Soft Top Reliability

What are you unsure of?

I have a 2022 with the soft top, it keeps the weather out, is easy to flip open to the first position, with the windows out--it's easy to flip all the way open. Have had no issues with it except for the bubbles in the rear vinyl window caused by reaction to the tape used for the temporary tags (dealer replaced on his dime). (In Nebraska they tape 30 day "In-Transit" tags in the front and rear windows until you register the vehicle).

Is it noisey?...sometimes, depending on the wind direction relative to your direction of travel. Is it floppy? yes--its cloth. Is it cold in the winter/hot in the summer? No more than any other vehicle. Have had mine in temps ranging from -15 to 110, once the hvac gets the cabin heated or cooled, it stays relatively comfortable. Does it let water/snow in..in January, we had 50-60 mph winds, 8-10" of snow, causing blizzard conditions--Bronco was outside in it for the duration (1 1/2 days of heavy snow, 3+ days of blowing snow), i ended up with maybe a cup of snow inside near the tailgate latch..found out I hadn't seated the rear window completely, so that was my fault.

Have taken it through numerous touchless carwashes, for the first year and half, it sat in the elements, but now has a garage.

Absolutely no issues, leaks, tears, scuffs. Plus I know if there were issues, my dealer would take care of it under warranty..

My parents have a soft top. It so far survived 2 snowy windy winters. Bird poo did stain the top in a spot. It does hold up but I believe the life span is 7 years. Don't quote me on that one though.

Mandogus

My parents have a soft top. It so far survived 2 snowy windy winters. Bird poo did stain the top in a spot. It does hold up but I believe the life span is 7 years. Don't quote me on that one though.

I'd say I'd be lucky to get 7 years out of my soft top. It has and area above the rear driver's side door that is starting to fray.

And also (to OP). You have to be super careful with cleaning the windows. I've done nothing but hand wash and I still have a ton of swirls already in the rear window. Sides look good, but not the rear.

So really, if you want the ease of a soft top then go for it. But personally I'm not a fan of the life of soft tops, nor do I like a constantly dirty rear window in the winter time. I'd rather have a hard top.

One last note, mine is on a 2021. I'm pretty sure they did re-design the soft top since then.

EvlNvrDys

I'd say I'd be lucky to get 7 years out of my soft top. It has and area above the rear driver's side door that is starting to fray.

And also (to OP). You have to be super careful with cleaning the windows. I've done nothing but hand wash and I still have a ton of swirls already in the rear window. Sides look good, but not the rear.

So really, if you want the ease of a soft top then go for it. But personally I'm not a fan of the life of soft tops, nor do I like a constantly dirty rear window in the winter time. I'd rather have a hard top.

One last note, mine is on a 2021. I'm pretty sure they did re-design the soft top since then.

After you wash the soft top, clean the windows with Plexus. It helps immensely to remove swirls.

Micahman

After you wash the soft top, clean the windows with Plexus. It helps immensely to remove swirls.

That's what I do on my '22 and so far, no micro scratches on my soft top windows.

Micahman

After you wash the soft top, clean the windows with Plexus. It helps immensely to remove swirls.

I tried to google it with no luck. What is Plexus?

Edit: You mean this stuff? It was further down the page.

Its called Plexus plastic cleaner. Its weird, I don't see it available anywhere other than by the case from the manufacturer. I bought a can maybe a year ago and it was easy to find.

Had a 21 outer banks with soft top. Love it, had no issues with it, and a guy detail it every 1-3 months and still didn’t have any swirls/scraches. we never removed it, so can’t speak for that, but was great using it though.

I’ve owned the softop for two years now. The material is still as good as new. No issues with tearing seams anywhere. The rear corner tabs are broken on one side. There is a TSB to fix them, but I haven’t made my way to the dealer yet.

It’s very loud on the highway. I purchased a Dirty Dog headliner to quiet it down a lot. The headliner also adds more insulation to keep it toasty in the winter. It unbuckles easily so I can put the soft top down in the summer. The company that makes the headliner also makes a bikini top that uses the same buckles for the headliner, so I can swap them out easily.

The soft top is quite heavy to lift from the folded back position to the closed position. A lot of people buy the IAG Soft Top struts to make it much easier to lift and close. Plus, they make it easier to open the rear. You may also need to invest in a C-Piller protection film or hard plastic protection. Lifting the softop can sometimes scratch.

So while it may not be perfect, there are lots of options to fix nearly anything about the soft top that you don’t like.

I haven't had mine long (about 2 months) but I haven't had any issues yet & it's got 46k miles on it.
It's a touch noisy at highway speed.
I'm not a super huge fan of putting the windows back in, but they come out in like 30 seconds.
Putting them back isn't difficult, it just takes a few minutes & they definitely have a proper process to follow to get them back in & "sealed"
I did install the IAG soft top assist, mostly for ease of using the cargo area.
I honestly see 1st position flipped open being used the most in good weather.
If I'm going to take the windows out & drop it all the way, it will be a full day thing likely.
I don't plan on using auto car washes.
we have a nice place nearby to just pay like $5 & spray it yourself, that way I can really get the frame & wheel wells clean & not spray the top/plastic windows with more pressure than they need.

Thank you all for the feedback! It's great to have a resource like this site.
I am looking at one, but still may go with the hardtop. I drove a hardtop yesterday and it had more wind noise than I expected.

jtgensler

I haven't had mine long (about 2 months) but I haven't had any issues yet & it's got 46k miles on it.
It's a touch noisy at highway speed.
I'm not a super huge fan of putting the windows back in, but they come out in like 30 seconds.
Putting them back isn't difficult, it just takes a few minutes & they definitely have a proper process to follow to get them back in & "sealed"
I did install the IAG soft top assist, mostly for ease of using the cargo area.
I honestly see 1st position flipped open being used the most in good weather.
If I'm going to take the windows out & drop it all the way, it will be a full day thing likely.
I don't plan on using auto car washes.
we have a nice place nearby to just pay like $5 & spray it yourself, that way I can really get the frame & wheel wells clean & not spray the top/plastic windows with more pressure than they need.

I use a drive through car wash especially in the winter, its a no touch car wash through. No way I would take the soft top through a car wash with brushes.

EvlNvrDys

I'd say I'd be lucky to get 7 years out of my soft top. It has and area above the rear driver's side door that is starting to fray.

And also (to OP). You have to be super careful with cleaning the windows. I've done nothing but hand wash and I still have a ton of swirls already in the rear window. Sides look good, but not the rear.

So really, if you want the ease of a soft top then go for it. But personally I'm not a fan of the life of soft tops, nor do I like a constantly dirty rear window in the winter time. I'd rather have a hard top.

One last note, mine is on a 2021. I'm pretty sure they did re-design the soft top since then.

I owned a 1995 XJ Wrangler for 14 years. It was a Base model with a soft top. For all of your reasons, when I decided I was getting a Bronco, it was only going to be with a hard top. If you drive the vehicle in winter on treated roads the rear window gets filthy in minutes, and you cannot clean it on a road trip without making swirl marks in the plastic. The grit and grime are only safely removeable with pressured water from a hose, which is hard to find in freezing temps.

The fabric top will eventually wear out. I replaced the top some 8 years into ownership with a Bestop, which was very nice (heavier duty than the factory top) and not too expensive, but the YJ has a very simple soft top design. I'd bet a Bronco soft top will be a pricey replacement when the time comes.

OP, if the Bronco is going to be your only vehicle and you want to drive it with the top down, a soft top is a better choice for the convenience, but you'll have to pay for the convenience via an eventual replacement top. If it will be a secondary, nice weather vehicle (for the summer), then a hard top would be a better choice if you have facilities to store the hard top when it is removed. Several manufacturers sell watertight (doors-off) cab-over covers for parking overnight, which work with either the hard top removed or the soft top when it is completely removed.

Regarding noise. The Bronco is an ORV (off road vehicle) with removeable doors and top. Any such vehicle will be nosier than a fixed-roof, fixed-door vehicle. It is just the nature of the design because the panel gaps are larger and not as tight-fitting to allow for easy removal of the components (doors and tops). The idea of the Bronco (or Jeep Wrangler) is it is a lifestyle adventure vehicle whose owner expects higher noise levels and to get dirty/wet using it.

Aside from it being loud at highway speeds, I haven't had any issues with my soft top. Very easy to be folded back and I have even taken it through the touchless car washes in the winter time. The side and back windows can be removed with little to no effort, just make sure you've watched some videos ahead of time.

Just FYI for the soft top crowd- I had a wicked squeek from the bow that was right over the front seats. It was really bad over anything less graded than perfectly smooth pavement.

Last week, I hit all the joints in the front section with some Rem Oil (my preferred gun oil) and it has been silent. Even while bombing through some dirt roads at unreasonable speed. I have no idea how long this will last, but I will take it.