LR Soft top question

[jvelador]

So I bought a used soft top that was intended to replace my fading unit. I tried to install on a warm sunny day, and lo and behold, the alpine bar velcro straps were about 2 inches too far forward. It was also about 2 inches two short to reach the rails at the rear.

BTW, I have a '94 D90.

The question is: were there different locations of the alpine bar on a soft top cage that anyone knows of? The snaps were fine on the B-pillar. It's almost as if the soft top was designed for a different roll cage configuration, maybe two inches closer between the B-pillar and the alpine bar.

has anyone else faced this or know of different LR top designs?

Thanks,

javier

[woldd90]

Sounds like it shrunk a bit over the years... You will probably need to strech it out and pull it down into place.

[badgerman]

Is this a surrey top? There was a batch of vinyl surrey top from Land Rover that had the rear deck reversed, which put the alpine flaps too far forward. But it sounds like you are coming up short on the rear as well. You should take some photos of the top for us.

Chris
Badger Coachworks

[jvelador]

Chris, you might know better than anyone. Is the roll cage two inches shorter (less tall) on a SW than it is on a ST?

I let the top sit in the sun for a while, tried to install and it still was about two inches shorter.

I'm wondering if the hard top D90's roll cage was less tall in order to fit inside the HT. If that's the case, that would explain why this top I bought is just too damn short.

[badgerman]

Can you send some photos of what you are trying to install and photos of the cage on your vehicle. Send them to the email address on the bottom of the Badger Coachworks page. We'll get this problem solved for you.

Chris
Badger Coachworks

[Green Blood]

Javier:

I have the same issue with the 'flaps' for the top hoops on mine as well. I was told by a very knowledgeable source (thanks Kelly!) that the top on my "94 is actually a '97 top (look for an embossed LR logo on the side behind the driver door) so perhaps there was some change in the location of the top hoops?

Mine does fit at the rear though and with the exception of this, all the rest is fine.

Cheers,

CARL

[JimC]

The biggest difference between a 94 top and a 97 top is that the 94 is made out of canvas by Tickford and the 97 is made out of vinyl by Bestop.

[jvelador]

Thanks, Chris. I'll send them tomorrow morning. Also, thanks Jim and Carl.

The original top on my '94 has shrunk in 15 years, so it's tight. But it still does fit and will reach the rails, albeit with a little encouragement.

The top I bought sits considerably higher and won't stretch the distance required to line up with the rails. I guess the next obvious question is whether anybody knows if there were two roll cage designs, one taller than the other?

It would make sense that an SW would have a shorter roll cage to fit inside the hardtop. Otherwise it would have a considerably taller roof than that of a soft top Defender.

Thanks all again.

Javier

[JimC]

It would make sense that an SW would have a shorter roll cage to fit inside the hardtop. Otherwise it would have a considerably taller roof than that of a soft top Defender.


I don't understand this statement. There are two cages for NAS defenders, one for soft-tops and one for station wagons. But station wagon tops don't come off and soft tops don't fit on station wagon cages.

I think you might be asking if soft top d-90's which were equipped with fiberglass tops had different cages than than those which had canvas tops. The answer is no, there's not two versions of the soft top cage floating around. If your top doesn't fit, it just doesn't fit, it has nothing to do with cage compatibility.