I got rather nervous, when the soft top on my Smart Fortwo Cabrio began to get stuck, when I tried to close it, and had to help it shut by pulling its sliders manually, while operating it.
It started doing it two weeks ago, but the last few days it has gotten far worse, and was close to not wanting to move at all.
The front edge of the soft top, doesn’t get stuck, but the two loose plastic sliders get to the edge between the rear canopy, and the side rails.
At first they kind of jump from the edge, when passing, later they stop, and can be assisted past the spot, by hand.
If you haven’t lubricated it by then, the next step is getting completely stuck.
I’ve read that other Smart owners have ended up, breaking them, and in one case, pulling one of the sliders out of their rails.
I read a lot of threads from others, who described having similar issues, and the issue seemed relatively straightforward to resolve.
The soft top is mounted on three ribs, that slide in the side rails.
Both the sliders and the rails are made from plastic, and there is nothing to reduce the friction between them, except the lubricant they left the factory with.
It seems to be a pretty common issue, with a lot of questions about how to fix it. Luckily, there are also a lot of answers, with possible solutions.
There were a few recommendations, for which type of lubricant to use, and I started by following the wrong advice, at my first attempt.
I liked the idea of using a “dry” lubricant, that didn’t hold on to dust, dirt and grime.
I followed a lead, and bought a “dry” PTFE lubricant, and applied it to the sliders, but there was absolutely no improvement whatsoever.
My second choice was to buy a Lithium grease, which was a completely different result. This time the sliders moved, and after closing and opening the roof a few times, it slid without any effort whatsoever.
I must admit that the sliders now moved so freely, that I for a moment thought something else was wrong.
It wasn’t, but I had never seen them greased up, so having them move by themselves, instead of being dragged by the leading edge, was new territory for me 😅
If you are so unlucky, that you have damaged one of the sliders, they can be changed by following this video tutorial:
Have you had problems with your soft top?
If so, please share your experience in a comment below 👇
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