Hello Folks,

I have joined the forum a few months ago, but have been reluctant to post much, because my company Top Hydraulics is also a vendor. As of yesterday, we are an official, corporate sponsor of CrossfireForum, and I would like to introduce myself officially...

I do not own a Crossfire, nor have I ever driven one, but I sure like this car - it is beautiful!

My automotive passion is with convertibles. After I had my first Mercedes convertible with an automatic roof for a while, the top hydraulic cylinders started leaking hydraulic fluid. The 90's Mercedes SL-Class ("R129") has 12 hydraulic cylinders for roof actuation, as opposed to the Crossfire having slimmed down to seven. The hydraulic cylinders for a Mercedes would cost over $6k just in parts to replace, so I decided to fix them myself.

Fixing the cylinders almost turned into a scientific endeavor, because the seals used in these cylinders are not available off the shelf, and the material used in the cylinders up to this day is the same - it decays with time, and the decay gets accelerated by heat and exposure to water and additives in the fluid. There was a lot of demand out there to get these cylinders rebuilt, and I wanted to do it such that the cylinders would last a lot longer than they did the first time around. We are not talking about o-rings here, but cup seals. Having developed a better seal geometry than the original, and using seal material that is practically insensitive to water and common additives in hydraulic fluids, my services were very well received. Fast forward a few years, and my company now truly upgrades the hydraulic cylinders for over 20 brands of modern convertibles, with hundreds of different cylinder rebuilds offered. The concept is simple: make people's hydraulic cylinders much better than new ones for a fraction of the dealer price, and you have a win-win situation... We are proud to offer rebuild service for all seven Crossfire hydraulic cylinders, as well as the hydraulic pump. We even manufacture hydraulic lines (hoses) for the Crossfire.

In any case, I hope that I can contribute to this forum when it comes to questions about the convertible/roadster top hydraulic system, and I look forward to interacting with you folks!

Klaus

Top Hydraulics | Rebuilt and Upgraded Convertible Top Cylinders, Pumps, Hydraulic Lines - Top Hydraulics, Inc

 

Welcome aboard.

While I do not have a convertible, I can certainly appreciate a good vendor willing to do something better than the stealership, and for less money.

Best of luck here, as these cars get older and us insanely **** owners need service, you should be a perfect fit for the ragtops

Do you happen to have a few pictures to share, maybe of the OEM versus what you do? Or is it mostly in fluids and those do not compare well in photos LOL

 

Thanks for joining up. I have a Roadster. Never had a problem yet, but I sure they will develope with age of the parts. Thanks, glad to have you here.

 

I have a roadster, so as stated above....no problems so far...but glad you are aboard...

 

No problems here either. But glad to have you here. Welcome aboard!

 

welcome,, always need hoses.

 

The two main lift cylinders for my roadster started leaking so I struggled to decide on a partial or complete rebuild.
This forum said that if one cylinder leaks they soon all will so most recommended a total replacement of 5 cylinders.
The name Klaus at Top Hydraulics was frequently mentioned as being a master at rebuilding the original cylinders at
$750 for 5. At one time there was a very in-depth thread on the forum that documented the replacement process with
tons of pictures. Unfortunately, TinyPic has folded and took all the aforementioned photos with them. Next I went to the
service manual which actually only added to my stress level.

I was really beginning to question my ability to do this.

Then I discovered that Klaus at Top Hydraulics has a YouTube video showing how to remove and replace each of the 7 cylinders
involved in the top operation. Now we're getting somewhere. After carefully watching each video my confidence level rose to
the point of checking out Top Hydraulics website. www.tophydraulics.com I was pleased to learn that Klaus currently offers..
all 7 cylinders ( the five lift cylinders along with the tonneau cover lock with cylinder and the bow lock with cylinder) for $1750
with $1000 refund upon return of your old cylinders. $750 net for all 7. The beauty of this arrangement means you can remove
a cylinder and immediately replace it while it is fresh in your mind how you got it out.

I ordered them on Saturday, received them by 2-day FedEx Wednesday morning, installed all 7 by myself on Wednesday and Thursday
and shipped the old ones to Klaus on Friday. I frequently referred to Klaus' videos throughout the process. I cannot say enough in praise
of his videos. I could not have possibly done this job without them. No way.

Thank you, Klaus Witte and Top Hydraulics.

If you are considering replacing your hydraulics watch Klaus' videos, screw up your courage
and go for it. If I can do it, you can do it.

 

Great resource, thanks for sharing