Armadillo Designs Aluminum Hardtop

[Dtrimpi87]

Oh man, I couldn't imagine rolling without the main panels. That aluminum gets HOT!

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[rayofsi]

So my 2 big pieces of foam.
Front one had 2 diagonal corners drop
Rear one also had 2 diagonal corners drop. The adhesive itself ... Isn't sticky anymore ...
Whatever they used on my truck. Loses adhesion with age. This is beyond disappointing.

 

[Tolzer]

Same issues here.

February 5, 2026: Purchased the top
March 30, 2026: Installed by the Armadillo team
June 29, 2026: Attended a Off Road event. Several other's expressed an interest on our top. Opened up the back and we had several foam pieces that were barely hanging on. Totaly embarrassed by this.

Aside from this liner hiccup, we are absolutely thrilled with the hardtop—the engineering functional use and the look of it are outstanding.

I did reach out to Fabian (Armadillo) and he suggested Manus-Bond 75-AM adhesive as a solution.

This is the response from Armadillo in reference to the issues with the panel pieces:

"I would probably advise trying the Manus-Bond 75-AM on the existing liner and applying pressure until it cures or as directed in the instructions. The reason being is that the failure point of the adhesive is between the liner foam and the adhesive itself, not the adhesive and the hardtop, if that makes sense. If you apply a new liner with the Manus-Bond adhesive, the failure point will still be between the factory adhesive on the liner and the foam itself. I can still send you the replacement pieces if you'd like. Let me know which areas you need, and I can check the lead time for those.”

Fabian's explanation makes complete technical sense: the pre-applied pressure-sensitive adhesive backing coming on the foam material itself from their supplier is what's releasing from the foam core under heat. If they ship brand-new replacement panels from that same supplier lot, those new panels will still have that same failing factory adhesive layer underneath. By using the Manus-Bond 75-AM on your current panels, the Manus-Bond will penetrate/bond directly into the foam and aluminum, bridging that weak layer.

I was pleased by the quick response from Fabian. It is very clear to me that Armadillo Designs supports and stands by their products.

Will post updates.

 

[rayofsi]

Lol, makes no sense. Because there is no adhesive residue on my hardtop.
All the adhesive is still on the foam panel. Just that it no longer sticks. one of my panels that fell off, had a corner where they forgot to remove the backing paper.

 

[Dtrimpi87]

Agreed. It's definitely the adhesive coming loose from the top itself. At least in my situation. The adhesive is still stuck to my insulation panels and no residue on the aluminum itself. Either the adhesive just softens too much in the heat, or the powder coated finish of the top was not properly prepped before panels were installed. Probably a combination of both. Once mine gets worse and i have to pull the whole main panel down Ill be scuffing up the surface of the powder coat for better adhesion. I am not familiar with the Manus-Bond 75-AM that Fabian is now recommending but will look into it.

I found and purchased this stuff a while back that I was intending to use when I decide i've had enough and want to attempt a fix. It has a higher temp rating than the adhesives that have been recommended previously.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006GP73EO

 

[ThunderFlash]

Once mine gets worse and i have to pull the whole main panel down Ill be scuffing up the surface of the powder coat for better adhesion. I am not familiar with the Manus-Bond 75-AM that Fabian is now recommending but will look into it.

I like it. Scuff with Scotch Brite and clean, clean, clean. IPA is generally safe and I like the 99% stuff. It's also possible the paint/powder coat they are using has some form of non-stick properties to it or some form of waxy top coat. I'd also investigate the service temperature limits of the adhesives they have been using. A dark top baking in the sun can fry an egg.

Maybe one of the industrial strength double sided tape options could work? I've been using this Shurtape product below that holds wicked strong, BUT this particular product is only rated for 50F-200F and that is not good enough. Shurtape has others that look be rated for -20F-225F, but 3M or someone else might have even better options..

https://a.co/d/04DlI5I1

 

[mangelo]

@Tolzer I pulled panel that was coming off, stripped old adhesive, then reached out to Fabian re: best options before gluing back as orig glue rec people were still having issues. He shared new Manus sealant option saying "this has been working best":

Manus Products Gray Elastomeric Industrial Sealant
https://a.co/d/04NCVvsl

@ThunderFlash Apparently Manus is rated up to 300 degrees fahrenheit! We'll see how this goes

Personally I LOVE this top, no other top is even close to my needs, and the positives outweigh the few growing pains of a new product. Tho definitely grateful Armadillo is quick to respond to any challenges!

 

[rayofsi]

Think this picture gives us a good idea or why things failed. Poor prep.. ignore the white, that is spray on gorilla ultimate, when only one corner dropped and i tried to fix it in place.

 

[rayofsi]

My foam liner is done. Don't think this will ever work properly again.

 

[rayofsi]

FYI Gorilla Ultimate was something previously recommended by Armadillo, It seems like they are just taking a guess at what will work and what wont work. So far everything they used and recommended has failed over time. Very disappointed with this .

 

[mangelo]

@rayofsi So this has failed too over time?

Manus Products Gray Elastomeric Industrial Sealant
https://a.co/d/04NCVvsl

Manus was the last rec given, haven't heard from anyone that it failed.

Ugh hope we don't have to drill to solve, other than the panels, LOVE this top!

FYI Gorilla Ultimate was something previously recommended by Armadillo, It seems like they are just taking a guess at what will work and what wont work. So far everything they used and recommended has failed over time. Very disappointed with this .

 

[rayofsi]

@rayofsi So this has failed too over time?

Manus Products Gray Elastomeric Industrial Sealant
https://a.co/d/04NCVvsl

Manus was the last rec given, haven't heard from anyone that it failed.

Ugh hope we don't have to drill to solve, other than the panels, LOVE this top!

gorilla ultimate actually failed in under 2 weeks, don't know how they recommended that at all previously.

 

[mangelo]

@rayofsi Earlier this year @Chritaka had a post about DAP as latest rec from Armadillo to use instead of Gorilla Glue and shared a play by play of his repair:

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/armadillo-designs-aluminum-hardtop.79639/post-2772128

Seems folks had success for a while w DAP but still some eventually had issues. Apparently Manus is now the final word, zero panels coming off after using and its rated up to 300 degrees fahrenheit:

Manus Products Gray Elastomeric Industrial Sealant
https://a.co/d/04NCVvsl

I'm going to try it and once done will share experience.

gorilla ultimate actually failed in under 2 weeks, don't know how they recommended that at all previously.

 

[Chritaka]

@rayofsi Earlier this year @Chritaka had a post about DAP as latest rec from Armadillo to use instead of Gorilla Glue and shared a play by play of his repair:

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/armadillo-designs-aluminum-hardtop.79639/post-2772128

Seems folks had success for a while w DAP but still some eventually had issues. Apparently Manus is now the final word, zero panels coming off after using and its rated up to 300 degrees fahrenheit:

Manus Products Gray Elastomeric Industrial Sealant
https://a.co/d/04NCVvsl

I'm going to try it and once done will share experience.

Correct, I meant to update, but I haven’t had a chance to try it yet as I need to find time to clean-up the panels again before applying. This Manus-Bond is what Fabian sent me to use.

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