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Hesitant buying Bronco with soft top

DefNotBuddyLee

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I purchased my 4 door badlands soft top this past weekend. I took my windows out and went with the top fully down on Sunday. When I was putting the puzzle back together, I noticed that there is a hook on each side that locks down the top in the “mid” or “first position” (ie no top on driver but that is it). The purpose of the latch in this position is to un do those hooks. When I looked at the hooks closely, the driver side is barely latched and the passenger side is not latched at all. It looks like the hook on both sides needs to be lowered. I ended up just locking it fully closed for now. Has anyone had this issue?
The brackets on the rollbar where you latch are adjustable. Loosen up with a torque bit driver and you can slide forward or back to the optimal position. If this is out if your comfort zone, take to dealer and mention top is out of alignment and they can adjust. Hope this helps.
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Itsdchz

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So many Jeep owners complain of slash and grab theft with a soft top. In my area of the country, you cannot have a soft top without the fear of theft, and a ruined, slashed soft top. It seems not once, this was brought up in this thread. Is this not a concern?
 

Luckylat

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As others have said, the Soft Top has been great and haven't had any issues. Live in SLC and I have it parked outside yet I've never had water issues with the snow we get. Nothing beats the convenience of pulling the top off in nice weather - totally worth it. I still want a hard top (for accessories and roof rack and softop options kind of suck) so I did order the Advanced Fiberglass hardtop. This soft top is way more convenient than the jeep soft top I had - love the IAG gas struts.
Living in the NE, I have been patiently waiting for my Bronco with a Hard Top. I selected the MIC top primarily for the option to put various roof racks on it for our different outdoor activities. To provide better insulation/warmth over the cold winters, and still having the option to pick up a soft top for around $1,5000 for the summers/warmer months.
The downside has been the MIC quality issues and the long waiting period to get my Bronco. The upside is that I will not have to pay $5,000+ for a hard top in the future.
Bottom line either option is great as long as you can get into a Bronco that you are happy with!
 

Vanimalious

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My only gripe with my soft top is the back window. I'm putting gear in and out constantly, and I have to maneuver around the bar, even in the upmost position, and even with the back window out. But I do enjoy pulling just the windows out and taking the doors off for the perfect amount of cool air and shade for an old fashioned Sunday drive.

Would like to have a hardtop too, but timing was not on my side and I needed a replacement vehicle. Bronco came early without hardtop.
 

22Badskwatch

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As others have mentioned - I initially reserved and ordered a hard top.. but after a year and a half of delays and waiting, I came here to inquire about peoples experiences with soft top who initially wanted a hard top, but changed to get their order faster - I was immediately put at ease by the comments. I took delivery of mine 10/12/22 (with soft top) and have been thrilled with it so far. sure, if you hit the edge of the roof where it's above the windows, with a pressure washer, you'll get some water dripping into the inside - no big deal. I love how easy it is (in good weather) to just pull the front part of the soft top back and go open-air, you can do it at a stop light in less than a minute. I also added the IAG soft top support struts to make opening the back easier, as well as putting it all the way back easier. No regrets here!!

Ford Bronco Hesitant buying Bronco with soft top MJB07842-Edit
 

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AZ_Liberty

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Wear is a thing with soft tops. I've had three soft top Mustangs. A soft top is a 4-5 year wear item.

On a 4-door, I would expect the soft top to keep weather/water out better than the hard top, since it is one piece, and there are no seams/seals over head.
 

Jazer

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I purchased my 4 door badlands soft top this past weekend. I took my windows out and went with the top fully down on Sunday. When I was putting the puzzle back together, I noticed that there is a hook on each side that locks down the top in the “mid” or “first position” (ie no top on driver but that is it). The purpose of the latch in this position is to un do those hooks. When I looked at the hooks closely, the driver side is barely latched and the passenger side is not latched at all. It looks like the hook on both sides needs to be lowered. I ended up just locking it fully closed for now. Has anyone had this issue?
The first time I closed it, I had this issue, but afterwards it's happily closed when I let it sort of fall down onto that latch. Pull down on it slightly and then push the latch back up. You're fighting the little rubber bump stop there. The stiff new parts as well.
 

BlueBronco

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So many Jeep owners complain of slash and grab theft with a soft top. In my area of the country, you cannot have a soft top without the fear of theft, and a ruined, slashed soft top. It seems not once, this was brought up in this thread. Is this not a concern?
Not a concern here. Of course, where I live we actually prosecute people for crimes and don't need causation to legally carry.
 

tn3sport

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I'm supposed to go test drive a 2022 soft top today but after reading so many issues with these tops I'm kind of hesitant to even consider buying one

Ford Bronco Hesitant buying Bronco with soft top MJB07842-Edit


Ford Bronco Hesitant buying Bronco with soft top MJB07842-Edit
A couple of YT content creators that are die-hard Jeepers (that were unable to secure sponsorship from Ford) took shots at the Bronco. The softtop being one of them. When called out in the comments of their YT videos that they incorrectly raised the top, they didn't have a good answer and instead replaced their top with one from one of their sponsors, Bestop....
They have a huge following and it got a lot of PR.... Other than that, the issues are well below standard deviation for problems.
This vehicle was made for running around topless. Get the softtop.
 

BroncoSarge

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Had my share of issues with the soft top. Headliner falling, scratching rollbar, etc. haven’t had any issues that they refused to fix and my dealer has got it done fast.
 

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RhodeIslandRed

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There are some issues. I have had a soft top Badlands in the Northeast for 15 mos (through last winter). It has been good, but I am waiting on a hard top from Advanced Fiberglass Concepts.

Wind noise is a lot. Road noise is a lot. When wind and snow work together, you can find your back seat full of snow. It's pretty easy to lift the top to get a gap right over the back door on a four door.

I have had no water leaks. It has been really great for the warm months. I flipped the top back to second position almost every ride in the shoulder months. In the heat of the summer, I took the back windows out entirely for Jun, Jul and Aug. Then I just flipped between roof up (with no back windows) and third position. Third position is pretty good. I had intentions to take the top off in the summer, and third position was so functional that I never bothered.

For me, the bottom line was I got my vehicle earlier by forgoing the hard top. I would go this route again if I had the option. But I do want a hard top for the winter.
 

iwantabasebronco

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Fit,water/snow getting in the rig, wear issues have you experienced any of these?
at ~16,000 miles. starting my second northern winter with mine. None of these problems so far. Really easy to lift top, no problems with water ingress during carwashes or pressure washing. Like many others here I would like a hard top for the rear defrost/wiper and also more roof rack options, but not a show-stopper.
 

Happycampinman

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So many Jeep owners complain of slash and grab theft with a soft top. In my area of the country, you cannot have a soft top without the fear of theft, and a ruined, slashed soft top. It seems not once, this was brought up in this thread. Is this not a concern?
So sorry to hear you live like that. Even living in metro Detroit I don’t even worry about what your situation is. Obviously if you are in a nasty crime ridden area it’s a concern. I think getting your soft top broken into would be the least of your concerns. I would recommend a 9mm with a extra clip for peace of mind😎
 

Fade5G

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I'm supposed to go test drive a 2022 soft top today but after reading so many issues with these tops I'm kind of hesitant to even consider buying one

Ford Bronco Hesitant buying Bronco with soft top MJB07842-Edit


Ford Bronco Hesitant buying Bronco with soft top MJB07842-Edit
I ended up going with a soft top and regret it. If you plan to load anything in the back or drive daily on the highway I wouldn’t recommend.
 

Leland

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Wildtrak since February and no issues........

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