underside gap in rubber trim - Anderson says this is normal and mirrors OEM tops
- While I had no complaints about the soft top, this hard top was really nice to have in the snow - easier snow clearing and more clear view through the glass windows

Of note, the surface is extremely rough. I washed it today (first time since install!) and the dirt required a good amount of scrubbing to loosen on the surface.

BIGGEST LEARNING: The rough surface absolutely tore up my white wash mitt. No amount of pressure-washing could loosen the white fluff from the rough surface and pieces dropped to / are stuck on the rough surface of my AMP running boards, which were extended for washing purposes. On the bright side - all that pressure washing and no evidence of any leaks!

Overall, pleased with the purchase and have learned a hard lesson to use a soft brush on the top instead of my wash mitt. I think I'll be reminded of this mistake for months to come...

Hopefully this is helpful. Feel free to ping me with any questions.

Hey man, just saw this post! I live in Flagstaff too and I’m just about ready to push the button on an Advanced Concepts hard top…. Any chance we could get together so I could take a look?

 

[dhitesman]

PM Sent

 

[Tippster]

I have this top on my 21 and fair warning to anyone reading this thread - this top is a Piece of shit. The hinges have both failed, the defroster wiring on both sides have failed and the struts holding the rear window open have both failed. All failures have happened since installing in April 2024. Anderson sent some joke of a repair kit for the wiring but done nothing about the hinges or struts. Should be replacing the top under warranty, but all my calls and emails have gone ignored and they refuse to deal with any of the other defects. I strongly recommend to all who ask - to stay away from this top - its expensive, and the company does not stand behind their product. I am now dealing with bad leaks from the rear window not functioning properly with big gaps between the glass since the struts are broken and the hinges have warped so badly. Seriously - this thing is a POS - do not waste your money.

 

[Area51BS]

Makes me appreciate the soft top more every time I read a hard top post. For the most part people like them. Except there are too many flaws for the cost. I’m sure the rough textures also hide flaws. I think the hard top manufacturers need to bring in some marine industry experts.

 

[V1Rotate]

Makes me appreciate the soft top more every time I read a hard top post. For the most part people like them. Except there are too many flaws for the cost. I’m sure the rough textures also hide flaws. I think the hard top manufacturers need to bring in some marine industry experts.

I'm going on 3 flawless years with my '22 factory MIC top but man... its not like we're reinventing the wheel here. Not sure what the overarching problem is with producing a reliable hard top in 2025 but you'd think we're trying to engineer some new space-age gizmo the industry has never seen before.

Feels like its caught somewhere between increasing EPA-related pressures forcing factory-spec weights to the breaking point on the low end and also trying to keep costs down to the breaking point on the low end which effects quality. Neither of those should have an effect on the current 6th gen aftermarket as anyone capable of receiving payment, producing a top in a reasonable time-frame and delivering said top should be printing money.

Some company should make one out of iberglass and spec it with something slightly above the lowest-end shitty chinese parts. Oh.. and then produce like 200 of them before taking money from customers

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