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Who has or is buying a Sunrider for Hardtop by Bestop?

steffen707

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Just curious what your thoughts are. Anybody have one on a JL already? You like it?

Dang, didn't realize they're $800 for the 30oz premium twill fabric. I thought they were like $300, lmao.
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Jake

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Hey Steffen I saw a Bestop Sunrider on a Wrangler a few weeks ago. It was parked and the top was open so I got a good chance to look at it. Looked very nice. To me the one thing that should make it a lot better than a normal Wrangler rag top with the top opened back into a Sunrider position is that you should have a lot less material that could flap in the wind since it only opens up over just the front seats. As you know the Sunrider on a normal rag top Wrangler opens up to give sun and air to the front and back seats.

I also looked at how the framework bolted into place. Looks fairly simple and solid. Just wonder how water tight the Bestop Sunrider really is, especially if you run it through a car wash or in a heavy rain downpour. Or do they recommend washing the truck by hand?

Another thing to consider is winter time. If I got one then I would want to pull the entire Bestop Sunrider off in the winter time and put the hard freedom panels back into place. Just wondering how much of a pain in the rear end that could be to have to repeat this process once each winter and once each spring time. At $800.00 the price is right. And it sure beats the price of the Jeep dual top option. My two cents opinion.
 
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steffen707

steffen707

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Another thing to consider is winter time. If I got one then I would want to pull the entire Bestop Sunrider off in the winter time and put the hard freedom panels back into place.
Has to be way easier than taking whole soft top off and putting whole hard top on, albeit not an apples to apples.
 

Sgt Beavis

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I've got a hard top and soft top for my JLU. I put the soft top on early and went into the mountains where it was windy and -1F. I had no problems staying warm (heated seats and heater turned on). The only problem was when a high speed crosswind pulled up the edge of the soft top and let cold air in. This was still very manageable. I think the sun rider top will be much better than that since there is less material to be pulled up by the wind.

Brit and @Kevin8086 (aka Lite Brite) have had a SunRider since they were in the prototype stage and they've been through some of the weather I've seen. I'd be curious to see what they think. Though, they might be a tiny bit biased.. ;)
 

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Pbmax

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I just installed the black twill sunrider on my JL 2 days ago. It will move to my JT when it arrives. Install was 40 minutes, great material, super easy operation and going 70mph no issues with flap. It’s pricey but I love the convenience. I hosed it down trans checked for leaks and not a one. Car was test will be in a few days.
 

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WXman

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I have it and it's fantastic compared to the freedom panels. But, it is noisy on the highway. Lots of air leaking noise above the header of the windshield. Several members on the JL forum have noticed the same thing. Mine got a little better once I massaged the weather seals on the top of the windshield to relax the indentions left by the freedom panels.

Only thing I don't like is the Z-clips Bestop is using. Those are a PITA and they will break off the cables, so you have to be careful.
 

Iron Wolfpack

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Jake

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Look closely at the vehicles listed for this $50 off and you will not see the Gladiator listed. It’s the same thing on their website, not listed for the Gladiator. But we all know that EVO put a Bestop Sunrider on their Gladiator. You may want to call Bestop to enquire about this.

Hey Cassie from Bestop what’s up with this?
 
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steffen707

steffen707

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Look closely at the vehicles listed for this $50 off and you will not see the Gladiator listed. It’s the same thing on their website, not listed for the Gladiator. But we all know that EVO put a Bestop Sunrider on their Gladiator. You may want to call Bestop to enquire about this.

Hey Cassie from Bestop what’s up with this?
I believe she said before the jl model fits the Gladiator, ie it's the same. But I'll call to double check. When you want to get somebodies attention on the forum put an @ symbol in front of their actual name, they'll get an alert.

Right @BestopTeam? It also makes a hyperlink in your post, if you don't see that, they don't get an alert. Fyi
 
 



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