Painted Hard Top - Rack mount points are different

[Igotsoul4u]

Just wanted to give a heads up to people that might be switching from a MIC grey top to a painted top. The slots for installing roof racks or whatever else are significantly shallower on the painted top. In December I traded in my 2023 Wildtrak for a 2024 Wildtrak with a black gloss painted top. I let the salemen know I had a Lange Hoist in my garage and was concerned there might be something different between the old and new top. He said there wasn't other then the phyiscal appearance. Well, he was very wrong.

Thankfully Lange has figured this out and offers an alternative piece for the newer tops, but damn it was annoying to get everything ready for my first top off day only to be very dissapointed. I have not idea how this might affect people wanting to swap roof rack accessories but my guess is that it's kind of a big deal. Anyway. Beware if you are switching any accessories from a MIC top to a Painted top.

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[Ape Factory]

Pics or it didn't happen. (Quietly wondering how else Ford can screw us MIC guys over.)

 

[centja1]

Is the only difference that the opening is shallower? I'm putting together my own hoist system and thought it strange that the hooks that a lot of others have bought didn't seem to seat as deeply on my painted top.

Are the rack points in the same locations? I'm wondering if the rear mount points will still be the center of gravity.

 

[HeHateMe]

Yeah... Pics for comparison?

 

[Valhalla War Machine]

What is a Mic top?

 

[VirginiaHeritage]

Yeah... Pics for comparison?

I’m not the OP but here’s what they look like on an HE.

 

[Ducati1098]

What is a Mic top?

The regular factory non-painted hardtop.
MIC stands for molded-in color.

 

[Valhalla War Machine]

Thank you!

 

[Igotsoul4u]

What is a Mic top?

The MIC top is the standard grey hard top from 2021-2023 and the least expensive hardtop option for the 2025. The one that is basically having some quality control issues. I don't know if the 2025 version is different but my 2023 had little cracks forming. It had only been a year so I can't imagine what it would look like in 5 years. It looked good but I like the glossy black painted roof on my 2024 a bit more. The 2025s now offer painted tops in all colors as well.

The new attachment is coming Wednesday and I will put some pics up. It should be much shallower at the least. Maybe angled a bit different to make it secure.

 

[TheShark]

The regular factory non-painted hardtop.
MIC stands for molded-in color.

You meant to say molded-in cracks

 

[HeHateMe]

The MIC top is the standard grey hard top from 2021-2023 and the least expensive hardtop option for the 2025. The one that is basically having some quality control issues. I don't know if the 2025 version is different but my 2023 had little cracks forming. It had only been a year so I can't imagine what it would look like in 5 years. It looked good but I like the glossy black painted roof on my 2024 a bit more. The 2025s now offer painted tops in all colors as well.

The new attachment is coming Wednesday and I will put some pics up. It should be much shallower at the least. Maybe angled a bit different to make it secure.

Yeah, the metal brackets of the OEM rack seem like they wouldn't play nice with those painted grooves...

Interested in seeing what you post/update us with!

With as much as I take off rack (to take off hardtop entirely), put on rack, and struggle alone, my MIC gets pretty scratched up but has held up well so far .

If anything, I might do that bedliner stuff to it eventually or just replace with an aftermarket. @Armadillo Designs or @Turn Offroad ... Be nice if those worked with OEM rack..

 

[DenverBronc]

2021 softop owner here. My hope is to someday be able to purchase a white painted OEM top as a standalone accessory, and then get the OEM rack.

I know, you may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one

If it turns out the OEM rack doesn't fit the painted top as well as it fits the MIC top, that would be... unfortunate. But anything can happen between now and when they make the painted tops available for purchase in 2037

 

[Igotsoul4u]

Sorry for the delay with pictures. I've had the top off for about a month now!! Good times. You can clearly see the differences in length. They also switch to a set screw instead of the clips which I like a lot. One other differnce is that the painted top has two screws at the top of the clam shell instead of one.

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