Reviews for Bestop Supertop Ultra Squareback Soft Top for 07-18 Jeep Wrangler JK Unlimited 4-Door
Easy to tackle
Good Looks
I have the sunrider
I have a 2018 JKU with a factory hardtop and wanted to switch to a soft-top due to east coast weather.
This top was purchased in March 2021 and installed the same day it arrived. Installation took about four hours at home with no help. I watched several installation videos the night before so I only needed the instructions in the box as a reference. Definitely watch the videos. No parts were missing or damaged and I used a manual screwdriver instead of a drill to minimize any problems with the screws.
The quality of the top is beyond excellent. The damp passenger side carpet I used to find after rain is no more. This is more water-tight than my hardtop. The Jeep sounds different on the Interstate but not necessarily louder than the hardtop.
This top is easy to take up and down; the side panels are removed quickly; and the only two zippers are short vertical runs on the rear window. However, the sides and rear window are not easy to store in the Jeep without feeling like they will be damaged but that could just be me. The Bestop logo above the rear window doesn't irritate me but I would rather it not be there - unless they want to sponsor my humble Jeep... ;)
This is great, I live in New England and used it until November. A Besttop YouTube video was critical to the installation, the install paperwork was fairly useless, that was the only downside. The SuperTop Ultra is FANTASTIC. Removing for the winter is quite easy.
I have a 2018 JKU that came with a factory soft top and I HATED it because of the zippers. I sold it and decided on the Supertop Ultra and it is great. Super easy to operate. So easy that my wife can do it by herself now. I would HIGHLY recommend it!
The roof itself is awesome. Works well and is well designed. The problem we had was with the hardware provided which came with threat locker already on it. The hardware is really soft metal and strips easily. The thread locker makes it that it doesn’t want to threat properly or easily. The directions were absolutely horrendous and skip a lot of key things to pay attention to. For example which way the bow 5 is suppose to face. We had so many issues with the hardware that we ended up going to lowes and just buying all new screws nuts etc. I have installed Bestop roofs on my prior Jeeps and it generally goes easy. For $2500 I definitely expected more. I am definitely rating the installation here, the roof itself is well made and looks absolutely amazing.
As a do-it-yourselfer, I am typically very handy installing items myself. I am very OCD with pulling out each part and setting it up, I read the directions thoroughly and even watch videos if available (this one had a great video). However, the screws that come with this product were very hard to screw in, which was very frustrating. My husband was even shocked out how hard it was to get in. I understand the importance of everything being "snug" but this was ridiculous. We were able to get them all in with a little "elbow grease". Once we got to the part of putting the soft top on, I noticed a hole in the top. I felt a little defeated as it seemed to take forever to put this thing together with the screw issues. I contacted Quadratec and they were amazing with sending a new one to me in record time. Customer service is amazing. The only downfall was me having to take the ENTIRE thing apart after all that hard work, as I did send the defect one back.
So, I took it apart and packaged it up to send back. This weekend, we tackled the 2nd installation of the new one they sent. We had the same issue with some of the screws being hard to get it. This time round, some of them would not go all the way in. My husband helped on both installs and stated the same issue. We didn't want to force them in fear of breaking something but also, the hole was stripped from where our torque driver fits in from trying to turn it. I wasn't able to get one of the screws in at all when it came to putting the guide tracks onto the right door rail because the holes did not align up. It was way off, so much so that I doubted myself on having the left with the left and right with the right. Once we triple checked, I was right in having the correct parts together. We tried every way possible, and it just wouldn't go because the hole alignment was so off.
We got to the soft top and thankfully, no hole. Once we got everything put on, we took it for a test drive. Something on it kept making a loud squeaky noise every time we go over bumps - well in a jeep, the whole ride is bumpy. My husband was able to find the issue, thinking it was due to some bolts not being all the way tight, but it was not that. He said the screws are moving at all, which makes sense since we couldn't get them to turn anymore. It was the lift assist assembly - metal was rubbing together where it shouldn't be, which appears to be a defect in the product. He was able to push it apart and the noise is gone for now. He stated it may go back to rubbing, which then we will need to place cardboard or something similar in between where the metal is rubbing together. The left quarter window also came out of the door frame while driving. We stopped to readjust thinking we had it in wrong, but after rewatching the video and the reading the instructions, it appears we have it correctly. It just doesn't fit snug like it should on that side.
So, after all of this, I would not recommend this product. I am not 100% satisfied with it, especially for the price I paid. I would love to return for a full refund seeing as I have screws not all the way tight because it just won't go anymore, one missing screw due to holes not lining up, it being noisy and the possibility that the window may flop around from time to time. But after sending the first one back due to the hole in the soft top and two installations, I don't have it in me to take this one apart again and send back. I can understand if the first one having an issue with the hole, but having so many issues with the second one proved to me this product just has too many defects.