Rock Gear Windbreaker Soft Top ($375, May 01):

Ease of Installation:	Not Too Bad
Product Usefulness:	Real Glad I Have It

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After Jeepin with a soft top since purchasing my rig back in the Summer of '97, my guess is that I will probably never want a hard top. I love being able to remove my doors and windows, whenever I want, at a moment's notice. That's why I chose Bestop's Superdoors, which I use during most of the year, except for the few really cold months we get here in the middle of Winter. My factory soft top, however, was starting to show significant signs of wear. Two of the three window zippers were broken, and I was having a hard time seeing out of the clouded plastic windows. It was also a big hassle getting the side windows on and off, especially on. And since you can't roll up and store the factory side windows, like you can the rear window, I never could find a good place to store the side windows after removing them on the trail. On the other hand, I don't like going very far without my windows--you never know what the weather is going to do, and I hate being cold and wet!

Then I found an advertisement for the Windbreaker Soft Top, manufactured by Rock Gear, of Farmington, NM.   I was able to see this new top first hand at the vendor show at the 35th Annual Easter Jeep Safari in Moab. There were several things I liked about the Windbreaker top. First and foremost is its simplicity. Basically, it's a "safari" top with built-in zippered pockets, which provide storage for the three rear windows. A safari top, BTW, is like a bikini top, except that it extends all the way rearward, providing protection to the rear seat in addition to the front. The top is supported by the factory roll bars, so there's no annoying support bars to get in the way. On the other hand, however, the Windbreaker is not a "convertible" top like the factory top. In other words, it doesn't fold down. But it can be totally removed just a quickly; and it folds up compactly enough to stuff behind the rear seat.

Another advantage to this top is you will never be caught stranded without your three rear windows.   When not in use, all three windows can be rolled up and stored in the zippered pockets in the top.  However, if/when the weather turns bad, they can quickly be unpacked and installed to provide protection from the elements. Since the Windbreaker top is so versatile, I've included numerous pictures below, so please be patient while they load. Of course, you can click on any of the pictures for a larger view, then "back" on your browser to return here.

First of all, here's what you get with the Windbreaker. The top itself it the large black part in the photo. As you can see, it's compact enough to remove completely and stuff behind your rear seat. The long piece (pictured below the top) permanently mounts to the top of your windshield frame. Next down in the photo is a bow that runs from the center (inside) of your windshield frame, backwards to the center of your roll bar. It takes 2 seconds to remove (without tools) and can be stored easily with the removed top. Finally, there's the installation instructions and hardware.


The Windbreaker System: with all three windows stored inside the top	Notice that the factory soft top framing and the plastic door surrounds are *not* used with the Windbreaker.


Here's what the side windows look like in the "installed" position. There's a hard, but flexible plastic strip along the bottom of the sides that tucks under the lip in the tub, just like the factory windows.	Attached to the forward part of the side windows is a "storm flap" (at least that's what I call it) for the door uppers. This photo shows that the rear window can still stored in the top while the side windows are installed.


The doors simply close over the "storm flap". Or, you can "push" the storm flap outwards (from inside the Jeep) for a more weather-tight fit.	Positioning the storm flap on the *outside* of the door (as shown here) not only helps keep the rain out, but also virtually eliminates the soft-door-upper-flapping-in-the-wind syndrome!


Here's a picture of the Windbreaker with the factory hard doors closed on top of the storm flap.	As with the soft doors, the storm flap can be pushed to the outside of the hard door. Also shown is the rear window the installed position.

Modification: After using my Windbreaker top for a while, I realized that I didn't really like the "look" of the single bow that extended front-to-rear from the center of the windshield to the center of the roll bar. Therefore, I purchased 3 additional bows and associated mounting hardware from Rock Gear (at a very reasonable price), and spaced them evenly across the top. The result is a much "smoother" fit. Here's a picture with the additional bows installed (viewed from the front of the Jeep, looking rearward). You can see on the roll bar padding where I removed the original single center bow mount.

Long-Term Report (Jun 2002): After having used my Windbreaker top for more than a full year now, I can truthfully say that when this one wears out, I'll most likely purchase another one! However, that's only because I live in such a dry climate. I would not recommend this top for anyone who lives in a wet climate, cuz the doors simply do not seal out the rain! Yes, you can push the storm flap to the outside of the door, but that's a pain in the butt. I ended up modifying and reinstalling my factory door surrounds for the winter months so that the storm flap is "pinched" between the door and the door surround. It works pretty good actually. But again, we just don't get that much precipitation out here in the high desert of New Mexico.

Update (April 2006): I don't know when it happened, but Rock Gear is now out of business. I recently learned, however, that VIKING OFFROAD (of Ferndale, WA) is making a very similar top to the Windbreaker, called the Fast Back Soft Top. Compared to what I paid for my Windbreaker 5 years ago, the Viking top is pretty pricy (about $625, including shipping). But if you want one, Viking's got 'em!

For more information about Viking's Fast Back Soft Top, visit their web site at www.vikingoffroad.com.

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