Armadillo Designs Aluminum Hardtop

[SierraBronco]

Well I ordered my Armadillo top today.
I hope for a June-July delivery.
I went with the gull wing doors without glass, added the outside molle to those doors. Black top and I will have the molle powder coated in cyber orange....should look really cool that grated cyber orange standing off the black and add some more width to the entire top.
I will post photos when it arrives and is installed.
Thanks to everyone for the advice, comments and photos.

KEEP THOSE PHOTOS OF YOUR NEW TOPS COMING!

That’s going to look awesome. Definitely consider getting the interior molle panels. More practical storage than I was expecting. Very useful.

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[Ninjak]

Well I ordered my Armadillo top today.
I hope for a June-July delivery.
I went with the gull wing doors without glass, added the outside molle to those doors. Black top and I will have the molle powder coated in cyber orange....should look really cool that grated cyber orange standing off the black and add some more width to the entire top.
I will post photos when it arrives and is installed.
Thanks to everyone for the advice, comments and photos.

KEEP THOSE PHOTOS OF YOUR NEW TOPS COMING!

Congrats! That is going to look good. I second getting the molle panels. I had purchased DV8 pocket molle panels, well before I recieved the top, and even before I knew Armadillo would make internal panels. They work very well also. I plant to keep my Air up hoses in that space.

 

[Chritaka]

Congrats! That is going to look good. I second getting the molle panels. I had purchased DV8 pocket molle panels, well before I recieved the top, and even before I knew Armadillo would make internal panels. They work very well also. I plant to keep my Air up hoses in that space.

That's my plan also, as well as some small quick access tools. I have some cheaper non-pocket style Broaddict molle's already, but they're open at the bottom. If their bracket that attaches to the soft/hard top mounting point extended the full length of the molle, it would box it in more...I may try to mod something up.

I like how the DV8's are done, with the sloped inside back toward the interior panel. The AD ones are squared, $200 more, and I'm thinking those metal corners sticking out on the interior may be bad thing for pets or scratching up gear when packed tight. If I need more room, I may swap to those DV8's like you have.

 

[Chritaka]

Anyone that's installed their top themselves, do you think a 3/16" bracket would fit under the AD hardtop rear crossbar mounting point? It looks like there's a slight dip on that cross bar, but the top mount is either thicker here or has a rubber isolator. There are also spacer plates installed on the side rails for the top. In another thread we're trying to determine if the Mountains2Metal Attic Shelf brackets would fit under the AD hardtop mounting point there, without impacting the fitment... I would just replace the M2M bolts with the AD M8 studs. I also sent a note to Fabian for his input...

 

[EasternSierra]

Along the same lines, does anyone know if the Lobo overhead mount system is compatible with the Armadillo top?

 

[Ninjak]

Anyone that's installed their top themselves, do you think a 3/16" bracket would fit under the AD hardtop rear crossbar mounting point? It looks like there's a slight dip on that cross bar, but the top mount is either thicker here or has a rubber isolator. There are also spacer plates installed on the side rails for the top. In another thread we're trying to determine if the Mountains2Metal Attic Shelf brackets would fit under the AD hardtop mounting point there, without impacting the fitment... I would just replace the M2M bolts with the AD M8 studs. I also sent a note to Fabian for his input...

Well in the pic you have, the rear bolt in the top pic is not used for the Armadillo top. The bolt in front, that is the closes to the front of the roll bar is the one used. I think it will all fit, I never looked at the actic shelf because I knew I would have the slant back and I think it is not enough room with the slant. But I would say maybe? It could come down to how thick this mettle is compared to the spacer.

Along the same lines, does anyone know if the Lobo overhead mount system is compatible with the Armadillo top?

I have the DV8 over head molle and it fits fine. Fabion had said I might need to cut a part off the DV*, but I did not. All I did was remove the brackets it attached to that were not needed anymore with the way the hard top. I will say it was a tight fit to screw the front screws in, tight fit as my big hands did not fit, I had to get creative, but looking at the Lobo, it seems it fit the same as the DV8/

 

[Pseudoko]

For tracking purposes ….

12/23 : email notification received it was going to powder coat. (In the middle of the holidays)
1/31 : email received it’s going to assembly and QC

 

[Slei]

Anyone else see this? Correction to my original post. This is just if you ordered it in sandblasted finish. I did not catch that in the description for the video.

 

[timbits588]

Anyone else see this? Seems that they are planning to no longer do any of the pre-assembly and the install will now take 2 days to complete. I have not verified anything with Fabian yet just saw the new vid drop.

Wow.

 

[mcinfantry]

Anyone else see this? Seems that they are planning to no longer do any of the pre-assembly and the install will now take 2 days to complete. I have not verified anything with Fabian yet just saw the new vid drop.

I’d have to assume that would be on a case by casE basis. Or at least orders going forward. (Assuming when all of yall bought them it said pre-assembled)

 

[BroncoBill44]

Anyone else see this? Seems that they are planning to no longer do any of the pre-assembly and the install will now take 2 days to complete. I have not verified anything with Fabian yet just saw the new vid drop.

It says this though:

If you purchased your hardtop in the sand-blasted finish, got it painted, and are now ready for assembly, then this is the video for you! Here is our full assembly guide from start to finish!

 

[Slei]

Good catch. Did not expand the description of the video and see that just watched the video and figured I would post it to the group. Also on a positive side note its the best video of the details I have seen on how its constructed.

 

[Chritaka]

Quick status update for tracking, officially in powder as of yesterday:

 

[Chritaka]

It says this though:

If you purchased your hardtop in the sand-blasted finish, got it painted, and are now ready for assembly, then this is the video for you! Here is our full assembly guide from start to finish!

Glad you read the description and caught this. I didn’t see the video on their site, then went to their YT channel as it wasn’t clear where this vid came from. I saw the description just after you posted this! I was about to get a bit upset…

Also note this on their site, under each top’s page, which correlates to the vid:

 

[B22-2023]

Glad you read the description and caught this. I didn’t see the video on their site, then went to their YT channel as it wasn’t clear where this vid came from. I saw the description just after you posted this! I was about to get a bit upset…

Also note this on their site, under each top’s page, which correlates to the vid:

I went into their shop today for a visit I pre-arranged via Fabian. Sam took me through the entire facility and explained their process. Been through 100s of places like this and I was very impressed. Very clean, well organized and productive shop. Very busy too, I saw a lot of tops in process. They clearly are working efficiencies in to production as they do each of these early batches, as he explained to me, and I could see it in the product. They have a lot of work in progress at different stages so I could see the hard top at every step along the way after it came out of laser cutting of the panels. The place is well-lit, parts well organized and there seems to be regular attention to QC.

The finished product is a lot sturdier than I expected for 150 lbs - nice gauge aluminum, plenty of support bracing, excellent welds, consistency from top to top coming off the line.

I had been skeptical of the sound deadening for $1500 - but it is good marine qualify decking material, pre-cut for every large and small odd-shaped flat surface. I was first leaning towards doing a sound-mat and headliner on my own, but no to the materials, labor and added weight versus having it done their way.

Can‘t use a roof rack that relies upon the OEM front and side mounting points - so now I have a NIB JCR roof to sell - but their way looks stronger given the beefiness of the roof and allows for more product options that aren’t Bronco-specific ($).

I’ll order a square-back later in the year after they push out a few more batches, have them install it.

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