to have one of the factory style soft tops on my land cruiser would be a dream. they’re not exactly available. to get your hands on one of these tops is pretty difficult, unless you group up with a bunch of strangers on the forums and foot a lot of money for one to be made overseas, or unless you figure out how to make one yourself.
i’m not knocking the overseas group buys on the forums, there are many satisfied customers with excellent looking tops and big smiles on their faces. the organization of buyers, the money and the wait do seem worth it in the end. but in my case, there’s no guarantee that the bows or the top are going to fit. my ‘cruiser’s outfitted with a first generation aqualu aluminum tub made in kelowna. the fit and finish of the aqualu’s first generation tubs aren’t even close to the tolerances that the aqualu tubs are subjected to now. i’m not planning on getting a new tub anytime soon simply because the current aqualu aluminum has proven to be diehard. seriously, a couple years ago my cruiser drove away from an accident while the 2007 ford escape that t-boned me was totaled.
anyways, because of the tiny differences in tub measurements between the oem tub and the aqualu first gen tub, i’m deciding to fabricate my own factory style soft top. it’s less risk, less money, more accurate and purpose-built strictly for my ‘cruiser. plus i’ll have a big smile on my face when i say i made it.
to date, i’ve grabbed the measurements from my tub and measurements of the factory soft top bows. for the framework, i still have to model out the b-pillars, the door rails and all the mounting bracketry. also because my ‘cruiser has the rear ambulance doors, i’m aiming to reproduce the factory c-type soft top, so a lot more framework has to be completed at the rear.
