t-top noise humor me with a fix
09-23-2014, 04:07 PM
#1
t-top noise humor me with a fix 2002 ss, 70k miles driven easy (but on ct roads). original owner.
car is garaged in winter. wanna say 3 or 4 years ago.... so i went 6, 7, or 8 years without this problem... the t-tops will creak and squeak when i drive slow down are usual crappy roads. i remember the first time driving after winter storage i'm going down the road and notice i don't have my driver side top latched, i had been cleaning things and forgot about it. so i latched it and immediately or since that day i noticed it creaking, and it's creaked and been noisy since.
while driving and it's noisy, if i unlatch it, no noise.
cannot drive with it unlatched obviously...
I've tried the following with no success:
- back and forth with stock suspension to umi lca, phb, and 3-point bolt in subframes.
- have tried wedging foam in where top latches.
- have pulled the top apart and found nothing wrong.
- have adjusted the metal tabs on the body that the t-top latches into.
- window up or down doesn't matter.
the one thing that does stop the noise is, with window down while driving i reach up and pull down on the top with 5-10 lbs of force.
car is garaged in winter. wanna say 3 or 4 years ago.... so i went 6, 7, or 8 years without this problem... the t-tops will creak and squeak when i drive slow down are usual crappy roads. i remember the first time driving after winter storage i'm going down the road and notice i don't have my driver side top latched, i had been cleaning things and forgot about it. so i latched it and immediately or since that day i noticed it creaking, and it's creaked and been noisy since.
while driving and it's noisy, if i unlatch it, no noise.
cannot drive with it unlatched obviously...
I've tried the following with no success:
- back and forth with stock suspension to umi lca, phb, and 3-point bolt in subframes.
- have tried wedging foam in where top latches.
- have pulled the top apart and found nothing wrong.
- have adjusted the metal tabs on the body that the t-top latches into.
- window up or down doesn't matter.
the one thing that does stop the noise is, with window down while driving i reach up and pull down on the top with 5-10 lbs of force.
09-24-2014, 01:00 AM
#2
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This sort of noise used to happen with my '02 in very cold weather (winter time, car was a daily driver). I bought that car used and I think it did it every winter for as long as I owned it (about 7-8 years). The noise would go away once the interior warmed up from the heater, or from sunlight.
My '98 doesn't do this, but it's a garage queen and doesn't ever get driven in winter-level temps. So maybe it would too when it's 15° degrees out, but I'll never know.
Sorry I have no advice, I never tried anything to specifically fix this on mine, since it went away ~8 months of the year or even with a warm interior in the winter. But you aren't alone in hearing the noise.
My '98 doesn't do this, but it's a garage queen and doesn't ever get driven in winter-level temps. So maybe it would too when it's 15° degrees out, but I'll never know.
Sorry I have no advice, I never tried anything to specifically fix this on mine, since it went away ~8 months of the year or even with a warm interior in the winter. But you aren't alone in hearing the noise.
09-24-2014, 02:28 AM
#3
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Squeak or Rattle? the plastic trim on the t-top interior rattles on me when I drive down my dirt road, maybe when your grabbing the t-top your holding that too? in which case you just need to find someway to pad the t-top trim.
you could try bending the metal tabs (that you adjusted) to pull the t-tops down tighter but it's probably not worth it as it raises the chance of creating a leak when it rains.
you could try bending the metal tabs (that you adjusted) to pull the t-tops down tighter but it's probably not worth it as it raises the chance of creating a leak when it rains.
