Trektop vs. Sunrider Debate

[Az6396]

Hey all,

Based on some thorough reading through the forums here, it seems that there is a lot of love out there for both the TrekTop and Sunrider from Bestop. I'm curious if anyone out there has any experience with both. I live up in Minnesota (garage parking) with my 2D Big Bend.

There is a company up here that offers seasonal roof swaps and summer hardtop storage at decent rates, so the difference in cost is about 2x with pro installation (Bestop Certified Techs). As a result, I'm not overly worried about the leakage issues that some have had with the Sunrider.

If anyone has any advice after long-term ownership, it would be much appreciated!

Thanks everyone.

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[fritobandito]

So this could be user error on my part but as of right now my trektop does not open. I am going to mess with it this weekend based off tips from another post here with the same problem. The latch is stuck. Seems like it is too long idk but right now not a fan of the trektop.

 

[BroncocnorB]

I put my 2dr trektop on and never looked back. It’s a four season top. You must’ve done something wrong on install. My hardtop is stored forever

 

[montess85]

I wanted the Trektop but until they offer it in tan I'm not going to buy one. For now I have the Black Twill SunRider and I absolutely love it. If its not raining its always open. SOOO much easier than removing and stowing the panels. I had to slightly modify it to fit better(you can see people doing this with the provided 5.5 millimeter spacer and replacing it with 2 one millimeter washers) , but other than that install took like 20 minutes. No leaks. Seals perfect. took it to a car wash straight away to test it out. FYI I also have a 2 door BIG BEND

PS.... I am in NY and have not had it through a winter yet. However since its not that big a deal to take off I might just swap the panels back on for the winter. I'm not sure that will be as easy with the full Trektop. If that's something you wanted to do that is. So maybe the Sunrider is better in that regard. Plus the panels are much easier to store than the whole hard top. I guess things to consider.

 

[ILoveToDrive]

Same exact scenario, but I've gone through the winter up in the Berkshires. I put the panels back on end of October. I just put the Sunrider back on...spring is officially here! Both swaps are so easy once you've done it 1 time. ANYONE that owns the hardtop needs to get the Sunrider. It completely changes the experience. Yes, it's a bit noisier than the panels, but hey...it's a truck! The convenience of being able to open and close it...even at a stoplight...is amazing.

 

[montess85]

Same exact scenario, but I've gone through the winter up in the Berkshires. I put the panels back on end of October. I just put the Sunrider back on...spring is officially here! Both swaps are so easy once you've done it 1 time. ANYONE that owns the hardtop needs to get the Sunrider. It completely changes the experience. Yes, it's a bit noisier than the panels, but hey...it's a truck! The convenience of being able to open and close it...even at a stoplight...is amazing.

I agree. It completely changes the vehicle for the better in my opinion. Opening and closing are so fast and convenient. Its awesome. I do a lot of highway driving and honestly the noise isn't that bad for me.

 

[doublebullout]

I ordered my 2 door with the full Trektop twill option a couple of days ago, but after watching install videos for both the full Trektop and the Sunrider, I'm rethinking that. Both of these look like semi-permanent, PITA-to-undo installs. In the Sunrider's case, it apparently prevents removing the hard top unless you uninstall the Sunrider completely. The impression I'm getting is that having a soft top on the 2 door is a case where the usefulness doesn't outweigh the cost or hassle if you ever want to use the hard top again. Am I overreacting? I'm leaning heavily towards removing the Trektop from my order ASAP.

 

[indio22]

I ordered my 2 door with the full Trektop twill option a couple of days ago, but after watching install videos for both the full Trektop and the Sunrider, I'm rethinking that. Both of these look like semi-permanent, PITA-to-undo installs. In the Sunrider's case, it apparently prevents removing the hard top unless you uninstall the Sunrider completely. The impression I'm getting is that having a soft top on the 2 door is a case where the usefulness doesn't outweigh the cost or hassle if you ever want to use the hard top again. Am I overreacting? I'm leaning heavily towards removing the Trektop from my order ASAP.

In terms of open air driving, there is nothing quite like removing the entire hardtop. Because there is no partial hardtop, bars/hinges or bunched up soft top fabric in back or on top. It's all free and open. But ... remove the hardtop and go somewhere and it rains, and that is not a good experience. So pick your poison.

For my part, my son and I remove the 2-door hardtop very quickly, and then drive with no top as long as there is no rain in the forecast. But that can be a pain in the Chicagoland area, it's a running joke if someone is wanting rain, I offer to remove my hardtop to make it rain.

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