Originally Posted by popeye
Yesterday after returning from a 100 mile ride-about I was lowering the top before entering the garage. The top cycled properly through all the different phases and ended with the beep, and the latch mechanism poised about 8 inches above the windscreen. I reached up to pull it down and latch it and it didn't want to come down. I tugged much harder than usual to get it to bang down in place so I could latch it. Previously there was some resistance when pulling it down that last 8 inches always with a bang, but this time I really needed to put a bit of muscle into it.
question: is it normal that this last segment of the process might be slightly inconsistent in its tension? Perhaps the hydraulics have a tolerance? Or, would cleaning the top with water and wiping it down cause the material to shrink up a bit and increase the tension of the last part of the lowering process?
All ideas welcome...popeye
I don't think so. It seems to me that the hydraulics are "out of the loop" at this point. Once the rear of the convertible top has latched, the only resistance can be from the tension of the fabric stretching over the frame.
When I get to this point, I use my left hand to support the front bar while my right hand (after twisting the handle 90 degrees) slowly pulls the top all the way down. This prevents the "bang".
I don't know how the tension could change unless the top was stored down for a long time.
