Soft Top Insulation. . . . .

[JaySpencer66]

Being that I have neither the time, space, nor inclination to get or store a hard top my soft top stays on all year long. Given that last summer I changed the entire cooling system, thermostat, hoses, radiator and water pump, and flushed the heck out of all of it, my heat runs wonderfully, giving me servicable heat in about 1/2 mile of a cold start.

I also eliminated a lot of air leaks by changing the windshield recievor parts for the soft top and the cowel gasket. That said here are two of the simplest and potentially cheapest "bang for the buck installations and improvements I did:

1: Lined the inner panels of the half doors with thinsulate
2: Lined the soft top with thinsulate

It was SO easy that it is laughable. I went on eBay and hooked up with two pieces of the material. One was about 1.5 to 2 yards and 1/8" thick, lined on one side with polyesther, and the other was about 5 yards but lined on both sides of C100 thinsulte filling. The smaller piece I lined the plastic panels of the doors with, and the double sided I put into the top. I could have done the top and the doors with the larger piece alone.

For the doors I took the panels off, layed the thinsulate into them and then cut using the inner edge of the panels as guides. I knotched out the thinsulate where the retaining clips went and then reinstalled the lined panels. I noticed immediatly a reduction of road noise in the truck and a different sound when the doors are closed. It sounds more solid.

For the top I dismounted it from the bows and laid it out on my front lawn. I put the thinsulate on top of it making sure it would not move around, and carefully slit the material in the middle for each snap strap to just allow each of them to pass through with a sharp utility knife. When I was happy that things lined up I repeated the process for the rear straps.

Then I trimmed the material to the edges of the top, using the inner sewn edge of the top at the sides and rear as a guide and the plastic edge at the front. I initially used a spray adhesive to hold the materials together but found that this was not good because it made the top wrinkle and frankly did not hold properly which solved the wrinkle issue.

I found the solutions for holding it was that the middle and back are held by the pressure of the bows against the material, pinning it, and the sides in the back in tension from it. The front I slipped into the space between the windshield and the top, but I also put 5 pieces of heavy duty velcro at the front and one on each side to help things along.

My truck is a HECK of a lot quieter, and holds its temperatures much better too. I can now actually converse with people in the rear with only the effort of moderate raising of our voices, as opposed to having to yell in the past.

I know I have seen liners in the past, but could not find any now when I searched. I believe they could have been $150-200 if memory serves, and I did it myself for less then $50.

This is an upgrade that I recommend for anyone with a soft top. It was fast, easy and gives me a lot for relatively little money.

The buyer I found on eBay was "fabricsupplier" and I found them by searching for "Thinsulate Quilted Poly Lining Fabric" or variations of it.

[BIGWILL78]

Good info, thanks for the post