Here’s a pic with the Top put on… you can barely tell, really. It’s actually a nice top; it works great and is easy to install!

Hey guys,

Ok, i got mine on Monday. I initially ordered this top for the dual purpose of providing shade and also acting as a wind jammer. So, yes i was much more interested in the SW1. But, i ordered it as the design was switched over to the SW2. With all that being said my write up in this product is as follows.

I took delivery on Monday. Opened it right up and got to work on it. Very….simple install. Nothing really to it. I set the top up to cover the 2 front seats only and used the remainder to act as a wind jammer. So I did the simple install over the 2 front seats then ran the remainder in between the roll bar and sound bar. By doing this i had plenty of head clearance (im 6ft) but the routing of the top over the roll bar took about 3-4 inches from the length of the top. In the end this left a pretty big gap between the bottom of the top and the floor of the Jeep. So, when configured this way the wind jammer portion really doesnt work well because of the gap. Wind just rushes in and it almost seems as if its coming in harder since now its concentrated.

So this morning to took the wind jammer portion apart to reconfigure the set up points. This time i did not run the top in between the roll bar and sound bar. This time I did the drop down before the roll bar. This gave me the extra length to close the gap between the floor and bottom of the wind jammer. This actually worked very well. BUT, by running the top downward before the roll bar took away structure from the top. So, me being 6ft the top is now hitting my head.

One note to let you guys know about the wind Jammer set up. When the remainder from the top is used as a wind jammer the wind jammer portion hugs the seats very tight. This leads to a very nasty kicking feeling from wind when you are on the highway. It almost feels like someone is constantly shoving the front seats consistently.

In all, the SW2 works for what it is. For the amount it cost it does its job. It provides the shade needed and the wind jammer portion works well for what it is. Im going to try to figure out another way to run the wind jammer portion so that it does not interfere with the seats. And yes, the gaps between the top and the roll bars are pretty big. But that doesnt interfere with its function. At highway speeds it keeps the cabin pretty calm with the wind jammer. All in all i am OK with it. I also have a full Bikini top…i hated the whole windshield liner thing….this SW2 is good because I still have full function of my soft top. Below are a few images of the SW2 on my 00 TJ white….

True to your word - the SW2 has arrived today! I am going to go take the hardtop off, grab the camera and put it on…then over the next few weeks I’ll test it out in different configurations and situations! Weeeeeeeeeee! First comment - I pulled it out of the box and it looks very well made. Stitching looks tough - and this definitely isn’t made of some mesh you would find down at the local nursery - quality material here. The black grommets look GREAT! Chris, you listen well to your customers! I do like the little added bit of marketing by sewing your name / website on there - nice touch. I’ll come back after a bit with more to report I am sure!
1. Overall Fit - Seems to fit very nicely.
3. Ease of use - I got it on in a matter of minutes. Very easy - even the first time…very intuitive…I really like the bungy ball straps.
5. Noise / Noise Reduction - I only drove a little bit, but it definitely didn’t flap or anything. I will test this further at speeds on the freeway, and in different configurations, etc.
9. Back view through the back piece - day - I only drove around for about ten minutes. At first every time you glance in the rear view mirror you think - oh yeah there is this thing there…but pretty soon I didn’t even really notice…it is kind of like having tinting on a back window or something.
11. Grab handle fit - Yes! Finally I can have a bikini type top and still have my grab handles on.
12. Looks - I have to say that I am very impressed - I was a bit skeptical about the back part and thought I would most likely only use the bikini long-term but after two minutes on the Jeep, I am hooked already on all of it.
15. Headroom fit - front - I was actually not thinking about this when I got in to drive and was a little surprised that my head touched the top just barely. I always sit straight up, I don’t recline my seat at all like most people, and am 6′ 0″. I reached up and adjusted the top a little so it would sit higher on the roll bar and it pulled it up enough so that it didn’t touch my head/hair - problem solved! This is something that people that are taller may need to consider. I will check this some more to see how much I can adjust it upwards. Also, I drive a 97 - so remember that the seats sit higher than later model year TJs (which are the ones that people put hockey pucks under the seats as lifters, so this might not even be an issue for later models or people that recline their seat even slightly).
16. Fit with rear expand-a-trunk - Fits perfectly along the top of the trunk.

Overall first impression - VERY POSITIVE! The SpiderWebShade SW2 rocks! I love how it looks and couldn’t be happier with how easy it went on and how great it looks. I’ll put it through the paces along with the other testers here and report back as I go.

Here are a couple of pictures in the driveway…I’ll get some good action shots when I get out on the trails with it in the future.

I did a little freeway driving yesterday and have a couple more observations.

1. Overall Fit - Still think the fit is great.
4. Shade / cooling effect - it was sunny but a little chilly here so no test of its shade properties, but I like being able to get air and see through the mesh while getting UV bloackage.
5. Noise or Noise Reduction - On the freeway at 60-85 mph the bikini portion of the SW-2 was great - no noise at all - and it didn’t move around much - it bounced in the wind slightly (it was windy yesterday too). The rear portion does make a little bit of noise at speed on a windy day - as the air moves through the vertical part of the mesh in the rear. As I was driving, I was listening to the noise trying to figure out how I would describe it other than the sound of air moving through mesh…and it almost sounded like the noise a beanbag makes… I didn’t bother me really - just reporting the facts. I will report more on this later. I will say that I think there was an element of noise reduction with both pieces on - but I didn’t make any phone calls or compare to noise without it…I had no problem hearing my stereo at speed… I will eventually roll the seat down and have people sitting in the back seat and see if they mention the noise…when I test for headroom, etc. I must say that I do like that it goes all the way down, unlike it’s predecessor that only went halfway - a definite improvement on the rear vertical portion in my book.
9. Back view through the back piece - day - I analyzed this a little more as I was driving around. I previously said that it is like having a tinted rear window…but I want to change that characterization a bit. It is a bit like having a tinted window that has prescription glass that is out of focus a little bit…you can see through it no problem - but it isn’t a sharp, clear view - it fuzzes up your view a little. I realized this when I was scanning behind me for police cars (I speed a little) - and noticed that it was too “fuzzy” to make out the features of the cars behind me in detail to be able to pick out possible police cars. Having said that, I decided I didn’t really care. There is no safety issue - I can see all the cars behind me no problem. Just something to note. Also, when it was parked in a parking lot and I walked up to it, I noticed that it makes it difficult to look into the back of my Jeep from behind…which could be a good thing.
12. Looks - I got two compliments from other Jeepers at traffic lights and questions on where I got it.
13. Chick Magnet Utility - They were checkin’ me out for sure…not sure it was the top though…
15. Headroom fit - front - no problems yesterday. At speed I think it actually pulls upward a little bit and created more room for me.

Ok - I will continue to update as I go…so far, I love it! I might rain today so I may get in an unexpected test…

I’ve been down with a cold so today is the first chance I’ve had to do some more testing. I decided to switch the back section from a bikini top to a windjammer. Bottom line up front: The SpiderWeb Shade SW-2 top peformed VERY well as a windjammer in this configuration.

There are a couple of different ways you can do this - I decided to go the easy route and just fold it right over the sound bar and back in and down - the pictures will show what I did. It only took a few minutes to switch it and this way also keeps the speakers ‘inside’ of the cockpit. It is fairly windy today so I took a quick test drive and got some pictures. I didn’t get down to the freeway - but got up to about 50 on an already windy day - and I have to say - this thing did REALLY well as wind break. I was surprised actually.

Since I chose to roll it over the sound bar and back in and down, it doesn’t go all the way down - that small gap had some wind coming through it…but for fun I opened up my Tuffy center console lid and that blocked the gap completely! Also,there are ways to do this I am sure that make it go all the way down. The only significant wind I noticed came UNDER the seat to my feet and legs. That was kind of funny actually - you don’t normally notice that because there is so much wind up top. I’ll bet that gets blocked if I run it straight down the roll bar instead of over the sound bar…or you could stuff a towel under your seat or something if it bugs you (I liked the air on my feet actually - with no wind blowing up top - a bonus for the girl Jeepers or guys with girlfriends/wives <or guys with long hair themselves, damn hippies> that hate their hair blowing around…I keep a ball cap and scrunchy in the Jeep for my GF…but she won’t need it with this SpiderWeb Shade SW-2 configuration).

With the doors on and the windows rolled up it was pretty quiet in the cockpit and very little wind. Of course, in order for people to ride in the back, they will have to climb in over the tire…like with any windjammer - but if you have people in back, take 2 minutes to strap it back up as a back bikini top and off you go. As far as being able to see out the back, it was no problem - as you will see in one of the pictures below. Looks-wise I thought it might look funny over the roll bar and back in and down but once I got it up and stepped back to look, I was totally fine with it. Also, very little noise and there was zero flapping. I will probably drive in this configuration a LOT. Pretty impressive. Here are some pictures:

Well gents, I got the oportunity to try out the new SW3 Spiderweb Shade top: Link to Site What can I say, I love it. I installed it in about 5 min and it truely does cool off the cab significantly. Was 90* out today and the kids had a blast in the jeep. Pics below and I will add pics of the mid section later. You have the option of installing a mid section between the main hoop bars to creat a half cab shade for just two riders. It is a 3 peice top. All said and done, it is a very sturdy top for what you are getting. He did also send a bungie cord for the front footman loop instead of using a zip tie like previous models had. It doesn’t flap around and it stays taught.

On with the pics.

So the SW2 showed up the other day and only had 30 minutes to remove the soft top, take off the SW1 and put on the SW2 before it got dark and rainy. Since the last write up on the SW1, I have installed 1.5 aluminum blocks for seat lifters for better driving visibility. I am 5’-10” and I had enough headroom clearance since the SW1 rose up as it went over the roll bar and speaker pods on it’s way to the back seat area.

On the SW2 however the mesh top sits inside the drivers and passengers roll bar area. Now in my case since I lifted the seats, my head touches the mesh top but the shorter drivers in my family (test subject was 5’-7”) had no issues with headroom at all. There is less headroom since the top doesn’t go over the roll bar like the SW1. If your seats aren’t raised and your under 5’-10” you should not have any front seat clearance issues. I can’t tell you want the maximum height would be since I have been told that earlier model TJs seats were up higher that late model TJs/LJs and I am not over 5’-10”. If not for my seat height issue, this is a great configuration if you want just shade over the front compartment or are running it in the windjammer mode.

As for the back half of the top, I pulled it over the top of the rollbar and although not shown in the pictures, I used the same middle grommet from the front part of the top and only used one bungee ball for both pieces. I didn’t do that on the side grommets so I could adjust and move the top forward and backward as needed. As you can see from my pictures, there is one section that I needed to adjust to make it a little smoother but I didn’t find a way to connect the next set of grommets since the speaker pods were there. The top does go back further down the roll bar as you can see in the pictures. My kids were not real happy to sit for some shots but you can see where the top is relative to the placements of their heads. They are 5.6” and had no issues on the SW1 but if you are taller than that in a LJ, you might have clearance issues on the SW2. If there was a grommet between the last two grommets it might follow the contour of the roll bar to give you a little more clearance but I don’t know that for sure.

Even with the headroom issue, I reclined my seat back further and did take it for a 30-minute ride at dusk. It was just as quite and stable with the wind blowing and on the highway as was the SW1. Having tried them both, I will have to stick with the SW1 for the headroom issues that I have. However if headroom wasn’t an issue, and you have kids under 5’-6” then the SW2 as it is would be the way that I would go. If you have access to add a grommet between the second and last grommet you might be able to fit someone as taller in the back seat.

I think it’s a great product well made and thought out. We drove 100+ mile with it on and did not have issues with sunburn or having to squint our eyes like we do without the top. The wind noise wasn’t too bad either. As for Customer Service, these guys are great.

Got my SW1 and installed it. It was really easy and I am liking the one piece design. I’m running it on my TJ with a Bestop Wraparound Windjammer and Bestop Duster along with the factory top and hardware with the rear columns folded up like a Safari top. I also have the Misch overheard shelf and I really like how the SW1 goes over it and keeps stuff from flying out when the top is down.

I love this setup, I have the flexibility of dropping the top anytime (easily) and being able to raise it on a minutes notice (without messing with any 3rd party headers). The wraparound windjammer keeps all the rain, wind, and cats out of my Jeep and the duster keep the water out of the rear. The entire inside tub is Line-X’d, and I never run side or rear windows all year long. This setup gives me everything I need, however, I plan to modify the Duster installing zippers so that the factory top hardware can fit inside the unzipped duster. I can still drop the top the way it is but it sits up about a foot or so in the back instead of flush. The Duster mod will fix that.

I’ll edit adding pictures later.

Thanks Chris for the SW1.

I got it today! I took some quick pictures before I head off to work. If anyone would like different pictures let me know. It is very easy to work with. I’ll let you know my thoughts after I get to try it out. So far I am very pleased. Thank you SpiderWeb. I have to admit, I think I like 3 pc design better myself. I also think it should slightly wider and a little longer.

That being said, so far this seems to be a great product. This combined with the excellent customer service is why I will recommend this to other Jeepers.

The drive into work was a nice test of the sun protection. Normally I can’t wear my glasses with the top off b/c of the sun, but the SpiderWeb blocked enough of the sun so this wasn’t a problem. As far as head room for the rear seat, I don’t know. I don’t have a back seat. It looks like it might be a little tight, but I would think you could punch an extra grommit towards the back. This would allow the shade to follow the rollbar better & raise the headroom too.

Okay, so I know we are scrutinizing this product. Ultimately, for the price I don’t think it can be beat. It looks like rain tomorrow so I put the top up and didn’t have to mess with it. It also got me thinking.. maybe the windows could be sandwiched between the SpiderWeb and factory top for those days when you want to take out the windows but aren’t around home?