Bestop Sunrider adjustment?

[solfrost]

So I went ahead and ordered a Bestop Sunrider to take advantage of the rebate stuff and just installed it today — the fitment is pretty bad, I’m assuming I just did something wrong. The back is all bunched up, the fabric is pulling away from the drain rails a bit, the z-clip/wires are visible, and it doesn’t even come close to aligning with the drain rail on the back piece of the hard top. The doors also don’t close quite flush at the top/back corners anymore unless I am deliberate about it.

Any suggestions for ways to adjust the fitment here better or am I just going to have to live with it?

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[solfrost]

Totally user error as suspected, took another look and realized the deck was not aligned properly with the door rails, adjusted that and everything is snug and looks right now.

I guess for future posterity and for other folks doing installs in the near future cuz of the rebates, don’t be a dumbass like me, lol. Make sure the deck is properly aligned on the inside of the door rails before fastening anything (hard to tell honestly, without having goofed it up).

On the plus side the z-clips were a breeze to get in, and that was the part I was worried about...

 

[Bestop]

So I went ahead and ordered a Bestop Sunrider to take advantage of the rebate stuff and just installed it today — the fitment is pretty bad, I’m assuming I just did something wrong. The back is all bunched up, the fabric is pulling away from the drain rails a bit, the z-clip/wires are visible, and it doesn’t even come close to aligning with the drain rail on the back piece of the hard top. The doors also don’t close quite flush at the top/back corners anymore unless I am deliberate about it.

Any suggestions for ways to adjust the fitment here better or am I just going to have to live with it?

This is a common installation issue, and our customer service team can help you get it resolved quickly. Unfortunately, being the weekend, they are out of the office until Monday. Their number is 800-845-3567 and are in the office between 8am-5pm Mountain Monday through Friday.

- the Bestop team
www.bestop.com

 

[solfrost]

This is a common installation issue, and our customer service team can help you get it resolved quickly. Unfortunately, being the weekend, they are out of the office until Monday. Their number is 800-845-3567 and are in the office between 8am-5pm Mountain Monday through Friday.

- the Bestop team
www.bestop.com

Yeah, I ended up figuring it out, thanks for checking in!

 

[Bestop]

Yeah, I ended up figuring it out, thanks for checking in!

Great. What was amiss?

- the Bestop team
www.bestop.com

 

[solfrost]

Great. What was amiss?

- the Bestop team
www.bestop.com

Following the instructions as written, after attaching the door rails you lay the header/deck assembly on top and then fasten everything — this is what I did, and as a result there are a couple “slots” in the rails that the ends of the deck should slot into but instead it was laying on top of them. Tightening the fasteners at this point caused the deck to press the back parts of the rails further down than intended, which is what lead to the bad alignment.

The diagrams/written instructions don’t mention the slots on the door rails, and since everything lined up enough to put the fasteners in I assumed everything was correct — and the problem ends up being that the deck itself (and the fabric) obscures that part of the rail when you lay it down so unless you are specifically looking back there, and lifting the fabric up, you may not notice that things don’t look quite right — on my second inspection I looked closer here while verifying I hadn’t pinched any seals etc and saw the issue.

The fix was to remove the fasteners on the back part of the rail, pull the rails away from the truck slightly so that the deck could fall into place and slot into the rails rather than sitting on top of them, and then refastening everything.

I’m not sure if the installation videos make this caveat clear or not, I just went with the printed instructions.

 

[Trauma PA]

Following the instructions as written, after attaching the door rails you lay the header/deck assembly on top and then fasten everything — this is what I did, and as a result there are a couple “slots” in the rails that the ends of the deck should slot into but instead it was laying on top of them. Tightening the fasteners at this point caused the deck to press the back parts of the rails further down than intended, which is what lead to the bad alignment.

The diagrams/written instructions don’t mention the slots on the door rails, and since everything lined up enough to put the fasteners in I assumed everything was correct — and the problem ends up being that the deck itself (and the fabric) obscures that part of the rail when you lay it down so unless you are specifically looking back there, and lifting the fabric up, you may not notice that things don’t look quite right — on my second inspection I looked closer here while verifying I hadn’t pinched any seals etc and saw the issue.

The fix was to remove the fasteners on the back part of the rail, pull the rails away from the truck slightly so that the deck could fall into place and slot into the rails rather than sitting on top of them, and then refastening everything.

I’m not sure if the installation videos make this caveat clear or not, I just went with the printed instructions.

Same thing happened to me.

 

[Bestop]

Following the instructions as written, after attaching the door rails you lay the header/deck assembly on top and then fasten everything — this is what I did, and as a result there are a couple “slots” in the rails that the ends of the deck should slot into but instead it was laying on top of them. Tightening the fasteners at this point caused the deck to press the back parts of the rails further down than intended, which is what lead to the bad alignment.

The diagrams/written instructions don’t mention the slots on the door rails, and since everything lined up enough to put the fasteners in I assumed everything was correct — and the problem ends up being that the deck itself (and the fabric) obscures that part of the rail when you lay it down so unless you are specifically looking back there, and lifting the fabric up, you may not notice that things don’t look quite right — on my second inspection I looked closer here while verifying I hadn’t pinched any seals etc and saw the issue.

The fix was to remove the fasteners on the back part of the rail, pull the rails away from the truck slightly so that the deck could fall into place and slot into the rails rather than sitting on top of them, and then refastening everything.

I’m not sure if the installation videos make this caveat clear or not, I just went with the printed instructions.

This is great feedback! I'll get this passed along to the team to see how we can get the written instructions improved.

I appreciate you taking the time to share the feedback!

- the Bestop team
www.bestop.com

 

[mmulroy]

So I went ahead and ordered a Bestop Sunrider to take advantage of the rebate stuff and just installed it today — the fitment is pretty bad, I’m assuming I just did something wrong. The back is all bunched up, the fabric is pulling away from the drain rails a bit, the z-clip/wires are visible, and it doesn’t even come close to aligning with the drain rail on the back piece of the hard top. The doors also don’t close quite flush at the top/back corners anymore unless I am deliberate about it.

Any suggestions for ways to adjust the fitment here better or am I just going to have to live with it?

Thanks for posting this. I knew my install didn't look quite right. I found a good video. Right at the 5 minute mark she shows that you need to tuck the back of the Sunrider behind the door frame. Quick fix by taking out 3 screws on each side if you missed it the first time.

 

[BOONEDOG]

Totally user error as suspected, took another look and realized the deck was not aligned properly with the door rails, adjusted that and everything is snug and looks right now.

I guess for future posterity and for other folks doing installs in the near future cuz of the rebates, don’t be a dumbass like me, lol. Make sure the deck is properly aligned on the inside of the door rails before fastening anything (hard to tell honestly, without having goofed it up).

On the plus side the z-clips were a breeze to get in, and that was the part I was worried about...

The instructions say nothing about making sure to line up the topper to the rails a certain way, wasted a couple hours on this BS.
Thanks Bestop for your lack of attention to detail on a $800 Topper!

 

[salsadoc]

i had the exact same problem too and figured it out after about an hour. the install instructions definitely needs to be updated

 

[RatZer0]

just did the damn same thing. It's too cold out right now, but I'll head out and undo the rail and see if I can figure out what to tuck and align

Update: one side had good fit, the other was gapping like the photos show. Removed the bad side rail, middle clamp and loosened the good side enough to allow the bad side to lift easily.
Had to remove the little cable lock on the bad side to ensure everything was tucked correctly, lots of circling from good side to bad comparing. Once the bad side was lined up correctly, it's much better.

 

[BlackDog]

Count me as another victim. Printed and Bestop online videos were useless, but the video and info here pointed me in the right direction. @Bestop should link to this video from their site, it was a lot more useful.

 

[Ravenron]

This is great feedback! I'll get this passed along to the team to see how we can get the written instructions improved.

I appreciate you taking the time to share the feedback!

- the Bestop team
www.bestop.com

Just a quick update to this thread...it appears as though Bestop has indeed updated their instructions. They now say to assemble the top and the side rails off the Jeep and then place the entire assembly on the open roof area. From there, it's a simple case of installing and tightening the four bolts that hold the side rails in place.

Overall, very easy, straightforward install. Love the top - as has been said - best mod, hands down!

 

[RatZer0]

Just a quick update to this thread...it appears as though Bestop has indeed updated their instructions. They now say to assemble the top and the side rails off the Jeep and then place the entire assembly on the open roof area. From there, it's a simple case of installing and tightening the four bolts that hold the side rails in place.

Overall, very easy, straightforward install. Love the top - as has been said - best mod, hands down!

Hmm, I think I'm going to take the whole thing off and disassemble it and rebuild it off the Jeep like they recommend while the weather is decent.

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