It's like a filter you can change it weekly if you want, and it will not hurt anything. You must remember though that you are throwing money at replacing something that is perfectly good with plenty of life left in it.
Wix makes the micro guard filters in the red box, the other company makes the micro guard select in the green box at O'Reilly. I've always just used the motorcraft on my 2.7, but I have looked at the micro guard and it is also made in Brazil like the motorcraft, so I'd bet they were exactly the...
I have the bestop trektop and the 23+ factory one, by far the better is the factory top. The material is thicker, it is a lot quieter, and it can fold all the way down.
It's not really a pain, just time consuming. Take them off, put in bag, then do it all again to put it back up. Easy to do, just not an almost instant process like this would be. If it is the same material type as the top it might be a little quieter too.
Ford co designed those powertrains though, AMC just bought GM and Ford etc parts and threw them in their vehicles. Collaboration vs just flat out purchasing someone else's product.