Sun Performance Billet Soft Top Disconnects
Why I am doing this?
When I got my TJ, I decided on the Dual top option. The wiper and defroster on the hard top provide better visibility out of the rear window with all the liquid sunshine we get in Vancouver. According to the manual (Yes. I did read it.) Jeep recommends that you not have both tops on at the same time, so I have been removing the hard top every spring.
The nutsert after a complete removal.
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Last fall, when I was removing the soft top, I applied too much torque to the bolt and out came the nutsert from the plastic bow end. This meant a replacement. I called a dealership and they quoted the wonderfully low price of CDN$32.00 to replace it. I thought $32.00 to replace them all, not bad...when pressed, however, the voice from the other end "EACH."
I knew after previous struggles putting on and removing the top (it involves a large hammer and some graphic language), that I was going to need to replace more than one bow end.... Then from the depths of my mind I remembered that someone was manufacturing replacements out of aluminum. I started to look around and found the Sun Performance Billet Soft-top Disconnects , and for $USD49.99 USD I knew they were the answer.
First Impression
Side by side comparison. The new bow end on the left is quite a bit stronger looking than the stock bow end on the left.
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Out of the box these bow end replacements looked great. They are solid aluminum that appears to be lathed and milled out of a piece of tubular stock. It is immediately apparent that they are far stronger than the stock pieces, especially in a side-by-side comparison. The shaft that the bow rotates on is FAR larger than those of the stock pieces from Jeep. As an added bonus the instructions are easy to decipher. This should be a one-banana job (for a real shade tree howler, maybe even a half banana). My estimated time for installation on my 1999 TJ is 20 minutes.
Let the Installation Begin
Tools needed
- 1 Philips Screwdriver
- 1 Round File
Tools used
- 1 Philips Screwdriver
- 1 Round File
- 1 Power Drill and a 9/64ths bit
- 1 Interesting Vocabulary (optional - not recommended if children or spouses are present)
Step 1 - Remove the old hardware
- On the instructions it says to drill out the original rivets. My TJ does not have rivets, it has screws. Excellent! Two minutes to remove all four... Revised time estimate, 10 minutes...alright....
- (One note I have here. From the amount of metal shavings, I have to say that Chrysler just used self-tapping screws with no pilot holes. This meant I had a little cleanup to do on the inside of the bow tubes, so the disconnects would fit properly. It was not the straightest or most accurate job either, more on this later...)
The bow ends prior to removal.
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The bows after removal of the stock ends.
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Step 2 - Install the new hardware
- Use a round file to clean up the inside of the pre-existing holes in the bows
- Insert the new Billet Soft-Top Disconnect into the bow
- Line up the holes, insert and tighten the included screw
The bows after installation of two of the new bow ends.
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- Piece of cake..looking good on that 10 minutes...repeat 3 more times...
- (Another note - be careful about the alignment of the holes in the bow and the Billet Soft-Top Disconnect, make sure they line up well....)
- OOOooops....that last one was not lined up that well...now a more advanced monkey would have noticed this and drilled the hole in the bow slightly larger to fix that alignment thing. I, however, am not an advanced monkey, so I decided to see if it would go anyway...it didn't...hmmm maybe 30 minutes...where's the vice-grips????
The headless screw.
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- (Yet another note - This problem is caused by Chrysler and myself, all of the other holes matched dead on so I think the last was out of place. The other half of the problem was that I got cocky and twisted the head of the screw off when it got too tight)
- I managed to break the screw off with enough of it sticking out that I could get my vise-grips on the end of the screw and remove it without drilling. Whew....
- Now I search for 45 minutes through several toolboxes until I find a replacement...whew....am I lucky Dad worked for the phone company...I may make an hour on that install....
- Drill out the hole in the soft-top bow so the holes line up properly....insert and tighten the last screw...all done
Step 3 - Install the top
- I checked the fit of the pin in the bracket without the bow end. It fits quite snugly.
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The top mounting bracket and the new pin.
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- Slip the new bow ends over the bracket on the roll bar
- Slide the pin though the holes. This took a little work as the clearances are tight, but the fit is great.
- Slip in the retaining clip
- All done, put up the top.
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Both sides after installation.
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- This is far less painless than the old way. The stock brackets used plastic to fill in the space that the original screw did not fill. This made the original ends very difficult to slide on and off the bracket.
Comments
This is an easy one-banana job for a Shadetree Howler Monkey that is not half a banana short of a fruit salad. I seem to fall into this category for this installation.
The Billet Soft-Top Disconnects are extremely well designed and well manufactured pieces of hardware.
If you are going to be removing your softop on any regular basis, this product is a must have. What used to take 20 minutes or more of cursing and beating on the old bow ends now takes less than 2 minutes with no fuss.
I also find it unlikely that I will ever need to replace these parts. This means that they will pay for themselves quickly given that I was on pace to replace one of the plastic ends every two years or so.
Andre Couturier
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