Like many JL owners, I bought mine with a hard top. Living in the mountains of NC at the time, I felt like it was necessary and didn’t think I would need to take the top off much anyway with the weather changing every five minutes. A few months later and I found myself living in Savannah, Georgia, where having a hard top made no sense with how incredible and warm the weather is.
After doing some searching on the factory soft tops, I just couldn’t get passed the bulkiness of them. That’s when I called Cassie at Bestop. Bestop had not released their Trektops for the JL yet but I knew they were coming soon and placed my order. A few weeks later and my solution for the Savannah heat was delivered!
Install time was very accurate to the instruction guide and having a YouTube video to watch the install process made things very easy for a visual learner like myself! It took right at 4 hours to secure everything down, and before I knew it, I had a gorgeous twill soft top installed.
**Other than the top being just as quiet as my hard top, I have a few key things I want to point out that I LOVE. **
Ease of removal:
Bestop thought this out thoroughly and I couldn’t be happier. The side windows slide out in a channel making them VERY easy to remove or reinstall. The back window unzips in seconds and can be rolled up to be put out of the way. In all, removing the sides and back window takes less than 3 minutes.
Sunrider feature:
Consider it the world’s largest sunroof that can be opened in 3 seconds and closed in 5. (Giving the extra two seconds to close the latches and make sure it’s sealed) This means on the fly (but under 15 mph while moving), I can open the front half of the top up to the open air driving experience we all love as Jeepers and close it almost as fast whenever needed.
The Trektop appearance:
The Trektop completely changed the look of my JL and I couldn’t be happier with it. The Twill material is their premium material but stays a dark rich black and is guaranteed to never fade. With the slant back style, it helps my Jeep stand out from the crowd and constantly brings questions about it not being the factory top and comments about it looking better.
Overall, after a few months of use I would recommend the Trektop to anyone who is currently looking to buy an aftermarket soft top. You absolutely will not be disappointed. Don’t want to get rid of your hard top? Check out the Bestop JL Sunrider for Hardtop and experience the same fast opening action replacing your freedom panels!
