I have a bit of roof rattle and Jeff at Hard Top Guy recommended changing out my soft top strikers for hard top strikers. I'm skeptical, but at this point it can't hurt. Anyway, I tried to break the screws loose over the weekend. I almost completely stripped one of the screw heads and that was about all I was able to accomplish. Those suckers are in there tight Anybody have any luck doing this??? I am assuming these are held in with lock tight... How should I go about breaking these loose with out stripping the screw heads? Has any one else done this? Have they noticed an improvement?

Thanks!

 

Mine came out very easy.. maybe try a high impact screwdriver

 

Hmmm, it is my understanding that '03 and newer cars came with the HD hardtop strikers from the factory. However, yours may have been worn down. And yes, they may be in there with Loctite, as they should be. Getting them out is not going to be easy.

 

How can I tell the difference between the hard top and soft top strikers? The ones from Hard Top Guy definitely look different. If you tipped them so they were standing on the latch part the bottom part of the "L" is definitely much longer on the ones that are already on the car. Is that the main difference?

I can try and post pictures if that will help... thanks in advance!

I tried to break them loose by hand and then with a power drill with an adaptor on it. Those things did not budge. I think I

 

Much like the screws on the rotors, I used a large phillips head screwdriver bit, which I held with a socket. A quick pop on the ratched handle with my hand broke them free with no fuss.

 

Odd. When I compared my old soft top strikers (MY'00), they were overall (main body) much smaller than the hardtop strikers. And it was my understanding that the hardtops for the later models didn't require different strikers, giving the impression that the stock ones were already HD strikers. I never compared the "L" as you have.
If HTguy sent you different strikers, then of course, use them and see what happens. As for the stuck screws, an impact driver may be your only hope. Careful you don't damage the windshield by whacking it too hard.