FWIW. The JTops sun shade GREATLY reduces wind, noise and sun (I can see you might turn into a lobster like me). While still enjoying the open air experience - even at 60+ MPH. It’s so effective that we’ve taken the panels off in mid-50s and it’s totally enjoyable.
Thanks for another informative & entertaining video! We're running Bestop's Sunrider on 4 door Bronco during our off roading season. Throwing back the front top feels great while doing Colorado's high mtn trails here. I switched to the hard top for our 2,200 mile road trip to Texas in November. In December I installed the OEM roof rack to carry our roof cargo box for skiing this winter. IMO, Sunrider's smaller, front only soft top is much easier install & removal. It's very easy to open and close on the trail, and probably not as noisy too. I did go through half a roll of 1.5inch insulation tape along the soft tops's supporting cross bar, as well as along the top door frame strips. Ths insulation material really helped reduce wind noise when the top's closed. My last 'noise adjustment' was cutting off the 'Bestop" brand label tag that's sewed on the top's exterior seam just over the passenger's head. We were surprised how noisy that little tag was at highway speeds. Totally agree these soft tops aren't great on long highway trips. Heck, we'll close our Sunrider for even an hour trip to the trailhead. But once wheeling - Gotta open her up!! Cheers
Part of me wishes I had gone with the Sunrider instead of the Skyrider. The Sunrider is obviously a lot easier to install, which (in my head) would make it less painful to install/remove as needed based on what you're doing. Granted, it isn't like the Skyrider is particularly hard to install. But it definitely takes more time/effort than the Sunrider.
@RagnarKon Just a thought… I just watched your video about FDRS and your comment about “don’t be dumb” when choosing when to reset your DTC codes for emissions. In the spirit of that, pop up canopies are fairly cheap and many can fit 80 inches + under them, enough for the whole Bronco. Makes for a good shelter in the rain when working on the vehicle with the tops off
I have a skyrider on my 2 door bronco. I love it. But yeah its loud on the highway. The road noise is tolerable. Its when it starts making a flapping noise that it gets annoying. But being able to flip the top down at the stoplight when I get off of the highway makes it worth it.
I removed my Besttop Sunrider, which is the smaller front portion. I really loved the quick access to enjoy the sun but man it was way too loud while going 55 mph or higher (and that is with top closed)but around town it was great. Yeah I know some people will say it’s a soft top but it was just way too loud to even have a conversation with a passenger going on a road-trip.
Interesting. I have the skyrider on mine and have made a handful of long trips with and without it. We haven’t noticed much of a difference at all in road noise. Granted it’s usually just the wife and I, so no back seat passengers (except our pups). We tend to listen to audiobooks on road trips to pass the time, but haven’t had trouble talking. I also run a RC sun shade for UV protection, so maybe that makes a difference. Like your videos. 👍
Its because his tension cable was broken, as he shows in the video but fails to mention this is his cause of excessive wind noise. Of course the Skyrider is louder than the full hardtop, but not by much, when installed correctly.
We have a 4-door on order and this convinced me to to buy it. The install and removal is way too much work. I thought it would be something where I pop off the front 2 panels and pop on the skyrider with no bolts at all. Wrong! We bought dual tops and I think we wasted $700-ish as I don't think we will ever install the soft top as we live in Chicagoland and my wife drives a lot of highway. I will try to change my order as production won't start for at least 2 weeks.
I think what I like about these videos you produce is the fact that you vocalize what a lot of us who work on our vehicles would also vocalize. Examples being, "Why do I do this hard way when I have a tool to do it the easy way." or *Reaches for tool out of reach* "FORCE POWERS!!!"
Me neither, I was shocked. Already attempted to solder it back on and failed. Need a third hand-to hold the cable while I solder. I’ll have to go to the hardware store or something to find a tiny clamp to keep the cable in place while I solder.
I got the Besttop skyrider for the front-only as a factory option... shipped with my Bronco. I didn't install it this year because I procrastinated too long, but intend to do so next year. Taking off just the front two panels isn't all that hard, I just wish I had a front-row only bimini for when I do (Besttop makes them for jeeps, actually). But I can see where the 2-row skyrider might be kinda loud at top speeds.
The problem with the Skyrider is not only the noise and everything else I mentioned, but also the difficulty of installation. Not that it's particularly difficult to install/remove, but you do have to remote the hard top shell to completely remove it so it's very much not a quick-and-easy thing. But I suspect the Sunrider (the front-only soft top) would take under 10 minutes to install/remove. So If I find one for cheap, I may give it a shot.
I have a 2Dr and I watched the entire video. Like watching how these things work even if I have a 2 Dr. I'm thinking about the Sunrider for the 2Dr but the weatherstripping disintegrating at the front is somewhat concerning. Not sure if I want too now.
Good video, as always. You should check out the dirty dog 4x4 insulating headliner. I have the factory soft top, and like your experience with the Bestop, it was almost unbearably loud at highway speeds. The headliner made a huge difference, and it no longer sounds like I'm driving with a window open. You might not need it since you're going back to hard top, but I imagine it would help even with the hard top.
Oooo that's a really good idea. Just visually it looks like it would interfere with the Skyrider's mounting brackets, but it looks like you could easily modify it a bit to make it work.
Did you end up selling the Skyrider? I’m in Albany NY and I just reinstalled my Skyrider for the second summer of use. It’s so easy to pop it up or flip it closed. I take it off in late October for the winter.
Nah. They were only in the back of the Bronco for about a week. Meant to swap back to soft top during the Christmas holiday (about a week before I shot this video). But sump pump unexpectedly died, so spent the holidays dealing with that instead.
