Hello all. I tried searching the threads but came up with some half answers. I was hoping to get some people with experience. Currently have a hard top and am looking forward to getting a soft top before spring. I've looked (relentlessly) at both the OEM (Mopar) and Bestop. Anyone have experience with both (positive, negative, or both). Hoping to make a good first transition....thx!

 

Bestop makes the OEM top. So they would be the same.
Unless you're talking about the Trektop. They're new, and not many have them, but they don't require door surrounds.

 

So far i've had nothing but good luck with the OEM, bit of a pain in the a$$ at first until you get used to using it. I think that it costs more to buy the soft top after you've bought the jeep, don't quote me on that though.

 

Kcnal - I've have many years experience with Jeeps and soft tops.
Dr. McNinja is correct about Bestop making the Factory tops for Jeep.
But they are NOT anywhere near the quality.
Factory Tops are made with 18 gauge Canvas and aftermarket tops are almost half as thick on 10 Gauge.
The frame, rods, crossmembers, supports etc are all thiner gauge than factory.
Jeep owns the copy rights to the Factory tops but allows Besttop and their subsidary Pavement Ends to produce a a soft top some what like but not near the standards of OEM.
If you intend to only own your Jeep for a couple of years buy the cheaper and inferior model. If you want quality buy OEM.

 

That's really good information! If I ever need to replace my soft top I'll keep that in mind.

Thanks!!

 

The Trektop does require door surrounds. They are just the weird metal ones that come with the top and not the OEM looking ones. You still have to remove them to put on a hardtop.

 

But it comes with them, you don't have to buy them separate like the other tops. Sorry if I wasn't specific about it.
OEM and OEM-style tops require OEM door surrounds (so do many of the bikini tops if you want them to seal the doors). Trektop does not, it has it's own surrounds that are inclusive in the price, and require tools to remove.
It also has its own tailgate bar, which is required for the OEM top.

 

Thanks for all the info. The gauge was interesting. It seems in my research that I either read or heard that but had forgotten during my decision making process.

I think I'm really leaning toward the OEM top. I'm not sure what soft doors are available as I was also looking to go this route for the summer.

Does anyone have an opinion if it's worth having the dealer put on the mounting structure and soft top? I pretty mechanically inclined, but reading some of the posts about seals, etc... it sort of got me thinking.

 

Not unless you're going to use them every time you want to take it down. The mounts are not adjustable, you screw in the torx bolts to the arms. The OEM door surrounds attach with hand screws. Rear tailgate bar uses plastic clips. You may want to read the threads here about how to put it up correctly, and how to fold it correctly, but beyond that you're golden.
Oh, and If you want a cheap OEM, I might be selling mine so I can buy a Trektop. It is almost 2 years old though, so it won't be as expensive as one of the new takeoffs. Tinted windows too.

 

x2 I got mine on craigslist as well but for $250! Brand new still all wrapped up. Unfortunately I found out a little too late that it was missing the brackets that bolt up to the rear roll bar! Those apparantly come bolted to the roll bar. So that was like $50 bucks. So if you buy used or from an individual make sure you get all the parts.