ive heard that its bad for the frame to take hard corners in a t-top car with the tops off. do the t-tops provide any worthwhile support when they are on? i know these cars have crappy frames to begin with, but any bit of caution helps

just wondering

 

I'm curious where you heard that.

 

I always joke with my friends when they're screwing around going around corners saying "on or off" Basically it's out inside joke that when the frame tweaks a little do you want them permanently on or off the car. No idea if it adds rigidity or not, but I know on a lot of them the gaps change in the corners while they go over bumps

 

ok...so no one really knows?

 

do this take a string and put it where your t-tops are and make it tight, then have a passenger ride with you when you take a hard turn and see if the string droops.

 

I don't know just how much support they provide, but they have to have some structural impact. Why do I think that? Simply because of the amount of t-tops I've seen come flying off of modified LSx F-bodies and Vettes at the dragstrip during a hard launch or shift.

Mike M

 

i cant believe that the t-tops provide any structual support whatsoever. but the cars bo flex a bit and in a car with a loose/weak chassis, i can see them possible comming off, but highly unlikely

 

Yeah, I understand what you are saying. It's possible (maybe even likely) that the tops I've seem come off at the track were a result of stresses on the tops, basically trying to make them structural components when they clearly aren't intended to be. You see more occurrences of 'shedding tops' in a stock chassis car that has been modified with things like nitrous. A car with subframe connectors and/or beefed up chassis work is much less likely to leave a top on the track.

Mike M

 

Wouldn't the glass crack if there was stress on them?

 

im talking about the lever you pull to clamp them in

 

Yea taking sharps turns in my car is a nono because it starts making cracking noises like when walking on wood......but i dont like to talk about it at all

 

you need sfcs... had to point out the obvious.

 

its hard to find someone you trust to install them, plus grinding off any undercoating, and pulling up the carpet so it doesnt burn. these things wont stop me from getting subframe connectors this summer but it will suck lol

 

Subframe conectors are a must have in a T-Top car. Any unibody car really. I've replaced 2 sets of T-Tops in my dads 89 because he refuses to let me put subframe conectors on it. They crack and start to look like a spiderweb after a while. Needless to say I bought a hard top and put sfc's on it and i still have cracks forming in the paint just above the drip rail at the back of the doors from it flexing. Next step is a 6 pt. cage. As far as it flexing enough to permanantly lodge the t-tops in or out....I don't think it could. The body will always return to "close" to original shape once your out of the corner.

 

Yall with t-tops that want to see exactly how strong the latch/bar/whatever is inside the non glass part of a t-top should just take the cover off and look

Its hollow tube about the diameter of your baby finger

Its all glued directly to the glass

If ANY support is comming from having the t-tops on during cornering its all thru the strength of the glass itself

GM put the little striker bars in the upper part of the door jambs to halfass stiffen part of the chassis for t-tops

Top up or down is a myth, your just as flexible with em up as down

 

I don't think there is any way the average enthusiast can measure this, you'd need some engineering/scientific types to really test it out. So if you really wanna know, send it to Myth Busters on TV (hahah joking). I personally dont think it matters. I mean, look at what the t-top itself is constructed of. Do you honestly think those materials can prevent chassis flex in a 3400 pound car?

 

yeah i had a feeling it was BS, but u never know...

im hoping to get subframe connectors this summer


where am i supposed to check for stress cracks on a t-top car? do i have to remove the black plastic in the middle?

 

the only place I've ever saw any stress cracks on 3rd gens are where the sail panels meet the roof of the car.....if you don't have any....then..your good.

 

i thought that was just on hardtop cars

 

look along the t-top center bar, but you'll have to pull back weatherstripping which might destroy them to see the cracks.

 

It's amazing what sfc will do. Made my own earlier this year and it stopped a lot of the creaking. The car used to creak going in and out of the driveway.