just a thought...

a coworker of mine was using some industrial teflon sticky tape (not the plumbing stuff) the other day. the stuff looked really useful but i couldn't think of anything to use it for. now that i think about it again, that stuff is probably great for reducing friction between the metal frame and the soft top material

 

Reinforce the areas mentioned above and buy the updated straps from modifry. My car was only 3 years old when I bought it and I noticed that the latches were really pressing against the top when putting the top down. After replacing them with the modifry straps I could not believe how much the straps had worn out after only 3 years. They were brittle and had lost all elasticity.