Experiences with Softopper on a K5

[79vette]

Does here anybody run a Softopper on a K5? I'd like to get one, but I need the AC to work in the summer heat and I dont really want too much more road noise. Does your softopper let in much more heat and noise than the fiberglass top? I drive this rig cross-country from SoCal up to NorCal, into northern Nevada, and all over Utah every year camping and exploring so it needs to still be somewhat nice on the highway, but when I get to the mountains I would really like to be able to roll up the top.


Also, the stock top on my particular truck has been very frustrating. I've spent the better part of 2 years fighting the top and tailgate on my K5, and I just can't get it to work right. I'm over $700 into new seals from Precision for the tailgate and the shell, new regulator, sash and rollers, new crank (old one was broken), and many days/hours spent fighting adjustments and it still just won't work.

The glass is really hard to roll up and down and I am afraid the crank is going to break off again, the seals on the top dont line up to the tailgate so it lets dust/exhaust in, the tailgate itself weighs probably 120 lbs and somebody has removed the little springs that help it close, and there are a couple small cracks in the top that let water leak in. Overall its just a disaster, and I am thinking I should have bought a softopper in the first place instead of wasting all this time and money trying to fix the stock parts...

Anyone have experience with the soft tops they'd like to share? I'm at the point now I dont really care what it costs, but the truck needs to work. A couple of the smaller people I wheel with are not strong enough to close the tailgate without the helper springs, and I dont trust anyone except me to roll the glass up and down because it binds/sticks and the crank has already broke once.