Old besttop soft door fitment on a 76 (1 Viewer)

[hglouis]

Hi guys,

Need some advice.

Bought some soft doors used (the earlier bestop model with the chrome non-paddle handles) and was wondering if any of you have come up with a good solution for a latch that is compatible with the door handle. It seems the door latch is too short to catch the "B post" on the soft top. What have y'all done?

Thanks!

Hunter
76 FJ40 trying to fit old style bestop soft doors

 

[Cdaniel]

I've got a very early Bestop design. Is yours similar to the picture?
My door latch is just a metal paddle that catches the rod that forms the door opening. Right above the point where it curves in to make an over lap surface. There is a little window of material removed at that point so it's metal to metal contact.

Crude but effective.

 

[DSRTRDR]

I have found that no matter how tightly cinched in the beginning, the handle likes to slide on that metal rod - until the door eventually flings open

passenger ejection mechanism

at higher speed, the soft doors are useless

 

[Cdaniel]

I hope there's more than the door keeping your passengers in there Claudia ;p

With a little tweaking of the rod position, I've been able to add tension on the latch paddle enough that it's not a problem on even the roughest terrain. I do have to train passengers about using enough force to get a tight latch though.

All that being said, those doors haven't been on in a long time. My home brew half doors and soft uppers are much better with a latch on the tub.

 

[hglouis]

I've got a very early Bestop design. Is yours similar to the picture?
My door latch is just a metal paddle that catches the rod that forms the door opening. Right above the point where it curves in to make an over lap surface. There is a little window of material removed at that point so it's metal to metal contact.

Crude but effective.

yeah! that's exactly what i have. so you get the metal bar with rubber slip cover to hang inside of the bestop b post?

thanks for the help!

hunter

 

[Cdaniel]

My top is collecting dust under the bed at the moment. I dug out the pieces for a quick mock up. The picture shows pretty much how it all rides when installed. The round vertical bar would be inside a pocket in the top to form the door opening. The piece in the tub pocket can rotate some to adjust how far the door is pulled when latched. The handles are poorly designed and made, very sloppy. So adjustment is a must.

If your inside handle doesn't reach the vertical bar,

Maybe your new doors and your old top are not compatible?