Opt Overland Pop-Top Reviews?

[Drizzt]

Started looking at Opt Overlands pop-top as an alternative to CCV, but can find very little feedback on them. Anybody have one that can comment on them?

I'm not a huge fan of the lines of it, but it's hard to get a good visual with the limited amount of pictures I've found. It does look like it goes up and down pretty quick which I like. Not sure if the roll up window covers are a good or a bad thing. I get that they'd be out of the way rolled up, but are you able to just open them part way like if you wanted just a little air flow? How do they handle cold, wet and wind?

 

[Bbasso]

Have a link?

 

[shenrie]

https://www.facebook.com/optoverland/videos/474084912924450/

http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/forums/f24/magilla-the-gorilla-a-pop-top-story-18940.html

 

[Drizzt]

Those posts are all by the owner of Opt Overland. And while I've met Dai and he's an awesome guy I'm hoping to find some real world opinions from owners.

 

[shenrie]

was actually posting for rob as he requested. I figured you had seen them by your description. if id seen anything else out there in my surfing, id post up.

the speed of the opt top intrigues me, but I wouldn't like the roll up window/shades. I like being able to keep my ccv top windows partially open/closed. I really like just unzipping them across the top so air can get through, but being able to keep out rain/sun at the same time. only thing id do differently with the ccv windows is make a way so that when they were all the way open they could double back on themselves and snap/Velcro in place like the old westy shades. not really a big deal cause by design or coincidence im not sure, they sit nicely between the frame of the top and the canvas. they only come out of their stow if the wind is really breezy.

with as crafty as he is, id be surprised if you couldn't order your windows setup like ccv's, and hell even if he wasn't willing, tell him you wanna install the canvas yourself and install it upside down, lol.

 

[Bbasso]

I somehow missed the info on smb...
Looks promising.

 

[Drizzt]

Looks promising.

Except getting any information on them seems to be a challenge. Makes me wonder if anybody has bought his top, if people who have them are to busy using a great product to check forums, or if people are unhappy and just not willing to share (although people don't seem to have a problem thrashing CCV).

I've actually been to his shop and seen it first hand and it did look like good work and execution. But then again so did the CCV top when I stopped in there, too, although I will say that they seemed less than interested in talking with me about details but they were also extremely busy. Between all the threads thrashing CCV and my own recent experience with a local rod shop giving me miserable customer service I'm just a little gun shy on any custom work these days so I'm looking (hoping) for real world feedback on other top options. I'm honestly paranoid about dropping 10K or more on a custom product from someplace several states away. Or maybe my expectations are to high...

 

[Factoid]

In this age of social media, people have grown massive keyboard muscles and some live to post negative reviews. My point is that if someone had a negative experience, I don't think you would have a hard time finding it with a simple google search. So, either no one has had a bad experience or none have been sold.

I've decided to build my own and will document it this spring. My rough drawings are complete. I've mocked up a crude model to verify and identified the sources for the top, lift components (steel, bearings, etc.) and actuators. The tent material is still undecided, but there are several marine providers that make custom enclosures, so I'll contact them when I'm closer. It looks like ~ $3k for parts and a ton of labor (mines free!). This might not be the best option for everyone, but the market is not providing suitable solutions.

 

[bknudtsen]

Here’s the thread on Expo. You can enlarge his photos and see the heims that support the axles at each end.

http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/168190-Magilla-Gorilla-pops-his-top?highlight=Magilla

opt overland still visits Expo. Last date was 02/07/18, so you might get him to chime in here at some point.

 

[VisionxOrb]

OPT just posted on SMB that they are offering there pop top as a DIY kit.

 

[fire_strom]

I don't SMB, is there a link?
-G

 

[Drizzt]

I don't SMB, is there a link?
-G

If you're asking for a link to the Opt Overland post on the SMB forum that VisionxOrb is talking about, this is it: http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/forums/f24/opt-overland-pop-top-reviews-21153.html#post222031

 

[fire_strom]

Thank you.
-G