Convertible owners
 

I'm curious if when you lower your top, does it drop a bit once it gets over the top (vertical) and laying down? Mine is not smooth when it gets to that point, as it has no tension to keep it from doing this. Is this normal? It makes a bit of a creak sound at the same time.

Normal. Enjoy the open road. Nothing like a rag top.

Thank you. That's comforting to know. I plan on putting my own new top on in the spring and wanted to make sure I didn't need to replace something else while apart.

I wish i had a convertible!
Back in the '80's; you'd see many 'verts on the road as daily drivers, in the fall/winter, with the top up.
I like the look of most convertibles with the top up; But some look better than others.
I'd always thought the '69 Cougar 'vert looked awesome with the top up.
Along with that, I think the 68-72 Lemans and GTO are some of the best Looking cars with the top up.
I know the magic is cruising w/ the top down, but i also love the look top up.
Just sayin

Mine momentarily "catches" at the "peak" halfway when lowering the top.
Does not hesitate when raising the top.

Great looking cars.

That delay type thing going up is due to air in the lines. The more air you have the more it will do it, won't hurt anything within reason but if it gets worse you may have a leak somewhere. Too much air in the lines will make life hard on the pump motor and you might end up with a mess under the back seat.

Thanks. When I replace my top in the spring, I'll probably flush the cylinder out and fill with new. Maybe that will help. I also notice when I first try to activate lowering the top, it struggles to lift off the windshield top. I push up on it a bit and it helps.

That is another sign of excess air in the lines. If you go through the system it’s a good idea to check for leaks and also to separate the reservoir from the rest of the pump and clean out the sludge build up in there. There is a company in California (convertible services I think it’s called) that sells a handy bleeding jug system along with and seals, lines and cylinders etc.

I've never noticed anything unusual when mine is in operation. But then again, I can't remember ever paying attention to it because that is when I'm normally connecting my IPhone to blutooth.