Soft top hinge squeak

[TylerV76]

Got a hinge on my premium soft top thats driving me insane. Every bump I hit it squeaks. Ive wd-40’d it, greased it with lithium and sprayed it with slide. Any ideas how to make it stop? Im about to just give up on the soft top and go back to the hardtop.

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[Tethmes]

Are you sure that's the culprit? That's a lot of grease to still be squeaking.

 

[TylerV76]

Are you sure that's the culprit? That's a lot of grease to still be squeaking.

Yeah if I shake it I can make it squeak. It seems to be inside if the pin that holds it together.

 

[Swagger]

Open or closed or both? Squeak or rattle or both? I find that a lot of noise comes from the wheel that rides in the rail, or the spring loaded plastic piece that is supposed to compress when the wheel rests against it. When open, I put a velcro strap around the frame which helps. If closed make sure the plastic supports are inside the rain rails. I find that grease will not help, only keeping tension on the frame to keep it from moving gets rid of the noise. Hope this helps...

 

[TylerV76]

Open or closed or both? Squeak or rattle or both? I find that a lot of noise comes from the wheel that rides in the rail, or the spring loaded plastic piece that is supposed to compress when the wheel rests against it. When open, I put a velcro strap around the frame which helps. If closed make sure the plastic supports are inside the rain rails. I find that grease will not help, only keeping tension on the frame to keep it from moving gets rid of the noise. Hope this helps...

Open and closed. Squeak. I do also get the rattle from the plastic but that doesnt bother me. Im going to try to clamp that pin in that hinge and see if that stops it. If it does, I may need to have the hinge rebuilt.

 

[boarder140]

Open and closed. Squeak. I do also get the rattle from the plastic but that doesnt bother me. Im going to try to clamp that pin in that hinge and see if that stops it. If it does, I may need to have the hinge rebuilt.

Mine squeaks as well, open and closed. More open than closed though. I dont really hear it when the top is all the way down though

edit: its only from the passengers side

 

[Botanicalstig]

I think just behind that point you've greased, you'll see a spring (I think it's sort of hidden underneath the rail). Drip some machine lube down in that area. That was the cause my squeak.

 

[TylerV76]

I think just behind that point you've greased, you'll see a spring (I think it's sort of hidden underneath the rail). Drip some machine lube down in that area. That was the cause my squeak.

Thanks! I’ll give that a shot.

 

[TylerV76]

I think just behind that point you've greased, you'll see a spring (I think it's sort of hidden underneath the rail). Drip some machine lube down in that area. That was the cause my squeak.

That was it. Thank you for pointing that out. Ive looked in that general area a dozen times and never saw the spring under that piece of plastic. Got some lube on the spring and it completely stopped the squeaking.

For anyone else having this issue, the spring is behind the plastic piece circled in red.

 

[boarder140]

Glad that thats was where it was coming from! I'm going to grease up mine too

 

[Botanicalstig]

That was it. Thank you for pointing that out. Ive looked in that general area a dozen times and never saw the spring under that piece of plastic. Got some lube on the spring and it completely stopped the squeaking.

For anyone else having this issue, the spring is behind the plastic piece circled in red.

Sweet, glad that worked! Mine was squeaky from the factory and it took me a few days to fix. It was really hard to find. Greased all the hinges/pivot points, rail... Over and over, tried different products... Dripped some thick oil on that spring and instant relief!

 

[rvb]

That was it. Thank you for pointing that out. Ive looked in that general area a dozen times and never saw the spring under that piece of plastic. Got some lube on the spring and it completely stopped the squeaking.

For anyone else having this issue, the spring is behind the plastic piece circled in red.

Did you need to remove the cover to apply the oil? I have sprayed silicone lubricant and it worked for a day. What did you use to lubricate the spring?

 

[TylerV76]

Did you need to remove the cover to apply the oil? I have sprayed silicone lubricant and it worked for a day. What did you use to lubricate the spring?

I didn't remove the cover. I used wd-40 and was able to get the straw in the crack and spray it. It'll be a week tomorrow and it hasn't squeaked once.

 

[rvb]

I didn't remove the cover. I used wd-40 and was able to get the straw in the crack and spray it. It'll be a week tomorrow and it hasn't squeaked once.

Thank you very much, I was ready to put the hard top back on!

 

[TylerV76]

Thank you very much, I was ready to put the hard top back on!

Same. Honestly I still am to a point and may very well do so soon. The squeak is fixed but now Im battling a whistle when there's a cross wind when Im doing 70+mph.

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