This answer has two parts.
1. In 1992 the Department of Transportation (DOT) required
all light trucks to have a 3rd High mount stop light. To accomidate
this Ford intergrated the 3rd stop light into the fiberglass
shell. Soft tops do not incorprate this feature into them therefore
technicly they are illegal on 92-96 broncos.
2. Also in 1992 the DOT required that not only will the front
seats in Light trucks to have 3-Point seat belts but the back
seats will now have them too. With no other structure to attach
them to Ford attached the 3rd point into the fiberglass top.
Since Soft Top manufacturers cant design a soft top that is
strong enough to hold the 3-point seat belts, it is illegal
to install a soft top onto your bronco or drive around with
the top off.
To sum it all up removing the top off our 92-96 Broncos technically
is illegal. But you have to have one really BORED cop
to actually cite you on that. So go ahead and pull off that
hardtop and enjoy the sun or replace it with a soft top for
a 80-91 bronco. Keep in mind if you want to have passengers
in the back then get some seat belts for the rear seat. Or else
you may end up paying for more than a ticket.
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