MIC Hardtop pins shearing off the top easily. DEFECT?

[McBronc]

Anyone else having this issue? We like to remove the hardtop whenever we have a stretch of good weather days, and have come to learn that the bottom base of the hardtop is really thin and not well made.

When reinstalling the hardtop the goal is to align the pins to the holes before you drop them, but you never hit it 100% and there are fingers to watch out for. So sometimes the pins hit the top of the car next to the hole. Even lightly resting them causes a huge flex in the hardtop base and eventually they break - not the pin, but the base itself tears and shears off with the pin. I am now down to two pins and need to know if this is something Ford replaces or if there is a fix to shore up the base.

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[Techun]

Pictures? Is this the rear clamshell?

 

[thatspecialbeat]

Pics?

 

[BroncoPls!]

I would like to see pictures of this. Anything to help avoid doing it myself.

 

[WRF3MD]

Same thing happened with mine. I'll try to take pictures if I take the top off again this weekend. Atleast on the two door, there's a pin at each corner near the bolts. Smaller screw threaded into a MIC "pocket" that creates a "pin" on the bottom. Seems very flimsy and was thinking about cutting the other ones off before they break and make a bigger mess.

 

[McBronc]

Anyone else having this issue? We like to remove the hardtop whenever we have a stretch of good weather days, and have come to learn that the bottom base of the hardtop is really thin and not well made.

When reinstalling the hardtop the goal is to align the pins to the holes before you drop them, but you never hit it 100% and there are fingers to watch out for. So sometimes the pins hit the top of the car next to the hole. Even lightly resting them causes a huge flex in the hardtop base and eventually they break - not the pin, but the base itself tears and shears off with the pin. I am now down to two pins and need to know if this is something Ford replaces or if there is a fix to shore up the base.

 

[Havoc1]

Is this on the new MIC? I have two sets of metal alignment tabs and everything just falls into place.

I also made a hoist with some rigging I had so I don't need to worry about fingers so much anymore.

Edit: you posted pics while I was writing a response... how the hell? I haven't run into that.

 

[RedHotFuzz]

Yikes!!!! I can see this happening to mine as well. It's not easy to get those pins into the right spots without some pressure on those pins (especially if you aren't using a lift). Maybe an aftermarketer can come up with some reinforcement plates that sit atop the hole and help reduce the strain on the plastic? Maybe I'll go pick up some blank steel plates and drill some holes in them. Anything to reduce movement from the pin below, which flexes the plastic.

 

[Destroyer]

Yikes...curious how many others have this problem. Feel like this is either a terrible design, or some structural abnormality in the hardtop construction there. Either way, this would be going straight to the dealer for a replacement top. Surprised they don't some type of large washer or something of the like to help distribute that force across a larger area of the hardtop rail surface there.

 

[Blaven]

I haven't had this problem at all. Also, when I don't have my top hanging overhead, I put 2 boards on the ground so the pins are left not touching the ground. I haven't had really any flexing either when I did rest the top on the pins before I had my lift. That should be covered under warranty.

 

[Herbie]

Have removed the back part of the roof three times in the past two months and haven't had the problem yet.

 

[RedHotFuzz]

Yikes...curious how many others have this problem. Feel like this is either a terrible design, or some structural abnormality in the hardtop construction there. Either way, this would be going straight to the dealer for a replacement top. Surprised they don't some type of large washer or something of the like to help distribute that force across a larger area of the hardtop rail surface there.

Definitely poor design. I'm glad I saw these pics because I can absolutely assume this would happen to me at some point. I guess you won't realize how much that plastic is flexing and how thin/fragile it is until the damage is done. Yes, there needs to be something there to reinforce and distribute the pressure as you stated. I don't even think a large washer would be enough to feel confident. But even if you use something larger, will the plastic simply crack along the lines of your reinforcer? This is not good. We store our top on a scaffold so there is definitely some pressure on those pins as the top is moved into place. I did have the foresight to drill holes in the scaffold platform for those pins to sit in so the entire weight of the top isn't supported by the pins (and the thin plastic above them), but there's no doubt there's a dangerous amount of force being applied to those pins every time we move the top. There are unavoidable times where all the top's weight rests on those 4 pins, and sometimes with some sideways pressure being applied to the pins as well as you shift the top around.

 

[RedHotFuzz]

I haven't had this problem at all. Also, when I don't have my top hanging overhead, I put 2 boards on the ground so the pins are left not touching the ground. I haven't had really any flexing either when I did rest the top on the pins before I had my lift. That should be covered under warranty.

I can easily see Ford denying this as a warranty issue and blame "user error", "wear and tear," etc.

 

[McBronc]

Is this on the new MIC? I have two sets of metal alignment tabs and everything just falls into place.

I also made a hoist with some rigging I had so I don't need to worry about fingers so much anymore.

Edit: you posted pics while I was writing a response... how the hell? I haven't run into that.

Just the pressure of setting the top down on the car. If it‘s off you are losing the pin.

 

[McBronc]

Definitely poor design. I'm glad I saw these pics because I can absolutely assume this would happen to me at some point. I guess you won't realize how much that plastic is flexing and how thin/fragile it is until the damage is done. Yes, there needs to be something there to reinforce and distribute the pressure as you stated. I don't even think a large washer would be enough to feel confident. But even if you use something larger, will the plastic simply crack along the lines of your reinforcer? This is not good. We store our top on a scaffold so there is definitely some pressure on those pins as the top is moved into place. I did have the foresight to drill holes in the scaffold platform for those pins to sit in so the entire weight of the top isn't supported by the pins (and the thin plastic above them), but there's no doubt there's a dangerous amount of force being applied to those pins every time we move the top. There are unavoidable times where all the top's weight rests on those 4 pins, and sometimes with some sideways pressure being applied to the pins as well as you shift the top around.

Yeah I store the top on saw horses because of the pins, but it didn’t help.

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