Soft Top Rattling

[bnavani]

Is it common and expected that the soft top of the Boxter would rattle a little bit especially on un even surfaces; or should it feel and sound solid and stiff?

[deliriousga]

You must own a convertible. LOL Just kidding.

Yes, it will make noises. There are some things you can do to help lessen squeaks in the joints (grease them) and rattles where the top meets the header (there's a felt strip in there that wears out), but it will never be completely quiet.

If you want to feel better about it, hop in a Jeep Wrangler. That's what we used to have and the Boxster is silent in comparison.

If you want to feel really good about having an expensive car that makes a little noise, hop in a convertible Corvette. Besides having to manually put the top up/down in a $50K car, it's still a Chevy and it makes all kinds of noise.

Originally Posted by deliriousga

If you want to feel really good about having an expensive car that makes a little noise, hop in a convertible Corvette. Besides having to manually put the top up/down in a $50K car, it's still a Chevy and it makes all kinds of noise.

oouuucchhhh! That's gonna get Brucelee fired-up!

[Rail26]

My car rattles on the rough roads also. Nothing to worry about...just put the top back down and it goes away.

[rbennett]

Originally Posted by bnavani

Is it common and expected that the soft top of the Boxter would rattle a little bit especially on un even surfaces; or should it feel and sound solid and stiff?

Mine rattles just a bit and whistles > 80mph, but like they said before, grease contact parts with light, light spray oil and it helps.

The one thing that bothers me is that the visors will rattle against the hard plastic on the drop top on choppy roads. I have a mod in the works to fix this

[insatiable]

Put the top half open and rub baby powder or talc. on all the rubber seals and this will silence some of the squeeks which I suspect occur due to body flex.
Trouble is you need to do it every couple of months.
As for the rattles ,I can't help but will be all ears for anybodys solutions.
Cheers.

[ralegen]

Mines seems stiff and snug. Question for you: Do you hear this driving alone? Or do you also hear it when there's a passenger?


Reason I ask is because I had a rattle also.. It was very disturbing. It only happened with I would go over bumps. It sounded like a loose brakcet or something (metal noise). Lo and BEHOLD! It was just the passenger seat belt clanking on the metal frame. GO CHECK TO SEE IF IT"S THIS. Let us know!

[deliriousga]

Originally Posted by insatiable

Put the top half open and rub baby powder or talc. on all the rubber seals and this will silence some of the squeeks which I suspect occur due to body flex.
Trouble is you need to do it every couple of months.
As for the rattles ,I can't help but will be all ears for anybodys solutions.
Cheers.

I use Plumber's Grease for this and it has lasted 6 months so far with no signs of squeaks or pops. Plumber's grease is safe for rubber and plastic parts so don't use just any grease for this. It has to be non-petroleum based grease or it will soften and eventually tear down the rubber and plastic.

Btw, there's a "U" shaped cup that holds the folding top's bar right behind the seats that can rattle. There's a little piece in there that comes loose, but you have to take a good bit of interior pieces out to get to it so I haven't been able to see if it can be fixed easily.

[RandallNeighbour]

Now I could be wrong, but my logical side tells me that talc or baby powder might stop the squeaking, but cause the rubber to dry out prematurely. I like the plumber's grease idea much better.