and spring assist mechanism 160 that mount to the side rails of the vehicle body not shown may often widen the stance or spacing at the base of the new back bow 141 this in turn can provide the pivoting structure with greater stiffness rigidity and support than was previously available with the existing or factory soft top frame the increased stiffness rigidity and support provided by the new back bow 141 along with the dynamic assistance provided by the spring assist mechanism 160 significantly enhances the ability of a single person to deploy and retract the converted soft where two people usually are required to manage the original or factory soft top each spring assist mechanism 160 can generally include a pivot plate 170 that is rotatably supported on a fixed bracket 162 secured to a side rail of the vehicle not shown in addition one or both of the spring assist mechanism 160 may optionally include a locking member 190 that serves to lock the back bow 141 in its stowed configuration fig7 b until released and to keep the compressed spring from inadvertently raising the soft top during movement of the vehicle fig8 is a close up perspective view of a bracket 162 of one of the spring assist mechanism of fig7 a 7b the bracket 162 can.