ofsalesmen

I am a massive idiot.

Yesterday, I was in a hurry getting out of my car, so I put the top up but forgot to do the latches. This morning, it was a bit damp, so I kept the top up but rolled my windows down. I accelerate onto the highway and notice sunlight peeking out near my sun visors around 50 mph. To my horror, the latches were undone.

Since I had the windows down, the top was catching a lot of wind, which caused a gap of several inches between the windshield and the top. My instinct was to slow down, but I couldn't because of traffic. With one hand trying to hold the top down in the middle and another on the wheel, I manage to switch several lanes and pull over on the shoulder. To add to the embarrassment, I stalled in the process since I totally forgot to shift down from sixth gear.

I couldn't close the gap with my hand, so I used the switch. Then, I cycled through the entire opening and closing of the top. Luckily, the top went down all the way and closed fully. This time, I made damn sure I latched it!

So, everything seems to work fine, but I can't help but think something could be damaged. Does anyone have any insights/personal experience with this kind of situation? Should I check anything specific, like the soft top motor?

xoz

If it opens and closes with ease, then I seriously think that it'll be fine. There is always that slight gap anyways until you latch up. So any movement that was as a result of this incident is pretty much the same as when car is stationary. You may have stretched the fabric and elastic straps slightly, so just an eye on this in future. Does the soft top still retract all the way down properly.?

ofsalesmen

Thanks for the advice. As far as I can tell, yes. It doesn't protrude like it would if the elastic straps were worn out.

CKit

Likely fine.

Reckon

Should be ok. Doesn't sound like you did it for long or were moving fast enough for the wind to force the top open much. As long as it continues to open and close in the correct manner, you should be ok!