The Best Soft Top Yet? Trektop NX Plus Review [Video]
Aside from the out-of-the-box off-road capability, one of the biggest draws of the Jeep Wrangler is the fact that you can easily remove the top. While most Wrangler owners can get years of use out of a fabric top, for those who venture off the beaten path more often than not, the lifecycle of the soft top can diminish greatly. At the forefront of aftermarket soft tops is a company well known in the Jeep world: Bestop. Despite the latest Wrangler JL platform hoarding every manufacturer’s attention across the board, Bestop continues to craft and perfect tops for Jeeps old and new.
The company’s latest offering is the Trektop NX Plus. The Trektop series is primarily known for its sleek and user-friendly frameless design. The NX Plus adds new conveniences along with an assortment of color fabrics to choose from. We got to a chance to check out the new Trektop NX Plus in person as our friend was looking to upgrade his well-worn soft top on his 2007 Jeep Wrangler. While you can find out more in our video review above, we’re breaking down some of key features in the article below.
Two of the exciting takeaways from this new top is that you get a quality Twill material and you have the option of five colors in addition to black. This is the Oak Tan Twill, which is slightly darker than the Pebble Beige that’s offered as well.
This JK is set up on 1-ton axles and 40-inch Nitto Trail Grapplers that stick out well outside of the body. We mention this mostly because it’s very difficult to keep debris from slinging on the side of the Jeep. Surprisingly, the Oak Tan does a great job at masking the dirt. If not for the faint water marks on the tinted windows, you’d be hard pressed to know this Jeep drove 20 miles through a rain storm before getting to this spot.
Two-door JKs have limited storage options, so the map pockets are a nice built-in feature. While the outside of the top is tan, the inside in lined in black.
By unlatching the header panel, you can quickly fold back the forward portion of the top and take advantage of the Sunrider feature. To remove the windows, you simply unzip the back window and slide the side panels off. The entire process takes less than a minute.
Since the Jeep’s owner was nice enough to let us test the new setup out, we got an excellent feel for how it works and on-road and off. Hopping on the highway, the first thing we noticed was how tight the top was. Even at 70 mph, the windows didn’t deflect nor did the fabric flap in the wind. Given this Jeep is far from stock, it’s difficult to make the comparison to OE road noise. However, we didn’t find it to whistle, and the fitment overall seemed to keep the cabin sealed nicely from the elements. While soft tops are a common wear item on a Wrangler, we’ve found it still pays to get a quality one when it’s time to replace the old one.
