So I have a creaking problem with my soft top. It is on the drivers side behind the seat (in the joints of the soft top metal parts). It is most evident when going over speed bumps. I have tried the TSB fixes, with lithium grease and silcone but that was a few months ago. Before I re-do the same fixes again. I wanted to know if there is something obvious from the video that I need to address beside that. Does the lube need to be applied every so often to keep this creaking down?

pg_0001

Video of creaking. I applied a little uneven pressure on this side. It doesn't happen when I do the same to the passenger side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDqN...ature=youtu.be

 

I've had this problem in the past, the solution was lithium grease. When I changed out my top, I put it in every single moving part, and rubbed it in good. Have not had issues since. You just have to find the right moving part.

 

I already tried that but the creeks came back. I think I didn't use enough of the spray because I was afraid I'd get it over the soft top. Maybe I'll be more liberal with the application this time.

 

Guys, Sorry to revive this thread again. I know I have another thread on going about the dash noise. But I wanted to wait a month for the weather to get warmer, in the hopes that the creeking from the roof support joints would disappear. Well it was 80 the last two days here (almost) and still not change. I have already applied sufficient grease and spray per the original TSB.

I suspect that it is the frame itself that is lose. Is there anyway to tighten the joint bolts. Would a hex key fit in that whole. By tightening it will I be making the opening and closing harder?

I have the modifry straps that I haven't put on yet because my current ones don't exhibit any wear. I don't think they serve any support purpose when not folding top down.

 

I battled this quite a bit but couldn't fix it. However, I learned a trick on this board that works very well. Once the top is latched, hit the switch to lower it again for a half-second. This adds a bit of tension to the whole assembly and got rid of all creaking. Sure, it does put some stress on the structure, but I think it was designed for a lot more stress than that so I don't think it's prematurely wearing stuff that would actually wear out in the lifetime of the car. Even if it did, it was worth it for my sanity. Did that for a year or so and never had a problem until I sold the car.

 

Thanks so much for the tip. I tried it out, and it fixed the creaking indeed. Now about the second part of creating stress. The car only has 43k miles on it but it is over 12 years old so I am wondering if I am trading the creaking for a torn soft top. But that it seems might happen eventually anyways Anyways your help is really appertained. Hopefully this will add to the long list of things on how to resolve noises in this car. Now back to my dash noise thread ...