Factory FJ40 Soft Tops, Bikini Tops, and Dusters. (1 Viewer)

[Mike Shull]

Def looked into it and couldn't make the $$ work in a way that would make it worthwhile AND it would stand out vs TROA. Especially once you factor in the steel bows that are needed to go with each one. I remember landing on a thought that it was better time spent to go with TROA and figure out how to optimize their setup to be better (i.e. hardware, loops, bows, video instructions, etc). Who knows with Real Steel out of the game now (i.e. they are no longer making bows/beams), perhaps its time for us to revisit...

I didn’t realize that Real Steel stopped making the hardware though from what I understand, their hardware doesn’t work with the hard top doors. My conversation with the folks from TROA suggested that their hardware is formed for the hard top doors.

TROA is willing to customize the top as well and we talked about incorporating full zip out windows that are larger and more modern. I’m pretty far out from being ready for a soft top (10-12+ months) as I have a ton of other work to finish before I am able to get this thing on the road but I might explore the TROA route, or I might pick up a used Jeep top and borrow some design features, and maybe some of the fabric and hardware, too.

I’m in the process of lengthening my hard top at the moment, which is work that I had initially planed to do in 2026. I decided to move that up in the timeline so that I had a solid reference point to build the cage within. I might just leave the hard top on for the first year that it is back on the road.