I plan on making a custom soft top for my '88 4Runner, but does anyone know of any build plans online that could help me or atleast give me some ideas?

 

Theres a bunch of soft tops on here, just look around...

 

Best bet is to find someone that has one and try to copy it. My buddy made one out of a welding blanket and some tie downs.

 

I have some ideas in mind but they really won't come in to play until it's warm enough to actually pull the top off, measure everything and figure stuff out. I know I'm most likely just going to use the back window as opposed to making a section of top to go in place of it. The frame is going to be a bracket that bolts on everywhere the normal top does, and I'm just going to bend and weld 1" pipes to the brackets to make the top frame. I'm probably going to weld pipes on top going the length of the truck so nothing bends and I can put on a roof rack. I'm making the top out of automotive vinyl fabric. Three layers most likely. Vinyl, insulating foam, and then vinyl. The vinyl top will only be attached to the cab roof, and the rest will be held down with straps, that way if I want to go topless I can just roll it up and leave it there.

 

If I ever get around to making one, I was going to use some 1x3" rectangular steel tube layed down on the bed rails, bolted to the stock holes for the hard top. Then use steel electrical conduit as the frame, using a bender to make the curves. Then weld a sleeve to the rectangular tube so the frame work can slide in and be pinned in place, that way you can remove it in sections to store it and put the hard top back on if needed. Then use some waterproof camo material from the surplus store. Cut it around the sides and back and install zippers, and put snaps on the bottoms to hold it down.