[steelbridge1]

There are a few posts that touch on this subject, but I haven't found what I need, so here goes:

99 SL 500

I had my ragtop replaced a couple of years ago and they did a nice job - it worked fine. Last year, the front locks started leaking so I had them rebuilt by TopHydraulics, Inc. (they are highly recommended). Of course, after reinstalling the rebuilt locks, I tried to operate the top and one of the main lift cylinders blew its juice and nothing happened. Now I know I have to remove the rest of the locks and send them to TopHydraulics. In the meantime, I have been manually putting the top down and storing it in its compartment so I can drive with it down, and manually putting it up when I'm not using it.

At one point, I stupidly tried to put the top up without lowering the windows (don't ask me why). I felt some hard resistance part way up and realized I had screwed up, so I lowered it back down and lowered the windows. When I put the top back up, the rear locking pins didn't align with the holes in the locks. They are located about one half inch short (towards the front of the car). I'm sure it's due to my mistake, but does anyone know what happened? Did I bend something or is there an adjustment that moved on the frame? The rest of the top seems to fit properly over the windshield and around the closed windows (after the top has been put up).

 

[e-420]

there IS an adjustment. I just did the adjustment on mine about 1hr ago and am doing a writeup now.

 

[steelbridge1]

Hi e-420,

Will you post the adjustment procedure soon? I'm hoping to get to work this weekend.

 

[cottagstan]

This an interesting question. A while ago I replaced all my cylinders, using Top Hydraulics, of course. When completed and trying to operate the soft top, I found the rear locking posts misaligned, towards the rear, about 1/4", just enough to prevent the locking process to complete. I swear up & down that I didn't move a thing on the top, yet this did happen. I had to resolve this by readjusting the posts ever so slightly. Just for the record, does anyone have any idea how this misalignment might have happened?

 

[tgambob]

If you are manually raising and lowering your top it is easy to bend the pins if you let the front part move downwards before making the rear stand straight up. I have bent mine several times having people help me put the top up or getting in a hurry. The emergency top tool 10mm end works great to bend them back

 

[e-420]

read this post I started in DETAIL. Klaus, the top guru chimed in and listed several causes of the pin misalignment. so make sure you look for possible causes before haphazardly adjusting.

Mine were just very slightly off horizontally, so I adjusted them. In any case read Klaus' comments carefully.

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r129-sl-class/2350401-adjusting-rear-soft-top-smooth-closure.html

 

[steelbridge1]

Thanks, e-420 - now can anyone post a picture of the tension rod I probably bent so I can straighten it out? I suspect I let the front of the top down without lifting the rear fully.