Soft Top <--> Hard Top Swap : Tips & Lessons Learned - UPDATED

[slacker83]

Good morning everyone,

thank you everyone for contributing to the thread as it was a huge help for me to order the correct parts I needed and install the soft top I had purchased. In my case I purchased a soft top on the pallet from a dealership where the owner of a dual top bronco did not want their soft top. Below are the parts I ordered to complete the install and I had everything I needed. The soft top on the pallet does have the two pillar pieces with the channel for the soft windows, and the 6 bolts required to bolt the soft top to the rear of the bronco. One thing I will mention is that I ordered two of M2DZ-7829452-B thinking I needed one for each side, only one is actually needed and if someone wants a deal on the one I did not use I'd love to get rid of it. It does come with the plastic alignment tools to align the brackets on the bronco. Also I used the mountain 2 metal rear latches the hold the rear of the soft top. The install took about 2.5 hours but I also installed the IAG ez lift at the same time. The top was extremely tight and I actually have a gap at the back of the bronco where the soft top does not sit flush with the body even with the latches installed as low as they can go. I'm hoping with letting the bronco sit in the sun it was stretch and sit better at the back.

The brackets above the rear doors I did push as far back as they would go to get the top to latch onto the pins. I did not move my front hinges at all so that might help as well later.

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[borrison]

Perfect timing, and thanks to everyone for laying out these breadcrumbs! Couple of questions.

1)@slacker83 you said you only used 1 convertible top hinge, is there only 1 latch when you put it back to the first position?

2) could you cut the interior trim panels (L and R) to notch out for the clearance to the bracket with a dremel? Seems like the same panel with a small relief cut. When you buy the dual top option do they give you both, or do you just get the notched version for both hard and soft top setups?

3) am I missing something with Ford charging over $400 for the rear latch

2- M2DZ-78515A54-B Rear hatch latch brackets
2- W718804-S450B Rear hatch latch bracket bolts

Thanks!

 

[borrison]

Perfect timing, and thanks to everyone for laying out these breadcrumbs! Couple of questions.

1)@slacker83 you said you only used 1 convertible top hinge, is there only 1 latch when you put it back to the first position?

2) could you cut the interior trim panels (L and R) to notch out for the clearance to the bracket with a dremel? Seems like the same panel with a small relief cut. When you buy the dual top option do they give you both, or do you just get the notched version for both hard and soft top setups?

3) am I missing something with Ford charging over $300 for the rear latch bracket? I found this as part # m2dz-78515a54-b

 

[Brian_B]

3) am I missing something with Ford charging over $400 for the rear latch

Mountains2Metal has an all-metal replacement for about $70

I dunno what Ford was thinking. They used to be about $120 (which was still rediculous)

 

[Atthelake152]

On the first page those reinforcement brackets with alignment brackets were not mentioned as required. Is that still fact and those are just more for making the install go easier?

I was also given the attached brackets with the soft top I bought used locally. I can’t find them online. Any thoughts?

 

[Greenbronc]

On the first page those reinforcement brackets with alignment brackets were not mentioned as required. Is that still fact and those are just more for making the install go easier?

I was also given the attached brackets with the soft top I bought used locally. I can’t find them online. Any thoughts?

I’m not sure what those brackets are for.

The plastic alignment pieces aren’t really needed. More of holder until the bolts are in.
I have 2 sets of the plastic alignment brackets(one sets till in plastic bag). And 2 of the metal bracket the soft top bolts into. And also the rear panel trim pieces the windows clip into. Behind the rear doors.

 

[Atthelake152]

I’m not sure what those brackets are for.

The plastic alignment pieces aren’t really needed. More of holder until the bolts are in.
I have 2 sets of the plastic alignment brackets(one sets till in plastic bag). And 2 of the metal bracket the soft top bolts into. And also the rear panel trim pieces the windows clip into. Behind the rear doors.

Okay so the brackets are actually needed. Looking at the part number it looks like they include the alignment brackets anyway.

I just wasn’t sure if this was added later on since the first post didn’t mention them at all.

 

[Greenbronc]

Okay so the brackets are actually needed. Looking at the part number it looks like they include the alignment brackets anyway.

I just wasn’t sure if this was added later on since the first post didn’t mention them at all.

The plastic brackets just hold the metal ones until the bolts are in. They do help line it up but the metal bracket can be lined up without them. There’s also a little pin that goes into the plastic brackets seems a little overkill. I had to lower the metal bracket for the interior trim pieces to fit over when the hardtop went back on. I just have those as extra from when I was ordering parts to install the soft top

 

[jdru66]

On the first page those reinforcement brackets with alignment brackets were not mentioned as required. Is that still fact and those are just more for making the install go easier?

I was also given the attached brackets with the soft top I bought used locally. I can’t find them online. Any thoughts?

This is a hardtop bracket should secure to back 1/3 of hard top and the to brackets on roll bar.

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