Soft Top Users - Is the black cargo area bracket actually needed?

[gaaangs]

Not sure where to post this but I'll try here...

I am a hard top owner and am buying a soft top from someone this weekend. I believe all hardware is included other than the black cargo brackets that the soft top actually bolts on to (photo below).

The owner is supplying the 6 bolts, but he claims the car never came with the black brackets and he just bolted the top on to the car itself.

So, is this true? Did some years come with the brackets and some not? I have a 2023 year Bronco, do I actually need the brackets? I am just a bit confused.

If it helps, he converted to Bestop Trektop. Were those brackets needed for the installation of that top? That would explain him possibly "holding out" on me.

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[Jazer]

There are two brackets as part of the hard top prep kit, that earlier Broncos didnt have. I cant recall if it was just the first part of 2021 or all of 2021 before all soft top Broncos got the hard top prep kit. Which came better equipped to plop a hard top on it with full function of everything.

This is that bracket. I don't know if that is what you are referring to? Not familiar with the one you have posted, but I have never removed my soft top completely to pay much attention to much in the cargo area beyond the obvious.

 

[gaaangs]

There are two brackets as part of the hard top prep kit, that earlier Broncos didnt have. I cant recall if it was just the first part of 2021 or all of 2021 before all soft top Broncos got the hard top prep kit. Which came better equipped to plop a hard top on it with full function of everything.

This is that bracket. I don't know if that is what you are referring to? Not familiar with the one you have posted, but I have never removed my soft top completely to pay much attention to much in the cargo area beyond the obvious.

This is not the bracket I am refering to. The bracket I am talking about is in that little tear away panel in the cargo area. Its a black bracket that the back of the soft top actually bolts on top of:

 

[flip]

Pop the small trim panels off of yours and look. I don't think they put the soft top frame brackets on hard top vehicles. They could've changed that at some point but you do need the ones in your pic for the soft top frame to align correctly as well as the small set of brackets on the top of the roll bar.

 

[bbacon05]

I swapped my soft-top with some else and I'm pretty sure there is no where to screw the bolts in without that bracket. His was a 22 hard top and didn't have that bracket, the plastic panel that goes in front of it is also different between the hard top and soft top. That bracket also has the alignment pins to help align the top

I just saw the last comment about him swapping to bestop, I swapped to bestop too and those brackets are untouched in that swap so I had to unscrew them from my bronco before meeting up with guy for the swap.

This is the thread I referenced to make sure I had all the parts since we were going to install his soft top in the parking lot where I met up with the other bronco owner:
https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/soft-top-hard-top-swap-tips-lessons-learned-updated.35246/

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