874runner

So im thinking about spending the 45.50 +shipping for the FJ40 bikini top... but my question is will it fit fine? do i need to buy a bracket or something to bolt it up to the roof? i was thinking i could just strap it to the cargo tie downs in the back instead of buying the tie down pieces like a normal kit would include...

aaron_crane

mine uses the same rail as the besttop soft top. it works great all i do is slide it on and ratchet the straps down behind the roll bar. I didn't bother drilling into my car to mount the rear tie-downs because on mine there were already tons of places to do it.

it would help to know what brand bikini top you are buying though

aaron_crane

ha well after reading your post I think you are adapting it to your 4runner?

874runner

yes i am adapting it lol sorry i didn't specifically point that out. But yeah i read on some other threads that people have bought those bikini tops and they worked fine but i dunno if the rail lines up is all lol

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Do it right or it will flap and look like ass.

One of my kits installed on DeathCougar's 4Runner.


Ordering Information Here:
http://www.wabfab.org/products/bikini/bikini.htm

874runner

i;d love to order your kit.... but i dont have that kind of extra money... maybe ill just save some and buy it when i do.

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

I have some DIY install information on the page below:
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...l#DIYBikiniTop

And it you are a little handy with metal, you can make your own roof bracket from some aluminum angle, cut and drilled to fit the roof mounting bolt holes and install some snaps to attach the top to.

874runner

thanks 4crawler! the jeep ones are 2 pieces? lol what if the tape doesnt hold very well?

87AzRunner

okay, i spent about $65 to make mine and i love it.
list:
Top
Rail
Bow
Tie downs

I got the top as a b-day present. The rail, Bought a 6ft flat stick of aluminum, with a friend layed it over the top of the shell and bent it by
hand to the shape of the top (easy) and cut excess off. now you have the
rail, you bend four "L" brackets and bolt them to the rail so you can bolt the
rail to the cab and pinch the top in. The bow was constructed of a 6 or 8 ft
3/4 in piece of conduit ($3.99, don't need all of it) Friend had a conduit pipe bender and we bent it so it would go inside the stock "rollbar". we flattened the bottom of the pipe and slide it down into the square at the bottom of the rollbar where shoulder belts mount. Next using the threaded holds half way up the rollbar we flattened the pipe again in that spot, drilled a hole through it and used to metric bolts to tighten the bow down, nice an sturdy(second pic from bottom you can see the bolts). added a $3 piece of conduit foam wrap around the top of the bow so when the top was pulled tight it wouldn't wear a hole through, thx to the foam i don't worry about it. Next the tie downs. i tried the factory tie downs but couldn't seem to get the top tight, and i didn't want to screw the aftermarket tie downs onto the body because the hardtop wont bolt down with those there. so i came up with what you see in the last pic. Using excess aluminum flat rail i mad it about 3 or 4 inches long. drilled a hole in the middle so a factory hard top bolt could go through. drilled to holes at outer edges and bolted the aftermarket tie down to it. so now i have the aftermarket tiedown to tie the top down with and i just bolt the tiedown into the last factory hard top hole on the body and i can tie the top down tight and not have to drill holes into my body. i did have to modify the tension clip thing on the back of the soft top, i just cut the plastic thing off and re-sewed it on higher up so i had more strap to pull the top down tighter. only pain with this tie down idea is u have to use a wrench instead of a socket, so it's just a min or two longer. no biggie though. sorry about pic size, if you would like different pic's i can take some more, or i can explain this better with different pic's if interested. Really i spent about $65 and maybe 2 or 3 hours to get this all done and the top on. I love this top an run it almost year round in Az, blown of once or twice at about 70 but it was cause i didn't tighten down the rail right. (luckily it's tied to the tie-downs so i didn't lose it or anything.) The top is tight and doesn't flap, i swear it's quieter than the hard top, but that might be because i live down a washboard road

Djlarroc

You did a really great job on your top. What other pics can you put up? Did you paint the conduit as well?

87AzRunner

thanks.

here's my photobucket http://s307.photobucket.com/albums/nn305/87AzRunner/

Let me know if there's a certain pic your looking for. Under the pic "DIY Tie-down" i added and explaination how to make it if anyones curious.