Anyone figure out a way to keep the rear bow / retaining bar in place when in the "Sun Rider" position? Mine flew out on the road last week and freaked out the car behind.<br><br>I've been removing it ever since but the added step means I have to exit the vehicle to do so.. which means I cant just pop the top at a light. Also, if it rains, and you've left the bar sitting in your garage, the water will pool and will eventually dump all over your rear seats. Yeah, it happened to me.

 

Are you talking about the one that goes in the bracket that you had to mount on the roll bar, or the rear bow that clips into the rear door surround?

 

Never mind, read it wrong... Reply removed. Sorry.

 

The one that goes into the two retainers that are bolted to the top rear of the cage.

When in the sunrider position, the area becomes quite slack and the bar slides out easily.. a bit too easily, as I had misfortune of finding out. Once one side slips out of the retainer, it doesnt take long for the entire bar to slide out of the sleeve and into the street.

I've just re-read Bestop's instructions and all it does is guide you on how to install it. I guess it's up to the user to figure out how to properly use it.

My interim solution is to wrap a mailing rubber band (super long) over and over again till it builds up on each side. This works well, but it's kinda ghetto. And if I want to put the sides on, I have to remove the bands because the added bulk doesnt allow the zipper to clear fully.

My ideal solution would be a piece of elastic inside the bar holding together two stoppers on each side of the bar. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to accomplish this.

 

I just installed mine yesterday, the rear retainer bar had those clips that go into the end of the bars. Does yours have that?

but I would get a drill, drill a hole and put a small bolt through with a retaining pin in it.


I have my springs in the holes closest to the jeep, so it's pretty tight. But then again, mine is brand new.

I will keep an eye on those brackets though.

 

The plastic end caps on the bar fell off when the bar fell off. If you still have them, perhaps it'd be a good idea to glue them into place.

My springs are on the tightest setting and it doesnt make a difference once the top is in the sunrider position.

 

This is what I did. I got a couple straps and secured it tighter just below the bar.
a few pictures. Tested at 70mph, the bar stayed in... I did have it move on me at 70mph that's when I put the straps on to secure it tighter to the roll bar.



a few other comments.
This was also redesigned from when I got my Top (Aug 2011). Best Top put a clip to hold the bar in.
New design.


They also had some problems with tearing of the seam which they were very good about giving me a warranty repair. Which was basically a new top section. Best Top rocks when it came to covering this problem.
here's a few pictures of the tearing area. (This tearing started early on while I had the sides and back window attached, and luckly hasn't gotten much worse from when it first tore.)

 

Plastic end caps? Mine never came with those... Either way, my bar has never flown out, but i did have one side come out before. Now you have me thinking that I need to find a way to fasten mine!

 

Mine rear bar used to slide out.. Though I have a two door, we have the same issue when there is some slack.

I took two pieces of HD 3M double sided tape and placed one on each end, on the bar between the bar and the canvas. With just a little tension on the rear straps, the bar stays put. easy fix.

 

Mine has a round tube that fits into a sleeve sewn into the top and sits into the door surrounds located over the sound bar. Then it has two cinch straps that attach to the sound bar.