Soft top alignment and adjustment

[RClark82]

So today was the first day since getting my bronco that I have had good enough weather to play with the soft top. I unclipped the front brackets and moved the top to position 1 and noticed the clips above the rear windows were not latched from the factory.

I spend a while messing with it and finally got them to clip, but it was far more effort than it should have taken. After this was clipped the soft top would no longer close and latch in the front by the visors. I knew this could not be correct

Called the dealer and they messed around with theirs in the showroom and confirmed it should be pretty easy to clip the bracket down over the rear window and said mine would need to come back in for service. Not what you want to hear the day the dealer cashes you 40k+ check for a new vehicle.

I reluctantly made the appointment but kept messing around with the top. It turns out there are several adjust point on all the brackets but because of the large washers you can't tell they are slotted. In the end I had to move 7 brackets (including the cable tension bracket that connects the driver and passenger sides) for the soft top to lock in and adjust in all of its positions correctly. It wasn't too bad but frustrating as I was learning all the Velcro and slide out processes at the same time.

Just a little rant on something that should have not left the factory. FYI most of these adjustments are made with a T30 torx but that is not included in the Ford tool kit.

Good news it I was able to cancel my service appointment at the dealer that's 30mi away and don't have to be without our new Bronco!

Sponsored

 

[JediMcMuffin]

In what way did you adjust said brackets? Forward to back? Side to side?

 

[RClark82]

The front receiving bracket by the visor on the driver's side had to be moved in towards the centerline if the car.

The two "clips" that are on the top at the midpoint of the vehicle on both driver and passenger side had to be moved down and forward in the direction of the engine bay .

The two receiving posts that are bolted to the chassis above the rear doors had to be adjusted( what little they could move) towards the rear of the vehicle.

The cable tension adjustment bear the midpoint (above the driver's side rear door) had to be loosened because there was too much tention on the cable for the system to latch.

When the top was 100% folded back to the spare tire the receiving posts that the clips latch to had to be adjusted up because the top would not lock into the secure position.

I hope this is a good description, the terminology is very open to interpretation for these parts

 

[Tortuga353]

Thank you so much. Super easy and now latches every time.

 

[RClark82]

Thank you so much. Super easy and now latches every time.

Awesome

 

[Gamecock2010]

Awesome

Any chance you could do a short video to show how you adjusted/ how you knew which way to make each adjustment? I have some issues as well but cant really figure out how to know which adjustments you described need to be made and what your process was for getting it right. TIA!

 

[kevin.gt]

Mine is a couple days old and extremely difficult to unclip on the center posts and when it’s fully open. So much so I thought it was stuck. Dealers service department wasn’t available today, but my salesman and another salesman took a look at it today and agreed it’s not right, helped me get it back to closed, and advised I’d need to bring it back in.

I’d rather take care of it myself if it’s easy enough. They believed my tension cable is too tight. Thing is, I don’t see any adjustment screw or whatever. Can someone that’s adjusted the tightness of the center latch cable help?

cc: @RClark82 @Tortuga353

 

[Tortuga353]

I bet it is the simple bracket adjustment. Just loosen up the middle brackets and find the sweet spot. I ultimately had to adjust the front brackets as well. Now everything is silky smooth. It is pretty easy and I wouldn’t bother with dealer if you’re somewhat handy.

Mine is a couple days old and extremely difficult to unclip on the center posts and when it’s fully open. So much so I thought it was stuck. Dealers service department wasn’t available today, but my salesman and another salesman took a look at it today and agreed it’s not right, helped me get it back to closed, and advised I’d need to bring it back in.

I’d rather take care of it myself if it’s easy enough. They believed my tension cable is too tight. Thing is, I don’t see any adjustment screw or whatever. Can someone that’s adjusted the tightness of the center latch cable help?

cc: @RClark82 @Tortuga353

 

[RClark82]

Mine is a couple days old and extremely difficult to unclip on the center posts and when it’s fully open. So much so I thought it was stuck. Dealers service department wasn’t available today, but my salesman and another salesman took a look at it today and agreed it’s not right, helped me get it back to closed, and advised I’d need to bring it back in.

I’d rather take care of it myself if it’s easy enough. They believed my tension cable is too tight. Thing is, I don’t see any adjustment screw or whatever. Can someone that’s adjusted the tightness of the center latch cable help?

cc: @RClark82 @Tortuga353

It's already dark out here, I'll run out tomorrow if the rain holds off and take pics of the adjustment points.

 

[stbanning]

Did you have to make any seal adjustments to the middle? My latches above the doors is super tight. I was trying to find an adjustment procedure from a ford manual. I will need to fold it back again and see if I can adjust the alignment of the seals too

 

[RClark82]

Did you have to make any seal adjustments to the middle? My latches above the doors is super tight. I was trying to find an adjustment procedure from a ford manual. I will need to fold it back again and see if I can adjust the alignment of the seals too

Yes, my top at delivery wouldn't latch at all unless I put insane pressure on it. If I was able to latch the middle to snap in then front latches wouldn't close at all.

 

[JoeyD577]

I just had to make adjustments to mine also. Both brackets over the rear doors needed to be adjusted back a bit - the J latch couldn’t catch on them at all. Also had to adjust the bracket with the catches when the top is fully down. Once I saw this post, took me 5-10 minutes to tweak all 4 catch points and I think I’m good.

 

[Gamecock2010]

I just had to make adjustments to mine also. Both brackets over the rear doors needed to be adjusted back a bit - the J latch couldn’t catch on them at all. Also had to adjust the bracket with the catches when the top is fully down. Once I saw this post, took me 5-10 minutes to tweak all 4 catch points and I think I’m good.

can you show a picture of how you adjust the fully down latching? mine is currently loose and bounces around when i am driving. i can tell where, but hte how i am confused about

 

[stbanning]

So I just spent some time to adjust my top. For mine I needed to move the solid "catches" back all the way. I also has to go back and forth with the "cable tension" adjustment until they both locked in easily. I also had my seals that didn't align correctly between the front section and the rear section. There are 4 screws that have big holes behind them so they can be adjusted up/down forward and back. My clips were pulling down on the top so hard it was squishing the seals out over the doors so they didn't align. After I adjusted the catches and tension plates (the whole latch that moves front/rear also moves up and down)I folded it all the way back and checked clip engagement with the top all the way down. Had to adjust the tension plates again (easier to get to with top down) the tension adjustment is nothing more than the cable is fixed between the two plates. If you loosen both moving one affects the other. After some fiddling it latches and unlatches smoothly.

The green bolts circled allow you to adjuat the seal
The red circled bolts allow the catch to move front to rear
The yellow bolts are for the tension cable and position of the latch up/down front/rear

 

[omg_bbq]

Did you have to make any seal adjustments to the middle? My latches above the doors is super tight. I was trying to find an adjustment procedure from a ford manual. I will need to fold it back again and see if I can adjust the alignment of the seals too

Hey my passenger side looks like that too! I have found that standing outside the truck and pushing down on the top front of the soft top while trying to latch the front latch helps.

Sponsored