Featuring Premium Parts from
by Scott Ammerman
Torque Senior Correspondent / Tread Lightly Northeast Program Manager
Soft tops are a great addition to your Jeep, but many people switch them for a hard top seasonally or simply remove them entirely during warmer months. While this is a convenient option, safely storing your soft top can be a real chore.
In addition to potentially causing damage to the windows, or scraping the painted metal frame on other objects, it becomes a very convenient nesting habitat for rodents or insects, and stuff almost always gets piled on top of the thing.
Although the top assembly is designed to be durable, taking it off the Jeep and storing it in a floppy pile, or leaning against a wall in your garage, shed or basement, is not the key to a long service life.
After losing a one-year-old soft top to mouse damage a few years ago, I decided the new Mopar Complete Cable Style Sunrider Twill Soft Top I purchased for Project Rattler, was better off being protected during its hibernation months this time around.
So I purchased the Quadratec Soft Top Storage Hanger for ‘13-‘18 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited JK as it is designed to work with all of the spring assist ‘sunrider’ style soft tops that use factory mounting points and door surrounds. It will work with both the Premium Twill and Black Diamond material tops made by Quadratec, Bestop and Mopar. (as well as others that use the factory style components).
There are several variants of this hanger, and they are specific to the style of soft top on your Jeep, not necessarily to the model year — so keep that in mind while ordering. If you have an earlier Jeep, but a later model factory top, purchase the one that works with your top style.
The storage hanger comes complete with all mounting hardware to attach to studs spaced either 16” or 24” on center, and is pre-drilled and powder-coated for durability and head-turning looks.
Two lateral storage bars are perfectly spaced to store both side windows as well as the rear window while attached to the tailgate bar.
Tools required:
- Electric drill
- 5/32” drill bit
- A black marker
- #2 phillips head screwdriver
- ⅜” wrench or socket
- 10mm socket
- A carpenter’s level (recommended)
Some assembly is required with the soft top hanger kit, but your first step should be holding it against your wall to mark locations needed for drilling before you assemble — the bottom row of mounting holes should be no less than 48” off the floor to allow room for the top, and the assembly should be level. Having an extra helper for this step is a good idea.
Each of these locations will require a 5/32” pilot hole to be drilled to prevent your studs from splitting as the mounting screws are installed.
Once drilling locations are marked, take the hardware out of the bag and separate by type.
The eight long screws will be for mounting the assembly to the wall, while the 10/32 fine pitch screws, nylon lock nuts and nylon spacers are included to attach the lateral bars and bow hanger bracket.
Using the Phillips head screwdriver and ⅜” wrench, install the lateral bars to the top hanger main assembly, with a spacer between them. These need to be installed with more length on the upper side, as they will grab the plastic ridges that hold your side windows into the body tub when the top is installed on your Jeep.
Next, using the same tools, install the bow hanger bracket assemblies. This step does require some attention as they are ‘each side’ specific.
With everything assembled, mount the entire bracket to the wall with the bolts in the holes you previously marked and drilled.
Next, remove your top from your Jeep if you haven’t already. Using the bolts that normally hold the top pivot bracket to the rollbar in the trunk, install the top adaptor brackets using that 10mm socket. Again, these are side specific — this is the driver’s side of the top.
After that is complete, hang the top in the lower brackets with the wingnuts securing them into place.
Once that is finished, secure the top arms with the supplied bungee cords.
With that in place, hang the side windows in the lateral brackets, and clip the tailgate bar into the arms with the rear window draped against the soft rubber standoffs.
The Quadratec Soft Top Storage Hanger will keep your top secure and ‘injury’ free for however long you want. Then, when it’s time to install your soft top on the Jeep again, everything will be ready to go.
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