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Pretty Please Bestop

Gee-pah

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@Bestop

Hey Cassie:

Before you know it Spring will be here. People will want to pop the hatch of their Sunrider products and breath fresh air as their rig's travels create wind, like a Navy Nuclear Submariner pop's the hatch on the way to their home port after a 6 month underwater tour.

I know I'm not alone when I ask if you'd get the team to consider recreating the Retractable Sunshade product for the JL, that you already delivered for the JK.

https://www.bestop.com/retractable-sunshade-category/

5240511.jpg


For those new to this, many of us run with netting above our head but below our roofs. Among other things it provides protection from the sun.

Since the OEM (i.e. Bestop) JL soft tops open and close from outside, such netting presents no obstacle to doing so. But in the beauty of the Sunrider's ability to open and close from within the rig lies the fact that permanent netting might get in the way of that.

Bestop's retractable sunshade is like a window shade whose springed roller attaches somewhere midline in the rig, front to back, around the Sports Bar, and instead of holding a opaque window shade, it holds translucent netting. The user can open it to open and close the Sunrider, and close the shade once the Sunrider is open (or closed) to generate such shade.

Clearly, no product launch is trivial. There's design, testing, re-design, possible patent applications revisted (read $) and the potential for profit to be made by selling this product versus other Bestop gear--with possible greater margins and sales. Sure, where the roller attaches, its width, the length of shade material and the method of attachment on the "A" pillar will need to all be different from the JK implementation, but you do have the JK model as a starting point and that's huge I think.

Thanks.
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Rico1111

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I would like to know when some of your other tops will make it over to JL? 2 years and still nothing from trektop, blah blah blah..was hoping for a red top but I see nothing on the horizon! Looks like I'll just be getting the mopar top come spring...really don't understand the lack of support for the two door !
 

Bestop

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As we've mentioned in other threads we aren't planning to offer the retractable sunshade or Core Doors for the JL/JT in 2020. We keep seeing interest expressed here and other forums so we may run Kickstarter campaigns to better determine the true demand vs. a few member being very vocal advocates of getting these products to market. While we appreciate the excitement and interest it requires a lot of investment to bring a product like these into full production. Regardless, we been talking internally and the continued interest is keeping the idea of a Kickstarter-like approach alive in our discussions.

As for the tops for the JL we already have the Sunrider for Hardtop and Trektop. The new Trektop Ultra (shown at SEMA) should be available for pre-order in the next couple of weeks with shipments expected to start late February. Look for more info here in the forums and on bestop.com in the next week or so.

- the Bestop team
www.bestop.com
 

spurly

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This is the only reason why I haven't bought a sunrider for my JL. I like the open top but I also don't want to bake. So I'm currently running an Alien Sunshade under the hardtop.
 

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I bought the retractable sun shade for my old JK. Over 35 mph it would lift up. Looked like a VW bug driving down the road. Wasn’t impressed like with other Bestop products that work flawlessly.
 

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digitalbliss

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Eh Bestop has been pretty lazy with the JL so far. When discussing the core doors they mentioned they had 10 years with the JK platform. Well... we are in the 3rd model year of the JL (18, 19, 20). You would think it would be about time to be something major.
 

GregMG79

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Would love it if you make it a special order. I would pay a premium and wait if that ,answer I could get one. Love the Sunrider. Need the retractable sunshade. Just sayin’.
 

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I bought the retractable sun shade for my old JK. Over 35 mph it would lift up. Looked like a VW bug driving down the road. Wasn’t impressed like with other Bestop products that work flawlessly.
Eh Bestop has been pretty lazy with the JL so far. When discussing the core doors they mentioned they had 10 years with the JK platform. Well... we are in the 3rd model year of the JL (18, 19, 20). You would think it would be about time to be something major.
Most of 17 and 18 was dedicated to getting the OEM soft tops into production for FCA/Jeep. In 19 we brought the Trektop to the JL and in early 20 we'll have the Trektop Ultra available. The Core Doors didn't launch until the 2018 model year for the JK.

The tops created for the CJ, TJ, etc are completely a different level of complexity compared to the multi-use options owners are looking for on the JK, JL, and JTs. Complexity to support customer ease of use takes a lot of engineering time along how to actually produce the product at scale with changes to your manufacturing processes. Everything takes time...often longer than everyone anticipates.

Look for more info on the Trektop Ultra coming soon (hopefully in the next week or so).


- the Bestop team
www.bestop.com
 

four low

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How complex is the Retractable Sunshade ? Especially since the JK version is out ?
Tonneau Covers, Roadster Tops ? The old saying, " Nature abhors a vacuum " certainly applies to businesses that get too big, too complacent ...I can only hope that some hungry upstart is paying attention ,somewhere,anywhere. Bestop products are China made, so ha!f the work is done.
 

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As already noted there have been issues with the JK version and fitment based on how the vehicle it's been installed on has been configured. One size, as they say, does not always fit all.

You are correct in part that some of our products are made in China. That's not the case of our tops, tonneaus, and other large fabric-based parts.

- the Bestop team
www.bestop.com
 

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digitalbliss

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Obviously, if this was a JK forum this wouldnt be an issue. Since this is a JL forum we wonder why Bestop would rather spend time developing new products for a dead platform (JK core doors) rather than the current and future platform?
 

Bestop

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Obviously, if this was a JK forum this wouldnt be an issue. Since this is a JL forum we wonder why Bestop would rather spend time developing new products for a dead platform (JK core doors) rather than the current and future platform?
Nearly all of our current development and production is for the JL, JT, and other current generation platforms. That said the the JK platform is still very alive given how many were sold. While we won't likely be engineering new products for the JK platform we will continue supporting the JK platform for some time.

- the Bestop team
www.bestop.com
 

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Super interested in the JL Core Doors kickstarter if the cost of those uppers could somehow be brought inline. For a 4-door, they approach the cost of the entire Trektop
 

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@Bestop

Dont listen to these fools.

As a business owner I completely understand your reasoning. A lot of people(well, at least the handful on this thread out of hundreds of thousands) dont understand what it takes to engineer a good quality product, that works.

They dont understand if you rush a product through to market and its subpar and lacks usability it hurts the company, its employees and more importantly those who spent money to buy it.

If these folks want cheap product just because its "available", then let them get it off Ebay or Amazon.

I'd rather wait for well engineered quality over junk. A large number of us have big money into our Jeeps - last thing we want is crap product.

You make GREAT products!! Keep up the great work!!
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