Summer solutions for keeping off the hard top

[BroncoT]

During spring and fall, I’ll likely ride around with the clam shell removing the other panels as desired. When the weather is hot (4 solid months in North Carolina), I want the entire hard top in the garage. How do I pull this off without a full blown soft top is the question. My plan so far:

1. Canvass Bimini top ($400 though I don’t see it on Ford accessories right now)
2. Tonnea cover for the trunk ($109)
3. ? for behind the seats

i expect an aftermarket solution to emerge for #3 before I get my Bronco. Hope so at least. I’d also pay more for something a little more rigid than the Tonnea cover. As it stands, I bet this can be pieced together for less than $750 versus going with a full soft top. Anyone have better ideas?

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[Broncolli]

Exactly my plan too - so I would like to know what you find...

 

[TennesseePA]

I have a Gladiator right now and I take the top off in the spring and put it back on for hunting season. My solution is it stays nestled in the garage on rainy days and anything above 93 degrees. I have a low mileage second car that I do my daily commute in. Buy a beater and bring the Bronco out on good weather days

 

[zuke]

The setup you envision is what I've been running on my daily driver Jeeps for years... Currently running this setup;

https://www.quadratec.com/p/mastertop/mastertwill-ultimate-summer-combo-tops-jeep-wrangler-jk-2-door

But the wind stopper (Cab Curtain) Depends on the B-Pillar top bar to hold it up, and that doesn't exist on the Bronco, I have a feeling we might be waiting a bit for that, until an aftermarket company comes up with a bar to span that area...

 

[Blitzjb]

The setup you envision is what I've been running on my daily driver Jeeps for years... Currently running this setup;

https://www.quadratec.com/p/mastertop/mastertwill-ultimate-summer-combo-tops-jeep-wrangler-jk-2-door

But the wind stopper (Cab Curtain) Depends on the B-Pillar top bar to hold it up, and that doesn't exist on the Bronco, I have a feeling we might be waiting a bit for that, until an aftermarket company comes up with a bar to span that area...

Is there this setup for the 4 dr?

 

[BroncoT]

The setup you envision is what I've been running on my daily driver Jeeps for years... Currently running this setup;

https://www.quadratec.com/p/mastertop/mastertwill-ultimate-summer-combo-tops-jeep-wrangler-jk-2-door

But the wind stopper (Cab Curtain) Depends on the B-Pillar top bar to hold it up, and that doesn't exist on the Bronco, I have a feeling we might be waiting a bit for that, until an aftermarket company comes up with a bar to span that area...

Yup. A 4 door Bronco version of exactly that is what I want. The top cover doesn’t even have to extend all the way over the storage compartment.

 

[zuke]

Is there this setup for the 4 dr?

There is a setup for the 4 door, my Buddy has it on his (Jeep JKU), but the cab curtain on that setup looks awful (imho), Because the sides have to reach so far forward to meet the door surrounds that it ends up as a huge bubble;

https://www.quadratec.com/p/mastert...-summer-combo-tops-jeep-wrangler-jk-unlimited

The Bronco C hoop is pretty similarly located, So I think it will be easier to make one for the four door than the 2 door, I just don't like the look on a 4 door myself...

 

[AJKitebrder40]

Yup. A 4 door Bronco version of exactly that is what I want. The top cover doesn’t even have to extend all the way over the storage compartment.

This is the setup I run on my '07 JKU, and by the time I get a Bronco, I'm fairly certain a nice aftermarket Bikini option will be available. The one nice thing with the Bronco is the 4 piece hardtop, the JK being backseat/storage as all one piece takes a bit of effort to put on/take off on the daily. I use 4 hooks in my garage ceiling and tie down ratchets to pull it up/bring it down by myself.

I could see using 3 hooks (2 for the sides, one in the middle to balance the load) for the cargo area hardtop. Or....the nice advantage with the Bronco, take off the front/back seat top, you are basically open air, and can quickly throw them back on in a storm. Factor in having MGV, and frankly, who cares if it gets rained in.

 

[broadicustomworks]

Also in NC, and I run a soft top on my TJ, no HT (so it's not a 100% apples-apples comparo), but here is how I tackle it:
S.T. is folded back when it gets warm enough to run like that and it stays folded back unless I get caught in a downpour or weather turns cold in Oct. No doors, no top from April/May-Oct. They are stored. I park in the shop when rain is forecasted and drive a different vehicle. IF I had no other option, back on goes the doors and windows.

IF I had a HT or when I get the Bronco (also IF I stay with the MIC on it) there is no perfect answer to handle some of the pop-up heavy rains we get. I would run a Bimini (safari style for the 4 DR), and if the need is found for the tonneau, I'll get one of those too.
I've ran them before on my Jeeps and it is not a perfect deal. You'll still get wet. Your interior will too. But you'll keep the majority of it off of you. It will blow in from the rear and sides some.
For complete protection in summer you'd be looking at either a ST or put the HT back on as needed, neither seem to be what you want (or ideal, regardless).

 

[Monster1926]

Honestly, it seems like you should of ordered a black diamond with MGV and wash out floors. If it gets wet who cares wipe it off and go. That’s the route I’d go if I wanted to keep the top off most of the time.

 

[BroncoT]

Also in NC, and I run a soft top on my TJ, no HT (so it's not a 100% apples-apples comparo), but here is how I tackle it:
S.T. is folded back when it gets warm enough to run like that and it stays folded back unless I get caught in a downpour or weather turns cold in Oct. No doors, no top from April/May-Oct. They are stored. I park in the shop when rain is forecasted and drive a different vehicle. IF I had no other option, back on goes the doors and windows.

IF I had a HT or when I get the Bronco (also IF I stay with the MIC on it) there is no perfect answer to handle some of the pop-up heavy rains we get. I would run a Bimini (safari style for the 4 DR), and if the need is found for the tonneau, I'll get one of those too.
I've ran them before on my Jeeps and it is not a perfect deal. You'll still get wet. Your interior will too. But you'll keep the majority of it off of you. It will blow in from the rear and sides some.
For complete protection in summer you'd be looking at either a ST of put the HT back on as needed, neither seem to be what you want (or ideal, regardless).

My backup option is to keep the clamshell on and use a canvass Bimini over the seats during the summer.

 

[alexryer]

My backup option is to keep the clamshell on and use a canvass Bimini over the seats during the summer.

I wish ADV fiberglass would make a hard tonneau that would integrate with a bimini soft top. It would require rear quarter panels that wrap over the sides to deal with the gap to the roll bars, plus a hard tonneau lid that fits inside the roll bars, plus a rear window that ideally goes to the floor behind the rear seats so that it can roll down. The "wind stopper" would mate with the roll bar cross member above the rear seats on the 4-door, with a permanent frame and a window that you can roll down.

This would make a pretty secure and weather tight enclosure. Take the Bimini off and roll down the rear window and you are basically topless.

Picture a Frankenstein version of the Porsche Boxster Spyder. Really cool permanent fiberglass deck in back (like a tonneau) and easy to remove Bimini, window that slides down in back.

C'mon ADV Fiberglass - you can do this! Including the aero bulges behind the rear head rests! Even if you just do it as a SEMA build for kicks. I love the fender designs you've put out there. This is kind of an extreme extension of that.

 

[alexryer]

I wish ADV fiberglass would make a hard tonneau that would integrate with a bimini soft top. It would require rear quarter panels that wrap over the sides to deal with the gap to the roll bars, plus a hard tonneau lid that fits inside the roll bars, plus a rear window that ideally goes to the floor behind the rear seats so that it can roll down. The "wind stopper" would mate with the roll bar cross member above the rear seats on the 4-door, with a permanent frame and a window that you can roll down.

This would make a pretty secure and weather tight enclosure. Take the Bimini off and roll down the rear window and you are basically topless.

Picture a Frankenstein version of the Porsche Boxster Spyder. Really cool permanent fiberglass deck in back (like a tonneau) and easy to remove Bimini, window that slides down in back.

C'mon ADV Fiberglass - you can do this! Including the aero bulges behind the rear head rests! Even if you just do it as a SEMA build for kicks. I love the fender designs you've put out there. This is kind of an extreme extension of that.

Use your imagination - this could be a Bronco fiberglass tonneau / wind stopper / Bimini combo.

 

[AJKitebrder40]

Also in NC, and I run a soft top on my TJ, no HT (so it's not a 100% apples-apples comparo), but here is how I tackle it:
S.T. is folded back when it gets warm enough to run like that and it stays folded back unless I get caught in a downpour or weather turns cold in Oct. No doors, no top from April/May-Oct. They are stored. I park in the shop when rain is forecasted and drive a different vehicle. IF I had no other option, back on goes the doors and windows.

IF I had a HT or when I get the Bronco (also IF I stay with the MIC on it) there is no perfect answer to handle some of the pop-up heavy rains we get. I would run a Bimini (safari style for the 4 DR), and if the need is found for the tonneau, I'll get one of those too.
I've ran them before on my Jeeps and it is not a perfect deal. You'll still get wet. Your interior will too. But you'll keep the majority of it off of you. It will blow in from the rear and sides some.
For complete protection in summer you'd be looking at either a ST or put the HT back on as needed, neither seem to be what you want (or ideal, regardless).

This is how I roll with my JL, I don't have to drive for work luckily, but I need a summer option that's not a full soft top (I don't want to store it, I don't really like it, nor do I want to pay for a Trektop). MIC is rolling with racks basically October - April. I need it open in the back for boards, a full bimini top that's not mesh is the primary option.

Also - I don't care if the seats/floor get wet since it will be a Badlands, but........I do care if I get wet driving, ha. I've been there done that. I'd say just roll with the MIC top headers covering driver/passenger, but........I'm guessing that may cause issues.

 

[PrepVet]

Sell hard top. Buy soft top. Solution = perfect.

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