Zeracer, I have my top up 90% of the time to prevent the side panel fold marking, and with 15K it just hasn't been cycled that much. The wear showed up in last year or two became very noticeable.
Dcskmail, today I cycled the top, stopping frequently to see if the latch bars were touching the cloth surface, but couldn't see any point where anything contacted the top at the area of the wear line. What I did see was a unusual fold right at the point where the wear line is on the top. The fold was running front to back not side to side that the top normally folds along.
Harbor, thanks for the link, looks like many have experienced the Top wear line. I didn't see any reference to the electrical tape fix, but I wonder if tape would provide enough stiffness in the cloth to prevent the unusual fold that I saw today and may be the source of the wear line. Mine also is about 3" long. I have both 2" wide black electrical tape and duct tape. Time for a couple tests to see if it stops the fold at that point. At least the tape i have is black.
Hey guys thanks!, for the feedback. this Forum always is a great source of info and ideas.