Going Soft ... Topped, That is!!!
Installing a TJ Top From
Kayline
Manufacturing

Text and photos by Sam Houston

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With Spring seemingly rapidly approaching, I started to get a bad case of "gotta have the wind in what's left of my hair fever" and I started looking for a soft-top for "Trail TJ". As far as I could determine, there are three choices with respect to top manufacturer/design: Mopar, Bestop, and Kayline. I immediately ruled out the Mopar top since it was too damned expensive, even when purchased through a buddy who's a Jeep parts manager. This left the Bestop and Kayline tops.

A little research showed that only the OEM (Mopar) and Kayline tops allowed the top to be folded down without first detaching the canvas from the framework of the top. A conversation with Kayline's Blake Robinson in the fall of 1997 further enlightened me on their top design. Kayline's top was designed to mount and work in a fashion similar to the original top to the extent that Kayline's top folding instructions are almost identical to those of the OEM TJ top. Plus, Kayline has upper half doors available to work with the factory lower hard doors, which I intended to purchase. Based upon this information, I ordered a Spice colored soft top and upper doors from Kayline in late February. As fate would have it, the top arrived at my door on a day that the temperature did not get above freezing.

To go with the top, I also ordered a set of Mopar half doors, hinges, and trim panels so I wouldn't end up with the weird top down / full door look.

The Kayline top took a good friend, Tony Schaber, and me about 2.5 hours to install. This may seem like a long time, but this is the total time taken from getting the tools out to putting them up, including a quick run to Sears and pausing to take pictures (but not real good ones). The top installs easily, using factory mounting holes in the roll bar for the top bows and a header design using over-center latches like the OEM design.

Now that I've lived with this top for about 3 weeks, I can say that I have never ridden in a soft-top Jeep that has as little top noise as the Kayline. I have run, shall we say, extra-legal speeds with none of the flapping, popping, and creaking normally associated with soft-tops. An additional feature of this top is the handy storage bags for the side and rear windows to prevent damage to the clear plastic while they are off the vehicle. Plus, the top does not use the butt ugly factory door surrounds.

Follow along as Tony and I install the top.

The first step on this 45-degree day in April was to remove the hard top. I'm sure my neighbors thought I was nuts taking the hard top off in not-quite-so-warm weather.

The next step is to mount the bow mount to the roll bar. The holes are in the right place on hard top Jeeps, but they are not tapped. Instead of using the included self-tapping bolts, I ran to my local Sears Hardware store and bought a 6mm tap and tapped the holes (at left).

At the right, you can see how the mount looks after it is attached to the roll bar. If you look closely, you can just see the existing hole in the factory bar padding.

Next, install the vertical rod bracket on the body tub behind the door (see picture at left).

On the rigth is the diagram included in the more than adequate directions. Any issues I had during the installation were truly RDM (read the darn manual) errors.

Once the brackets are in place, it's a simple matter to install the door framing assembly, header bar, center bow, and rear bow.

Mount the door framing assembly to the bow mount (with a saddle bolt) and slip the vertical rod into the mount on the body	assemble the header bar and the door framing assembly;	secure the door frame to the header with a screw on each side
attach the door framing assembly to the center bow	attach the rear bow end to the bow mount using a saddle bolt	assemble the rear bow to the rear bow ends using saddle bolts

The final step before attaching the canvas is to attach the tailgate retainer clips and the Velcro to the body. In the picture to the left above, you can see the tailgate clip mounted to the body on the passenger side. You have to drill two small holes to mount this piece which does not sound bad until you realize that one of the places is right behind the seat belt reel, and, unless you have a right angle drill, you must remove the seat belt reel in order to mount the retainer. In the photo on the right, you see the rear of the TJ ready for the top.

Now Install the Canvas Top on the Completed Frame

Tony Schaber helps slide the front edge of the top into the header (this MUST go on from the passenger side)	the completed front edge of the top
a rear view of the top with one side attached to the body track	the completed rear view with the rear and side windows zipped in

a side view of the completed top

Overall, I am impressed with the quality of the top. It's an easy install and should take an hour or less to do, if you're not trying to take pictures. Kayline's customer service is top quality too. As a result of a RDM error, I managed to shear off one of the bolts used during the installation. I called to request a replacement saddle bolt, explaining that I had broken one of the bolts. A few days later, I got the bolt, nut, and washers in the mail ... free of charge. To make a long story short, I went through ordering the bolt two more times, thinking they had sent me the wrong part ... only to discover that I had made another RDM error ... all the bolts they sent me were correct. Even after making a real PITA of myself, the folks at Kayline remained friendly and helpful. In my recent experience, you do not always find that attitude.

Not pictured here is my conversion to half doors for the summer. I ordered a complete half door kit from a buddy who is a parts manager for a Chrysler, Jeep dealer. Even with a generous discount, the doors were around a grand before painting. I ordered left and right doors, hinges, trim kit, door straps, and footman loops for the doors. This should have been everything that I needed according to the Chrysler parts manuals, but we still had to order more stuff. Missing were door hinge bolts, 5 of the inserts that the upper door slides into (the trim kit contained one), the levers that attach to the lock cylinders (the lock cylinders were in the trim kit), and the components to attach the lock rods in the door to the lock cylinder levers. I ended up with 4 extra footman loops, 2 extra door straps, and lots of extra hardware since the doors and the trim kit duplicated some parts. The moral here is, do not necessarily believe the Chrysler books when they indicate that something is complete.

Sources:

Kayline Manufacturing, 200 E. 64th Ave, Denver CO 80221, 303-427-4242, 800-525-8118, fax 303-430-7241, email blaker@rmi.net

Southland Chrysler, 223 East Goodman Road, Southaven, MS 38671, (800) 445-7836, (601) 349-2800

Sam’s TJ Buildup Part I | Sam’s TJ Buildup Part II | Sam's Hi-Lift Mount | Sam's Soft-Top Installation | Sam’s TJ Buildup Part III

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