Going to Attempt to install OEM soft top this weekend...Tips or tricks? Anyone?

[Tacoman03]

Planning on installing the soft top for the summer, and was looking for any tips from those that have switched tops....not sure if instructions are included in the box that came with the new top(it's still strapped onto the plastic skit/pallet)....

 

[TurboS]

This video has some tips, watch to the end when reinstalling back on the donor Bronco for some additional alignment tips.

Soft Top on Bronco Raptor! - By BroncoBro's

"We tried to fit a soft top on our Bronco Raptor and it worked. We tried this for if anyone wanted to know since it only comes with a hardtop. We only tested the factory soft top so we don’t know if there is any other company’s that make ones and fit the Bronco Raptor."

www.broncoraptor.com

 

[Tacoman03]

This video has some tips, watch to the end when reinstalling back on the donor Bronco for some additional alignment tips.

Soft Top on Bronco Raptor! - By BroncoBro's

"We tried to fit a soft top on our Bronco Raptor and it worked. We tried this for if anyone wanted to know since it only comes with a hardtop. We only tested the factory soft top so we don’t know if there is any other company’s that make ones and fit the Bronco Raptor."

www.broncoraptor.com

Thanks!

 

[rlmfire288]

I asked this question to both the sales people and the shop guys before I bought my G6 bronco. Everyone said "don't, just get the hard top. It's easy to remove and not worth the effort to convert." I haven't done the hard to soft conversion, but since buying my hard top and taking it off I can say it's not hard to do and I'd go hard top if you want to go top-less. HOWEVER - The hard top back piece is big & heavy just because it's big and awkward, and awkward to balance and move -(oh wait, I said awkward already.) It's really a question of how often will you take the whole top off? Will you always want all the top off, or just some, and how much storage space & security do you have once you take them off provided you have the space to put them in your garage, or VRBO, or Air BNB, or camp site?

I wanted soft top and went hard. The pieces are really light and easy to remove and I don't have to retract the whole thing. Just the front seats or all the seats, or the whole thing front to back. I'll deal with security of those bits if and when ever I have to. Cable locks are cheap but I'm not sure how that would work or if it would work yet. I'll deal with that when and if it ever comes up.

I didn't get the opportunity to play with the soft top enough to see if I had those same three options at any speed. In the end the hard top appealed to me, especially once I fell in love with the higher options and decided on a 4 door Raptor....

But, your results may vary...

 

[Bschurr]

I asked this question to both the sales people and the shop guys before I bought my G6 bronco. Everyone said "don't, just get the hard top. It's easy to remove and not worth the effort to convert." I haven't done the hard to soft conversion, but since buying my hard top and taking it off I can say it's not hard to do and I'd go hard top if you want to go top-less. HOWEVER - The hard top back piece is big & heavy just because it's big and awkward, and awkward to balance and move -(oh wait, I said awkward already.) It's really a question of how often will you take the whole top off? Will you always want all the top off, or just some, and how much storage space & security do you have once you take them off provided you have the space to put them in your garage, or VRBO, or Air BNB, or camp site?

I wanted soft top and went hard. The pieces are really light and easy to remove and I don't have to retract the whole thing. Just the front seats or all the seats, or the whole thing front to back. I'll deal with security of those bits if and when ever I have to. Cable locks are cheap but I'm not sure how that would work or if it would work yet. I'll deal with that when and if it ever comes up.

I didn't get the opportunity to play with the soft top enough to see if I had those same three options at any speed. In the end the hard top appealed to me, especially once I fell in love with the higher options and decided on a 4 door Raptor....

But, your results may vary...

Unfortunately, the soft top is not an option for the Raptor and Ford’s official stance is that it is not compatible however, it is. I bought one and swap mine on/off seasonally. I enjoy the ease of flipping open the front portion for open air driving (as weather permits) as well as the removal of the 3 plastic windows and dropping it all the way down for full topless action.

 

[Helipilot]

Unfortunately, the soft top is not an option for the Raptor and Ford’s official stance is that it is not compatible however, it is. I bought one and swap mine on/off seasonally. I enjoy the ease of flipping open the front portion for open air driving (as weather permits) as well as the removal of the 3 plastic windows and dropping it all the way down for full topless action.
View attachment 14791

Same for me. But it’ll be a couple months before I put my soft top back on. Still very much winter in CT.

 

[jlc64uk]

just to confirm a couple of things with you all that have done this.

You will need the two brackets for the top rail and the C-pillar pieces swapped out in order to make the switch to the soft top and that is all, correct?

 

[Helipilot]

just to confirm a couple of things with you all that have done this.

You will need the two brackets for the top rail and the C-pillar pieces swapped out in order to make the switch to the soft top and that is all, correct?

Latches on both sides of the swing gate to lock the rear into place. And the 6 bolts to bolt the top inside the cargo area, along with the plastic covers that are soft top specific to cover the 6 bolts. I actually shaved my covers so that they work for both hard and soft tops.

 

[jlc64uk]

I saw in the guy's video above that there is a bracket (1:45 min mark) behind where the three bolts on the soft top bracket screw into?
Is that bracket already there regardless of soft or hard top from the factory? Or do I need to get that as well? TIA

 

[Helipilot]

I saw in the guy's video above that there is a bracket (1:45 min mark) behind where the three bolts on the soft top bracket screw into?
Is that bracket already there regardless of soft or hard top from the factory? Or do I need to get that as well? TIA

No it’s not. It’s an alignment bracket that helps the top drop into place

 

[jlc64uk]

No it’s not. It’s an alignment bracket that helps the top drop into place

ok thanks again. so looks like i'll need to get a few more parts than i anticipated or see if the seller would be willing to include those parts if they are keeping their hard top. thanks.

 

[Helipilot]

ok thanks again. so looks like i'll need to get a few more parts than i anticipated or see if the seller would be willing to include those parts if they are keeping their hard top. thanks.

That’s what I did. We stripped the needed parts from his bronco at sale. I drove there topless, and we installed it before finalizing.