Panorama sunshade lubrication?

[smartist]

We're on our second sun shade and it is no better than the first. The problem is that the design & materials used allow shrinkage of the sun screen fabric in hot weather to pull it inwards and bind it against the u-clips. Check it yourself & see that the slide rails are bowed inwards in the middle, nor parallel to the roof mounts as they should be.

This is a design problem that smart will need to remedy with another mechanism altogether.

Rick

[theguywiththelongestname]

Originally Posted by smartist

We're on our second sun shade and it is no better than the first. The problem is that the design & materials used allow shrinkage of the sun screen fabric in hot weather to pull it inwards and bind it against the u-clips. Check it yourself & see that the slide rails are bowed inwards in the middle, nor parallel to the roof mounts as they should be.

This is a design problem that smart will need to remedy with another mechanism altogether.

Rick

if their is a redesign, i hope that smart chooses to "kick it down" to all of the version 1 sunshade people out there...

[SubSlr88]

The sunshade was binding about six inches from being fully open. I looked and found the RH rail had popped out of the clip.
I got some silicone spray and coated the rails on both sides using a Q-tip. (You can open the sunshade by slowly rolling the take-up roller in the middle by hand rather than pushing on the center handle.)
I made one application then closed and opened it again and made a second application (again using the Q-tip) and now everything seems to work as designed.
The binding would cause the rail to pop out of the clip - which BTW HAS to be "U" shaped to allow the fabric to pass thru (someone earlier suggested it should be closed.)
I'll keep tabs on this fix and see if it holds up.

[mendo]

Originally Posted by theguywiththelongestname

i'm glad to read about your sucessful repair and lube up with McLube "sailkote"...

Yup, it worked great!

that and re-attaching the front pulleys that were loose and out of alignment. I had to use some rivits to hold them all nice and tight and now they stay in line.

The SailKote is still working Great! one hand open and closed.

[SmarTek-TNG]

yeah, the sunshades are not very well designed.. they just seem super fragile and failure prone.. if you ever have one off and take a look at the mechanism, you will understand why, it just doesn't look durable to me. I am not aware of any new design, although I probably wouldn't know if they decided to redesign it until it showed up at my dealership.

[Old smart]

smartUSA HQ definitely knows of the problem. Now the hope is, if there is a re-design coming, that the earlier smarts can be retrofitted.

[theguywiththelongestname]

my sunroof is still working nicely...lubed it with electrical grade silicon about two months ago...

but, the McLube Sailkote is still on my list-of-things-to-do for my smartmobile. it seems that the Sailkote is the long-term solution...

i am looking forward to a redesigned retrofit sunshade from smart someday...

[Old smart]

Sailcote does have to be refreshed from time-to-time. In the open weather and marine environment I re-do my mainsail track and sheet horse and traveler about four times a year. The smart's enclosed rails should last longer, but I would re-do them as soon as things seem to be tightening up.

[cbj54]

They told me when I picked up my passion coupe last wk that smart had a recall on the screens. Salesperson said they would call me when they get the replacement in.

[lnshields]

Picked up my Smartcar last Saturday in Birmingham. Dealer told me flat out: don't use the sunshade; it's defective and they're going to come out with a fix.