My forbidden mugen stlye hardtop was squeaking while driving normally on a relativly smooth road. So i've spent the past few days looking around on the forum to find a solution, and shin etsu grease and some adjusting has stopped all of it except for my driver side rear bracket which squeaks almost nonstop while driving. when i installed my hardtop my buddy told me to push as hard as a i can and tighten the brackets that way, but from what i have seen that is not the proper way to do this, i have tried putting less and less pressure on the top while tightening the rear bracket but still have the same ammount of squeaking. im using the soft top front latches currently and have noticed the passenger side bracket itself is not as close to the hardtop as the driver side and the same side seems to not pull the hardtop in as much as the driver side does. does anyone have any more ideas for what i should do?

 

Buy an authentic mugen or OEM top.

Replica tops are hit or miss (usually miss) and don't fit anywhere near as well as authentic/OEM. This is due to either crappy molds or over used molds that create warped/ill fitting tops.

From my experience, there isn't much you can do. I had a replica top for about 2-3 weeks before getting lucky and finding an OEM top. Yes, the price paid for the OEM top at 2-3x the cost of a replica top was totally worth it. My only regret was that I purchased a replica top first.

 

Agreed with Bullrings, only safest (though not the cheapest) way to go about it is to get OEM or authentic, or just sell if hardtop isn't a must-have item on your list.

Most replicas are just for looks, many of them require much prepping in order to look and fit just okay...but if driving experience is important to you, I would suggest going OEM / authentic.

I haven't had any problem with my authentic Mugen hardtop. Everytime I look at my friends' replicas and mine, I think it was worth it. Authentic parts tend to keep their values much better too, if you decide to sell you won't really lose that much.

 

my OEM top squeaks at the driver front latch over every bump. i've gotten good at ignoring it but it bugs me sometimes...

 

I had a Forbidden OEM style CF top and was able to adjust the brackets so it was quieter than my friend's CR HT. What brackets are you using OP?

 

Yes, it's true that authentic and OEM fit better obviously, but even those have a chance of squeaking or rattling. I have an OEM hardtop and there were occasional squeaks and rattles until I resolved it. In my opinion, the majority of the issue lies in the hardware that is used. OEM hardware is the way to go, nothing else compares.

 

dumb question but can you use OEM hardware with the reps such as Forbidden USA tops and Rockstar Garage tops?

 

Yes

 

 

FWIW, my friend went with the Forbidden OEM Style bracket and was able to eliminate his squeeks and rattles.