newbie question re: doors and tops

[jaherring]

OK, more "I'm a D90 newb" questions...

1) Can wagon doors fit on fiberglass top D90s? Will they seal?

2) Can fiberglass-top style tailgates be fitted to wagon D90s?

3) Is a wagon metal top that much more difficult to remove the top from and use as a softtop as opposed to a fiberglass top?

[smenzel]

-3- I don't know anything about the fiberglass top but ...

The metal tops are easy to remove. They're held on by a bunch of nuts+bolts. It should take twenty to thirty minutes to remove them all. The most time consuming (and possibly difficult) part is lining everything up when you put it back on. For some reason, the sides don't like to line up very easily for me.

[jaherring]

So when you pull off your wagon top, do you put on a soft top? What do you do for the doors - side and rear? Do you keep a spare rear 1/2 door around? Do your full doors seal against the soft top?

Thanks for the info...

[evilfij]

1) Can wagon doors fit on fiberglass top D90s? Will they seal?

Yes, yes

2) Can fiberglass-top style tailgates be fitted to wagon D90s?

No

3) Is a wagon metal top that much more difficult to remove the top from and use as a softtop as opposed to a fiberglass top?

The soft top mounts to the soft top style roll cage. generally, a metal hard top and a US style soft top are mutually exclusive.

[smenzel]

So when you pull off your wagon top, do you put on a soft top? What do you do for the doors - side and rear? Do you keep a spare rear 1/2 door around? Do your full doors seal against the soft top?
None of the above. I've just had reason to remove my hardtop several times.

[jaherring]

1) Can wagon doors fit on fiberglass top D90s? Will they seal?

Yes, yes

2) Can fiberglass-top style tailgates be fitted to wagon D90s?

No

So, the half-door/tailgate of the ST can't be fit on the SW (even with the top removed?)? Is the problem in the hinge location, latch, or..?

3) Is a wagon metal top that much more difficult to remove the top from and use as a softtop as opposed to a fiberglass top?

The soft top mounts to the soft top style roll cage. generally, a metal hard top and a US style soft top are mutually exclusive.
So, the metal top roll cage is different than the fiberglass top roll cage (both must fit under the top when it's installed, right)? Would at least a bikini top and tonneau combination work in a wagon-gone-topless?

I'm getting at how practical it would be to make a wagon a regular convertable, and go back again to the metal top. The idea might be to take off the metal top for a weekend, put it back on during for weekday driving.

I'm somewhat concerned about the noise and weatherproofing/windproofing of a fiberglass top versus the metal top, which is supposed to be much better. Am I being unrealistic to think I might be able to talk on a mobile phone at highway speed in a wagon?

[flippedrover]

I talk on a mobil phone while driving and i've got a ST. Trick is get a good headset.

[Eric Siepmann]

Am I being unrealistic to think I might be able to talk on a mobile phone at highway speed in a wagon?

No. It's not much louder than a car. Do it all the time.

As far as the SW to ST conversion check the tech section. It is involved to say the least. It's either or.

EwS

[evilfij]

So, the half-door/tailgate of the ST can't be fit on the SW (even with the top removed?)? Is the problem in the hinge location, latch, or..?

I think I misunderstood your question. The lower tailgate will fit, the upper tailgate will not fit.

Quote:

So, the metal top roll cage is different than the fiberglass top roll cage (both must fit under the top when it's installed, right)? Would at least a bikini top and tonneau combination work in a wagon-gone-topless?

Yes roll cage very different, no the other tops would not work as they too mount to the cage.

I'm getting at how practical it would be to make a wagon a regular convertable, and go back again to the metal top. The idea might be to take off the metal top for a weekend, put it back on during for weekday driving.

I'm somewhat concerned about the noise and weatherproofing/windproofing of a fiberglass top versus the metal top, which is supposed to be much better. Am I being unrealistic to think I might be able to talk on a mobile phone at highway speed in a wagon?

A SW you can talk at highway speed, in a ST it will be loud, with the fibreglass on it would be doable but not too pleasant.

ok, here is the way to do it.

Buy a ST and a regular 90 Alum hardtop with full headliner and metal upper liftgate. Buy an impact gun and some torx bits for the cage and get good at swapping the ST cage and the alum hardtop.

SW and ST (or for that matter ST and fibreglass top) are pretty much mutually exclusive unless you have some serious time to do the swap and for that matter at least two people.

Ron

BTW my wife has the hi-res pics and is working on sending them to you (my computer sucks and it does not like sending pics)

[jaherring]

Thanks, that's something that sounds doable with what I'm trying to accomplish. For the aluminum top, I suppose I'd need one of those P-O-E upper tailgate hatches - are those hard to find? I take it those are meant to fit a standard ST lower door?

I'd probably get one of those top-winch systems for my garage ceiling so I can lift the hardtop off myself to do a 'quick change' (quick is a relative term, but I've got the compressor and air tools). I'm not above doing some custom fab work to make this 'aluminum top convertable' thing work if I have to.

OK, I'll be patient waiting for the pics of your truck. If you can't email them (too big) I can give you access to my FTP server - just let me know and I can send you instructions via email.

[jaherring]

From another thread:
The roll cages are different between the SW and ST, so there is no metal top that is designed to accomodate the ST roll cage. Some have adapted them to fit, but its a totally custom job.

Does this mean that with some modification an aluminum top would fit over the ST roll cage? This would be my dream setup...if the aluminum top could fit the ST cage, and that the ST cage could still accomodate the various soft tops out there.

Another question: will the same roof racks fit both ST and SW D90s? What about the factory LRNA safari top?

/newb

[dmarchand]

The roof rack is the same for both tops

The aluminum op will not fit over the ST. The ST has the full roll cage. The SW does not.

[jaherring]

OK, so if the fiberglass top and the aluminum top are the same exterior dimensions (if this is the case), but will not fit over the same (ST) roll cage, then the interior dimensions must be different. Does the aluminum top have stiffners or other objects that take up space and make it much thicker?

I haven't examimed the two closely, so I don't know exactly what the difference is. I know the wagon has the headliner option, which has thickness associated to it. Many times aluminum structures have some sort of stiffner sub-structure and are often not just one layer thick.

Where exactly do the aluminum tops interfere with the ST roll cage?