Do you store your roadster with the top up or down, and why?

 

If its in the driveway, I put on the California Car Cover to keep the cats off the top. If its in the garage,( to keep the cats off) I put the top UP to keep the wrinkles pulled tight.

 

I cycle the top up and down very rarely. Store it with the top up (October thru March) and for the most part leave the top down during summer months.

 

You're supposed to store it with the top up. I think it even says it in the manual.

 

What Dicky46 said -- I do the same. The less wear and tear on the top mechanisms, the better I think.

 

I leave the top in the position it was in at the end of my drives. However, so in the summer it generally remains down and in the winter it generally remains up. I intentionally minimize the number of cycles on the top mechanism.I cannot find any recommendation in the owners manual.

 

Top Up. Down leaves a crease in the middle of the top and may have wear issues.


As for exercising the top mechanisms, I routinely put the top down and backup every so often(660days) because the cables will should be slid thru the ways to keep lubrication. There is a lube to use but garage door lube works just fine.


I know of very few hydraulic mechanisms that do not deteriorate if left unused for long periods.


I recommend you flex the muscles with some frequency.


After all, if a cute gal comes along and asks for a ride, would you not want the confidence in knowing it will go up.

 

Here in East TENNESSEE, the weather and scenery are so nice that I run that thing up and down a few times a week. If it's down when I park it in the garage it stays down until I have a reason to put it up (washing, rain, too cold for topless, etc.). Sun out; temps up: Top Down. No problem so far.

 

I have pets too so its better to keep the top up.

 

In case anyone missed what Franc said (and don't live near any farmers)...

My last car died at 116,000 in an accident. The car was a daily driver and since I live in Georgia, I can assure you that the top went up and down once or twice a week in the winter and up to a dozen or more times a week the other nine months a year. I had the car four years and 7 months and did this the whole time. HUNDREDS of top cycles a year - never had a leak or any trouble from the top what so ever.

Now, just hang around this forum and our Facebook pages and read the troubles some people have had with their tops. Every one of them either:
1) Don't exercise the top, thinking they are 'preserving it'
2) Store the car five months a year and do not start or move the car, let alone the top.


Compare that to my experience.

My current car is a garage queen and goes up to two weeks at a time without being driven - it sits in a storage unit five miles from the house. The car is at least started and driven to the corner store every 14 days and the top is exercised EVERY TIME I am in the car. PERIOD.

 

That's counterintuitive but encouraging!!!

 

Thanks, pizzaguy. Exactly the advice I was looking for.
My car is also a garage queen. She sits in the garage at the house and goes
about two weeks (sometimes more) at a time without being moved. I try to
stretch her legs a little as often as practical and now I'll also exercise the top every time.

 

I do not have a soft top, my head aside, I have always thought that the tensioning of the fabric top will put the glue between the fabric and the glass in a shear condition. Glues are not too good in this condition, they are good in tension. If I had a soft top I would think that the roof would be best store in the raised but not latched position.

 

That would be my normal guess, especially on a manual top. With the hydrolics, I really don't know what is best, I assume with any cylinders retracted.

 

The cylinders would be in a variety of positions, let the hydraulic oil sort itself out.

 

I exercise the top frequently and always store the car with the top up. I have never operated the top at temperature below 30 degrees or so, so it is usually not exercised as much as I would like during the winter months of storage. Knock on wood, no problems so far after 5 1/2 years of ownership.

I still hate that God awful klunking noise when the locking latch releases upon lowering the top. At least it only sounds bad inside the car and not outside. LOL.

Cheers.

 

Amen to that, brother. It sure would be cool if someone could come up with a way to soften that action even a little..

 

Funny that this came up. Just last Sunday I dis-assambled both latches and lubed them up again with white lithium for the second time since I got the car 5 years ago.
Seems to help with the noise, at least I think so.

 

I'll give it a try. Anything has to help.

 

EVERY car sounds like that, and mine sounded like that for HUNDREDS of cycles over five years and it never failed.

What are you guys worried about? (Now, I do support lubrication of mechanical assemblies, don't get me wrong...)