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Soft top alignment and adjustment

ChelseaOinTX

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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

20220310_160056.jpg


20220310_155856.jpg


20220310_155958.jpg
I think Iā€™m having a similar problem. My middle latch is not engaging. Do you all think it just needs adjusting to the bracket?

Ford Bronco Soft top alignment and adjustment F19E3CA4-3E5E-4939-ACF1-7DE71DA78794
Ford Bronco Soft top alignment and adjustment 37EA34BD-ECE6-48CE-81BB-D11D1E40D3CC
Ford Bronco Soft top alignment and adjustment 23419DC3-E799-40B7-BFE2-42AEB9BA389C
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baozebub

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Funny I think I have the same problem. My 4 door has a problem latching above The rear driver side door. So I have to play with it. And once it latches, my driver side clip wonā€™t snap shut unless I pull The top down and forward. Itā€™s my first American made car so I just figured it was American quality, so we better be proud, dammit!

Im gonna try to adjust as you described. Iā€™m sure everyone has a different direction to adjust, so not necessarily the same as you.
 

HorizonHunter

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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 šŸ˜
This post was a goldmine, thank you. Been working out soft top gremlins for a month.
 
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Tdub0527

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Iā€™m having issues with my soft top too and while this thread is helpful Iā€™m not confident enough to start adjusting just yet. Are there any videos anyone has made?

My drivers side latch is very difficult to latch and the J catch at the mid is difficult to unlatch and then relatch.

I figured I could adjust the front driver side visor bracket and move it to be able to properly latch it without having to channel your inner hulk.

Will this have ripple effects elsewhere? Iā€™m going to go and study the soft top in detail but I donā€™t want to make the problem worse.

Any additional resources would be greatly appreciated!!!
 

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etmccaus86

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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

Ford Bronco Soft top alignment and adjustment 23419DC3-E799-40B7-BFE2-42AEB9BA389C
THANK YOU for this.
Although my seals and mid latches have worked fine since I took delivery a few months ago, having finally put the top all the way back, it's clear the tension cable is probably over-tight as the passenger side is reluctant to latch - and if you get it to engage, it takes an UNGODLY amount of pressure to get the driver's side release to unlatch.

Dumb question, but - given I'm mostly having issues on that rear passenger side, is it best to start adjusting cable tension on that end? Or should I reduce tension evenly on both sides?
 

ChrisD

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THANK YOU for this.
Although my seals and mid latches have worked fine since I took delivery a few months ago, having finally put the top all the way back, it's clear the tension cable is probably over-tight as the passenger side is reluctant to latch - and if you get it to engage, it takes an UNGODLY amount of pressure to get the driver's side release to unlatch.

Dumb question, but - given I'm mostly having issues on that rear passenger side, is it best to start adjusting cable tension on that end? Or should I reduce tension evenly on both sides?
I had the same problem and mostly adjusted the passenger side, but made a few adjustments to the driver, mostly just to take up the slack in the cable. Prior to that, if I lowered the top all the way and had the passenger side latched, I used a flat head screwdriver to pry up the latch when i wanted to close the top.

Since making the adjustments, everything is working much, much better, and I was thankful for this post, which helped me out a lot! I wasn't aware I could adjust the anchor points at the top of the roll cage, which made all the difference! Once I got the passenger latch adjusted, it wasn't engaging the mid-point latch on the roll cage above the doors, and I didn't know how to adjust that until reading here.

I'd asked the dealer service department several times if they had any instructions for adjusting it or if they would, but no luck there, they had no idea. Bronco6g turns out to be the better technical resource here.
 

etmccaus86

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I'd asked the dealer service department several times if they had any instructions for adjusting it or if they would, but no luck there, they had no idea. Bronco6g turns out to be the better technical resource here.
They're not lying - I looked at the official Ford service info and there's nothing so explicit in regards to adjustment; it focuses instead on removal/ replacement.
 

stm378

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The fabric on my top seems to be getting looser and looser over time to the point where itā€™s flopping in the wind (mainly over the rear seats. Anyone happen to know how to tighten it up? I read through the helpful post #14 a few times, but Iā€™m still not quite sure how to translate that to my issue. Anyone have a similar issue that theyā€™ve fixed?
 

Headsong

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I just got my 22 and there are some changes....one that's super nice is how the rear quarters attach and detach (WITH the rear window, people!!lol).....but when I fold back to the 1st position, it doesn't catch/lock and I don't see how it can. And then I can't get it to go all the way back. Got to get back to the dealer in a few days anyway, so I figure I'll let them look at it....
 

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JohnnyBronco

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I just got my 22 and there are some changes....one that's super nice is how the rear quarters attach and detach (WITH the rear window, people!!lol).....but when I fold back to the 1st position, it doesn't catch/lock and I don't see how it can. And then I can't get it to go all the way back. Got to get back to the dealer in a few days anyway, so I figure I'll let them look at it....
No latching of top when in 1st position folded I am aware of it is just open.

That being said, I have noticed when I open to that position that the passenger side seal has a gap which is probably why I get more wind noise from passenger side.
 

Headsong

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No latching of top when in 1st position folded I am aware of it is just open.

That being said, I have noticed when I open to that position that the passenger side seal has a gap which is probably why I get more wind noise from passenger side.
It will latch there, and best advice I've gotten is to let it drop down hard from as high up as you can. Both sides! I've also notice that the @IAG Performance struts help slam it down when you release the tailgate bar and just let it fly up.
 

Dmorty217

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This seems to be fairly common as I just started having the same issues with the mid latch and front latches after having the top all the way down a whopping 3 times.
 

BroncoSarge

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My wifeā€™s top wouldnā€™t latch all the way down and was a pita to lock in the half down up front. I adjusted the photo below. Almost looks like it slipped, but was tight. Works good now.

Ford Bronco Soft top alignment and adjustment DB16AAEA-EAB2-4E4C-972F-B33657BB145E

Ford Bronco Soft top alignment and adjustment 12FE3ED6-886A-4851-A859-3E757CFAFA71
 

BrandiwineOBX

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The fabric on my top seems to be getting looser and looser over time to the point where itā€™s flopping in the wind (mainly over the rear seats. Anyone happen to know how to tighten it up? I read through the helpful post #14 a few times, but Iā€™m still not quite sure how to translate that to my issue. Anyone have a similar issue that theyā€™ve fixed?
I'm wanting to know the same, everything else works fine and latches correctly but just seems like the fabric is super loose now.
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