I wish I could say this was elective surgery but it
wasn't. In the fall when I finally removed the soft top, I ran into problems with
one of the little plastic ends that hold the frames onto the clips attached to the sport
bars. The metal screws had rusted and would not come apart. This was
compounded by the fact that the nut portion of the unit is set into the plastic so there
is no easy way to secure it for leverage when dissembling the parts - it just spun free of
the plastic.
I used some brute leverage of my own to remove the soft
top from the brackets, as I made mental note that it was time to get those billet
disconnects I had been reading about for two years. This was one of those items that
was not going to be modified until absolutely necessary. It was now necessary...
When it was getting time to install the soft top again, I
picked up the various catalogs and found in addition to the clear-coated Sun Performance
version, that another product was available in black. It looked identical except for
the color and I found that they were a bit cheaper. I ordered them and soon they
were lurking at my house waiting for me to retrieve them.
Installation is mindlessly easy. The old part is
easily removed by unscrewing the fastener that holds it in place on the top frame.
The screw holes on the top frame were a little indented so putting the new ends in the
tube required a couple love taps to get it to seat, and then a little twist to line up the
hole in the tube with the hole in the end. The new part takes the place of the old
one, and the top installs onto the Jeep in the usual fashion. Note that there are two
disconnects that are slightly larger in diameter than the other two. One large and
one small are installed on each side. (Diagram below
shows factory parts with screws, not disconnects)
The only difference is that the screws that hold the
frame to the brackets on the sport bar are replaced with pins that are held in place by
clips. I used blue thread locker to install these to the top frame, and may replace
these clips with something a little smaller, more along the lines of the clevis pins I use
on my sway bar disconnects. We'll see...
|
11 |
BRACKET, Soft Top Bow 1 & 3 |
|
5517 5802 Right |
|
5517 5803 Left |
|
|
|
23 |
SCREW AND WASHER, [.164-18x.625], (NOT SERVICED) |
|
|
|
24 |
CLIP, Tailgate Opening |
|
5517 6470 1 Up to 1-6-97, Right |
|
5517 6471 1 Up to 1-6-97, Left |
|
55176 738AA 1 After 1-6-97, Right |
|
55176 739AA 1 After 1-6-97, Left |
|
|
|
25 |
RETAINER, Soft Top Rail |
|
55176 736AA 1 After 1/6/97 |
|
5517 6232 1 Up to 1/6/97 |
