my experience
hello friends, looking for recommendations on a soft top for my JK, not sure if I want to go traditional or fastback style ? bought a trektop glide for my last jeep and it leaked right where the 2 storage pouches were then found out it was a common problem along with the window's pulling off the slide channel which I didn't experience due to it was only on a week then I traded it in, any help would be appreciated
I've replaced my top a couple of times. Here is my experience and warning...
I replace my oem after it ripped. I bought Smittybuilt for about $600. Sail cloth. Installed no issues. Tension springs and cable were better quality than oem. The sail cloth looked awesome. Went on easily no complications. Never used the pockets on inside because I open my top all the time and never wanted anything I put in those pockets to damage the top. After about 2 years, the rear zipper failed. Started skipping teeth and not zipping closed. The zipper does not have aggressive teeth like oem. Shame it doesn't have more aggressive teeth, it's really a nice top.
I still had my oem windows so I looked for a quick cheap replacement. I bought a top off ebay, (just the top, no windows or frame) for $100. I got it and all looked good, (material is just like oem) till I put it on. The fit was way too tight. Didn't realize till I took it off, that it had ripped in 2 locations that I would never have seen if I had not taken it off. The side windows went on fine but the rear opening was way too small for my oem window...To make things worse, I would have to pay $40 to return it to seller...Needless to say, I just took the hit and wrote a negative post...So don't buy top from ebay for $100. (You get what you pay for...)
Finally just purchased a month ago, a top from Quadratec for about $450 (complete top). It looks just like oem. Fit was perfect. Went on without issues. I did notice that the tension cable is thinner than the Smittybuilt top. I kept the smittybuilt top tension cables just in case these break. If you price them, they want $70 for about $15 worth of materials.
All I can say is don't go to cheap which ever way you go...it will cost you more in the long run.