Best canvas top?

Ok I think I have started a thread on this before but I'm not sure. I am going to put a M38A1 canvas top on my 57 CJ5. What is the best canvas top to buy I have looked at Beachwood but they cost a fortune. So I am looking at these two right now. I'm just unsure where the surplus city top is made? I really want a US made top.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Military-Je...her_Vehicle_Parts&hash=item233ce36592&vxp=mtr


http://www.ebay.com/itm/111351065590

 

I've used both beachwood and new life. Both are amazing quality. I would steer clear of the ebay ones... My guess is the quality and fit are not very good. Beachwood has those style of tops. The are called summer trail run tops.

Look at these two item numbers at beachwood: D2308 D2320

The latter has provisions for sides and doors if you decide to get a full top eventually.

 

i had the "summer" style before and liked it a lot. Don't forget you need the military bows, and the bow sockets. They can be pricey. Use real canvas top dressing, not silicone base.

Mine was made by a guy named Mike Sinkovic, IIRC. That was 30 years ago but he may have been in Ohio, like the second ebay seller.

(The top is still good, but I keep it under cover.)

 

If you are buying bows, they can be tough to ship.
Mine were sawed in half for shipping - then I easily welded them back together.

 

I already have the bows and the mounts. I'm just looking for the top now. This is the website http://www.surplusjeep.com/ that the first top is from that is just there ebay page.

 

Ok the first ebay page I posted is weebee webbing. How good is the quality of their tops?

 

I've heard of WeeBee. They are pretty good.

 

Well I installed the top today it looks really good. Now its time to find M38A1 door frames.

 

If that were mine, I'd be considering some tension straps from the rear bow to the back of the tub. It would stabilize everything including the windshield, and relieve stress on the bow pockets.

My canvas top has a full rear panel, and it does a lot of the work.

 

I wasn't done I still had to put the footman loops on. Here is a some pictures when it was finally finished.

 

Very nice.

 

Hi 57- could you post a close up pic of how the bows attach to the tub?

 

Here are some pictures of how the bow attaches to the tub. The holes that are in the back of the tube next to the footman loops were already there. Someone used a nail and to put the holes in the tub.

 

I bought the canvas top from wee bee webbing the top is for a M38A1 the military cousin of the early CJ5s. The tubs are the same but the CJ5 tubes just have delete panels on them. Here is a link to wee bee http://www.odcloth.com/products.html
I bought the roof bow and mounting hardware off ebay. I don't know if the ebay seller is still around for the roof bow but it was made in Oregon and the brackets are repops. I'm not sure how well the Omix roof bows will fit maybe someone else will comment on those.

 

Very cool! Thanks for the pictures..

 

That is great, I have been trying to decide on a winter top for my 62 cj5 also, would kinda like to use the factory mid and corner post holders (for a factory style bows), but all of the hardware is a mystery to me, I'm sure there is some type of connecting rods from the windshield to middle bow to back bow. If someone had pics or diagram of all that hardware I'm sure I could fab up something.

 

Here is a picture of the side rail support brackets they help stiffen the side of the top. This is for a military top



Army jeep parts carries the brackets and wee bee has the dimensions of the side rail support brackets.

brackets https://www.armyjeepparts.net/p-2135-bracket-support-side-rail-right-top-to-windshield.aspx

support rods http://www.odcloth.com/rodwork.html

Beachwood canvas carries the civilian top bows but I'm unsure how they look assembled.

https://www.beachwoodcanvas.com/order/productdetail.cfm?prod=5E1858&line=18

 

Here is the roof bow it's US made

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Willys-M38-...017?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ada79ac89