Turbo City - Billet Soft Top Bow
Ends
Notice how
the bow ends moved almost 1/4" within the mounting tab. That
adds up to a lot when you have all four ends like that!
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Required Stuff
- Printer - You'll
want to print this page and take it outside with you
- 11/64 drill bit
- T30 Torx screwdriver
- 4.5mm Allen wrench
- 9/64 Allen wrench
- 7/16 wrench
- 5/16 wrench
- Large bladed,
flathead screwdriver for prying
- Tiny Phillips
screwdriver or small poking implement
- Electric Drill
- Files (possibly)
- Protective eyewear
The difference is obvious between the old and new ends.
The first thing
you'll notice when you get the Turbo City bow ends is that they do not
come with any instructions. None. Nada. Zilch. Print out this page so
you have a reference when you go outside to do your project. When you're
done, write us a letter on the back
and say hi. Or, don't. You can recycle it or line your catbox with it.
1
Drill into the rivet on the stock bow end. You need to bust off
the top in order to remove it. Once it's broken off, use your tiny
Phillips screwdriver and poke the remaining piece inside the tube. |
2
Using your T30 Torx screwdriver, remove the bow end from the sport
bar's moutning bracket. This particular one took a lot of work.
The receiving end of the bolt came loose inside of the bow end and
we had to pry it all apart to get it off. |
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3
Once the rivet is popped out, you can pull the bow up and away,
letting the bow end fall loose. |
4
Place the Turbo City bow end in the bracket, insert the bolt and
tighten down with the appropriate Allen and wrench. |
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5
Once the end is bolted to the bracket, insert it back into the bow,
nice and snug. Using the old rivet hole, drill all the way through
the Turbo City bow end and out the other side of the tube. |
6
Insert the other bolt and tighten it all down. Make sure you have
a brand new drill bit. This project will kill it. Drilling through
billet aluminum takes a good bit and some patience. |
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7
Repeat steps 1-6 for the other three bow ends. Here is one completed
side. |
The completed
bow ends are much sturdier and should easily last the lifetime of
your soft top. For us, probably a lot longer! |
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The new bow
ends did not cure our movement problem 100%. In the photos, above,
you can see that there is still some movement if we pull on the
bow end a little bit. However, that is, like we said, with us
pulling on it. There was a little bit of play in two of
the new ends up at the bracket. By the time that slight degree
of movement gets to the corner of the bow, it is exagerated a
bit. There is also some play where the brackets, themselves, mount
ot the sport bars, which, of course, is out of Turbo City's hands.
The only problems
we had with the whole install were that the bearings that go inside
the bows that lead to the rear were slightly bigger than the holes
in the mounting brackets. This could easily be fixed by filing
the holes out a bit. The other, and very minor, problem was a
dome popped off of one of the nuts, leaving the sharp edges of
the bolt exposed. No big deal. I'm sure we can find another one
for five cents at Lowe's.
So, when your
top starts rattlin' and shakin' around (and it will), you'll know
there's a cure out there from the good folks at Turbo City. Oh,
and don't forget to use your protective eyewear while you work!
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©
2000 Rockcrawler. All Rights Reserved
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