[Ipe]

Yep.... Irony.

I ordered a Bestop Safari top and Duster from PhilD at Trail Duty and they arrived today. Me = Happy! :bounce:

I checked the weather and there was little chance of rain so I figured why not; lets install it and enjoy some fresh air. So I got a friend to help me get the hard top off and put the Safari top on. As I'm finishing up and starting to put on the Duster I start hearing some rumbling.

Serious rumbling.

I go inside and weather.com is now saying DANGER Will Robinson! Severe T-Storm alert. WTF!!! There's no way my friend can get back to help get the top back on and my wife wasn't available. I rushed to get a tarp thrown over the jeep and bungie corded down. With the tarps in place the skies opened up and it POURED. We're talking rain of biblical proportions, cats and dogs living together, utter monsoon, get the Arc ready, total weather insanity. issed: :bawling:

I'm not sure where I'm going with this... Just venting... What a PITA.

 

[Big A]

It's a good thing you had the tarp available, Or you would be locating the drain plugs for the first time!

 

[airric00]

Yeah I have one of these and believe me I wouldn't trust it in the rain!! I can see the sky through the stitching!! It is super sweet in the summer WITHOUT rain.... Even on the coldest days you stay warm with the Jeep Turbo heater!!

 

[Rollbar13]

I would raising an angry fist to the sky going DARN YOU!!!!! in not such nice terms...LOL

 

[MarcM]

I am working on a theory that when a bikini top is removed from it's box the first time and unfolded, it releases chemicals into the atmosphere that create big freaking rain clouds within a half hour of opening. You should be good now.

 

[Ipe]

Dawn has broken on a new day. Birdies chirping, sun shining, all bucolic bliss. :innocent:

The tarps seem to have done a fair job and there isn't too much wetness inside, although I got drenched as I turned right out of my driveway and water sluced between the door and roof and down onto me. No biggie. I was dry by the time I got to work.

Some observations. Like airric00 said above, there's places where I can definitely see through the stitching. We'll see how much of an issue that will be. I'm going to have to look into the OEM soft top door frames so that I can secure the plastic lip on the top and keep this thing quasi weather tight.

The hardware that Bestop provides can only be described with two words: Pure Crap
When I was assembling the header and the cam lock assemblies I managed to torque 3 screws in half, and this was with just a screwdriver and a nut driver. A trip to the hardware store and some stainless steel fasteners solved that.

So all in all I'm pretty happy with the whole thing, although the "DAMN YOU" thing was running though my mind when the skies opened up. It didn't flap about on the ride into work this morning. The duster is nice and snug and the Jeep looks good like this. We're going to a fireworks show tonight and I'm looking forward to taking the top all the way off and then being able to flip it right back on if we want/need to.

OBTW, MarkM, I think your theory has been confirmed!

 

[Ipe]

Oh... not everything was pure bucolic bliss.

When I came out this morning I found that the storm had sent something into my windshield and I now have a big crack in it. The good news is that in Massachusetts theres zero $$$ deductible on glass claims.

My neighbor was luckier than I was but the potential for badness was greater. A huge tree branch fell beside his X3 and seems to have missed by mere inches.

 

[PhilD]

It never rains, but pours

I know what you mean about the Bestop "bag o' screws" they provide. They do the same with the doors and just about everything else.

Although we don't get a lot of rain down here, I found that the Bestop Safari top actually did a pretty decent job of keeping the rain out, and never had more than just a little drip or two when it rained hard.

You do have to watch out for that water rolling off the roof though, caught me a few times with window open.

 

[SUPERMAN]

I'm going to have to look into the OEM soft top door frames so that I can secure the plastic lip on the top and keep this thing quasi weather tight. :

I did the same thing, I had purchased the plastic door surrounds for the bikini top..$357 is what I spent..

 

[Ipe]

The hard top went back on. We had more biblical proportion t-storms today. Luckily I brought the tarps with me. Mother Nature seems cranky in this neck of the woods...

 

[OnlyInMyJeep]

The step left out in the instructions. PULL YOUR PLUGS AS SOON AS TOP IS INSTALLED. Trust me sooner or later you WILL get caught getting drenched. Be sure to pull the plugs in the front and rear footwells, storage compartment and especially jack compartment. The plugs under the seat are optional but if it gets bad and blowing they will need pulled as well.

BTW I was very satisfied with the stitching and parts that came with mine and still am. I have had 0 problems with it and was among the first to get one last year.

 

[jeepster]

I finally got to put the top down a little bit ago, weatherman said the rain has gone south of us. I HOPE. It has rained so much this past month I've hardly had the chance to put the top down. I hope the rest of the summer is better.