I purchased a set of replacement sliders (Part # 5417820028) for my '08 Cabrio. The top began binding when I put the top up a few months back and seeing shards of plastic coming off the cars I figured it was time to change them out.
It took my a little over an hour to disassembly and the same to get it back together. The "trick" was to temporarily remove the gears from the track drive gearbox so that the cars could free slide out of the tracks.
I found out that malfunction was due to a car on the passenger side jumping its track when the top was being put down. The problem area is where the removable bar meets the rear body pillar. While I am not sure the fix for this I do have a workaround. If I slide the top back until the front of the top is about 6" from the junction, stop and manually slide the two cross bars across the joint, and then power the top the remainder of the way back it works like a charm. Given I fight with the soft top on a Jeep Wrangler too, this work around is easy for me to swallow.
I was amazed that I found nothing on the web related to this mechanism. I have to disassemble one more time (forgot to clip in liner in the back) so I will try to film the process.
TomL, did you routinely clean and lube the track and mechanism?
I also have an '08 and have not routinely done it, only a couple times. But I would be smart to do it now-- more use in summer, and it is nagging a bit. (Note to self: it will only get worse...)
Yes. 2-3 times a year. I do suspect that it doesn't take much grit to affect this mechanism. I do believe my real issue is the junction between the removable rail and the the top frame.
I would like some detailed information on putting the top back on. I can't get the back piece with the window in it to go back a little so I can the top railed back in.
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