Switching from Bestop Trektop NX to Rampage Trailview Soft Top

Jaydoc1

Jaydoc1

New member
Well this WAS a pretty detailed description of why I was going to try a Rampage Trailview Frameless Soft Top after I destroyed (mostly) my Trektop NX top in safari mode on the highway yesterday. Sadly I walked away from my laptop without being completely finished with the post and my daughter went to a different website.

Poof. All typing gone.

So here is the Reader's Digest version:

1) Several happy years with Trektop NX until said destruction of rear half yesterday.

2) When getting ready to order NX Replace-a-Top I saw this top for the first time. New in 2015. Never heard of it before. Liked the way the sunroof mechanism looked like it worked.

3) Found the Trailview top for only about $150 more than the Replace-a-Top so decided to give it a look. Ordered today.

4) Can find almost no real world reviews on this top as it was just released. I have a few days until it gets here so was wondering if anyone here has tried this top or knows anyone with the top. If so, any negatives about it?

The door surrounds look flimsier than the Bestop ones but there also looks like a lot of cool features to this top. Here are a couple pics of the sunroof mechanism:

rampage_trailview_soft_top_hero.jpg
rampage-trailview-soft-top-jeep-wrangler-jk-jku-retractable-fastback.jpg

It's a fastback profile top which I really love, as well.

Thanks in advance for anyone with any information. If I don't hear anything too terrible about it, I'm planning on installing it Friday and then I have a Jeep trip starting Saturday so I'll put it through its paces and let everyone know how it does and if it really works as well as it looks like it does.
 
It'll be good to get a review from you since you've already had the trektop. I've been considering going to a soft top now that I'm finally moving out of the city this looks like a good option. Looking forward to what you have to say about it.
 
Don't. The straps they use on it will dry root in less than a year. They don't hold up to sun well at all and tear off easily. My brother had one on his 2 door unlimited.
 
In the folded back mode, it looks like it'll act like a parachute. I'm curious to see how it works out.
 
Okay, here we go. I'll break this up into sections:

1) What happened to the original Trektop.

So the corridor I drive from home to work is right on the front range of Colorado from Colorado Springs to Pueblo. It is freaking windy. Even with the top all buttoned up on the JK I put in ear plugs to combat the wind noise. I've never driven down with just the safari top. I've always had the rear and side windows to anchor it down.

I was about four miles south of CO Springs when I picked up a pretty violent flutter in the rear half of the top. It seemed to be holding okay, though, so I just kept going. About another mile down the highway there was a strong gust of wind that pushed the rear fabric down all the way so that it was touching the back of the rear seats and then the next gust ballooned it out and tore the hooks loose from the metal bar that holds the rear end down. At that point, as you can imagine, it began blowing all over the place. I pulled off at the next exit and was able to reattach the hooks to the bar but the plastic end cap on the passenger side had been pulled loose and lost. The driver's side hook had about the last 1/4" broken off but there was still enough lip to hook it to the bar. I had two bungie balls and wrapped them around the hooks to try to assist in keeping them in place.

As soon as I pulled back onto the highway the violent fluttering began again and, about another mile down the highway, the rear of the top came completely loose again. At this point I just grabbed the flapping tail and held onto it the next 20 mies to Pueblo. Once there I discovered the the small piece of strap that the driver's side hook was attached to had actually torn almost in half. Not completely.

So, the top could definitely still be used with the windows attached but would require some repairing to use safari style.

2) I did go ahead and install the Rampage top today. Here is a quick breakdown between the Trektop and the Trailview.

Ease of installation: No contest whatsoever. The Trektop wins hands-down. It's just a really elegant design. Granted, I feel like the hook system that gives the Trektop its super-sleek strapless look is probably one of its weak points. The installation of the Trailview is much more complicated. Trektop has 2-piece surrounds that go on in about 2 minutes. The Trailview requires you to assemble the surrounds, each which have 5 separate pieces and require you to attach the various pieces using self-tapping screws which are a pain in the ass. Also, the Trailview has multiple straps involved that make positioning all the various pieces of the Trailview challenging, especially when it's time to zip everything up and it's super tight (just like the Trektop).

Quality of materials: Draw. Both seem to be similarly built. I like the door surrounds on the Trektop better but the Trailview is sailcloth so that's a step up from my Trektop. Construction quality of both seem to be similar. The mechanism on the Trailview that allows for one-handed opening of the "sundrider" seems very solidly constructed.

Ease of use: I think the nod goes to the Trektop here again. The "sunrider" on the Trailview is super neat and is definitely easier than the Trektop. Other than that, window removal is way easier on the Trektop.

While I was installing the Trailview I was cussing myself out for getting it instead of getting another Trektop top. Once my annoyance with the installation had worn off, I actually am looking forward to seeing how it holds up.

I drove around for about an hour tonight with the sunrider open and there was no flutter or noise from the top. It's very tight and solid. The pocket doesn't seem to catch the wind at all below 55 mph. Granted I had no doors on but I'm not sure that would make a difference.

I'm headed to Breckenridge to go Jeeping next week and I'll be able to give a short to medium-term report on how it behaves after that.

Couple quick pics:

IMG_8731.jpgIMG_8733.jpgIMG_8734.jpg
 
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Great comparison, very informative and honest. I do like the way the Trail view folds back. You'll have to update us with some long term impressions when the time comes!
 
Got her all buttoned back up and am heading to the car wash for a leak test. image-3321920923.jpg I also thought I'd include a couple interior pics as they differ from the Trektop. image-3180353046.jpg The front section of the top includes two mesh storage pockets over the driver and passenger seats. image-1706101169.jpg The latching mechanism requires the removal of the driver and passenger footman loops which are replaced with the latching mechanisms. image-3465928078.jpg The mid-portion of the top attaches to the sound bar in identical fashion to the Trektop. image-3369609505.jpg Rather than attaching from side to side like the Trektop, the "anti-puddle" bars attach from front to back.

One other thing that I forgot to mention is that the top is dual-layered so that you can actually store the windows in it if you decide to take them off on-trail.
 
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Vary nice how did it do in the car wash. My trek top always leaks in a hard rain into the front floor boards... My I should probably replace the weather strips
 
Trektop NX vs Rampage Trailview long term?

Jaydoc1 said:
Got her all buttoned back up and am heading to the car wash for a leak test. View attachment 213968 I also thought I'd include a couple interior pics as they differ from the Trektop.

- The front section of the top includes two mesh storage pockets over the driver and passenger seats.

- The latching mechanism requires the removal of the driver and passenger footman loops which are replaced with the latching mechanisms.

- The mid-portion of the top attaches to the sound bar in identical fashion to the Trektop.

- Rather than attaching from side to side like the Trektop, the "anti-puddle" bars attach from front to back.

One other thing that I forgot to mention is that the top is dual-layered so that you can actually store the windows in it if you decide to take them off on-trail.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the great review, I know it's a few years old but I'm in the market for the a soft top and wanted to ask if you'd still choose the Rampage over the Bestop?
 
That sounds like an issue i used to have when I first installed my trektop and in my case it was because I installed it incorrectly. Did you have the metal bar at the rear of the trektop sleeved through the safari portion? If so there’s no way it should have been able to come apart from it and flutter violently. Just curious!
 
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