Advice for switching out hard top to soft top?

[cmbyrd77]

Thanks for your feedback! I had a buddy come over and we swapped out the tops today.

Removing the MIC hard top was super easy. Took maybe 5-10 minutes, and most of that was removing the bolts. Sadly, the hard top does not fit on my existing garage storage rack because I didn't realize you have to store the hard top with the rear window up, and the suspension chains get in the way. I'll have to find another solution.

However, installing the OEM soft top on was a challenge. It took us about 75 minutes in total. Part of this was because I am recovering from a shoulder injury, so my right arm has limited range of motion. But also, because there were some nuances to the install we did not expect.

For example, Ford's video says if you swap from hard to soft top you need to remove the hard top-specific trim pieces on the C-pillar for soft top versions. After an embarrassingly long time comparing the pieces we removed with the ones that came with the soft top, we realized they were identical: Ford had shipped my hard top Bronco with soft top trim pieces. So I now have 2 sets of those. I'll call Ford on Monday and ask about the missing hard top trim pieces.

Secondly, the video glosses over how the brackets are supposed to align behind the removable trim pieces in the cargo area. Figuring that out took a bit of trial and error.

Getting the windows on was also a chore. In Ford's video, they are sliding the windows around with ease. I assume because this was the first time, my windows required much more force to get in place, and we had to be careful not to tear or damage anything.

But the single biggest hurdle was that the soft top did not extend far enough forward to engage the latches at the headliner. We were short by about 1/4". Again, more trial and error, trying to apply force w/o breaking anything. My friend finally had the brilliant idea to pop the cargo latches. This gave us the extra movement we needed to engage the front latches. Then the cargo latches easily popped back in place.

Subsequent top swaps should be much faster now that I've done it. But there are still some things I need to figure out, like what the black gooey substance is that we discovered under the MIC front panels, above the windshield. It's sort of... oozing out from the top of the A-pillar joints. I'm also not sure how tight to make the bolts in the cargo area. I assume, because Ford's video says to use the included tool kit that "hand-tight" is sufficient?

I’m having issues getting my soft too ti align at the front and the catch lever won’t click in on the roof rail. It’s about 3/4” off. I even tried undoing the rear latches like you did, but no luck. My Ford dealer won’t do it either because they said it’s not covered under the warranty. I almost wonder if the roof bracket was installed wrong

Sponsored

 

[Gladdox]

I’m having issues getting my soft too ti align at the front and the catch lever won’t click in on the roof rail. It’s about 3/4” off. I even tried undoing the rear latches like you did, but no luck. My Ford dealer won’t do it either because they said it’s not covered under the warranty. I almost wonder if the roof bracket was installed wrong

Are you able to post some pics of the gap and the brackets? 3/4" is quite a bit of a gap, so it's possible something else is amiss.

That said, if the weather is cooler where you are, I'd suggest leaving it out in the sun for a few hours to warm up the fabric. If it hasn't been installed before, it's not stretched and that could be part of the problem.

Something else you can try doing -- in addition to releasing the rear latches -- is taking the rear and side windows out. This should give you some extra play in getting it to latch, and then you can install the windows after.