Crappy soft top cable broke - must be a better solution

[wiztecy]

I passed on my idea to have replacement cables for the softtop to my friend who works at RockShox, indicating that a set-screw setup would be the best route for reusing the stainless hardware. He didn't have the soft-top nor any size spec, but he came back with the following prototype where I believe the barrel size is too big, but should be able to mill a new one to be smaller. Will need to pull the hardtop off, put the softtop on and see how much off the barrel we'll really need to shave.

He also supplied me with a stainless cable that's a little over double in size of the stock one. I have a feeling bumping up the cable size will prevent the cable from ever need replacing again, but we'll see. Possibly the cable won't flex and break faster. If it does I can put the smaller cable into the barrels.

One thing I need to verify is the flex needed on the window side of the hardware / cable. If we need more flex there I'll most likely shorten the barrel down and then use the same 2 set screws of the barrel to set the cable rather than having two additional set screws for the cable which doubles the barrel length. Bring down the barrel diameter in half and I believe we're good to go by roughly looking at it. But that spec is dependent if the cable needs to buddy up on the hardware end's 2 set screws, if so then drop the diameter size by 1/4 on the ends.

 

[jaanton]

any updates

I know wiztecy is no longer on this forum, but does anyone else have clues or updates on maybe replacing the soft top cable? I just pulled mine out of winter storage (I switch to the hard top for winter) and found a cable frayed such that it's sure to break completely with any stress. Grumble, grumble.

 

[Timothy]

My cable rear cable just broke for the first time. I don't live near a showroom/service center (the one that is supposed to be coming here in Santa Barbara has shown no hint of getting ready to open in the near future) so I ordered one from Van Nuys. It arrived in a couple of days, was really easy to install. I had no idea what the proper tension was, so I adjusted it to feel like the front, based on no information whatsoever.

And it was free! Because I got the extended warrantee for my car. (Oh yeah. So that was several thousand bucks. I hope by the end of the warrantee I am complaining that the entire cost went for that cable!)

 

[Jaff]

I broke a cable last year and ordered a new one, plus a brand new soft top as well.

The newly installed cable works fine.

As the first three winters, I drove with the soft top on, the top's material was starting to look a little tired...I ordered a new top so I can keep 1137 looking good until either the new Roadster is "in sight", or, I just decide to ride 1137 into the sunset...I haven't heard of any sort of soft top shortage, but as some Roadster parts (seem to) become a little tougher to get, I figured I might as well acquire a replacement now, rather than waiting ...

 

[Six]

I broke a cable last year and ordered a new one, plus a brand new soft top as well.

The newly installed cable works fine.

As the first three winters, I drove with the soft top on, the top's material was starting to look a little tired...I ordered a new top so I can keep 1137 looking good until either the new Roadster is "in sight", or, I just decide to ride 1137 into the sunset...I haven't heard of any sort of soft top shortage, but as some Roadster parts (seem to) become a little tougher to get, I figured I might as well acquire a replacement now, rather than waiting ...

How much did the new soft top cost?

 

[tvuolo]

With tax, almost $1100. I just bought one a few months ago.

 

[Jaff]

With tax, almost $1100. I just bought one a few months ago.

This ^^^^ =+ tax...slightly higher probably due to the exchange rate.

 

[dhrivnak]

I just repaired my soft top for under $20. Home Depot sells a 1/16" coated cable for $1/ft. I purchased 3' and a 1/16" drill bit (DeWalt Titanium worked best) and carefully drilled out the end by the car window about 1/2" deep. I then stripped off 1/2" of coating and covered the wire with JB Weld a great epoxy glue and put it into the hole. (Picture 1) The other end I crimped on a old connection and then used solder to fully secure it, made sure you run it through the adjustment tube first. (Picture 2). You can see the new green Home Depot wire. I figured the old one was toast and a new cable from Lotus runs $100 so I had little to lose.

 

[bonnie]

I picked up a spare cable and set of struts on eBay earlier this year for about $50 - it was such a good deal I couldn't pass it up. Safely stored for that day I might need one of those parts ...

 

[dhrivnak]

That is an awesome price. I envy you.

 

[jordanthompson]

I think I've cracked this nut with wiztecy's suggestion a while ago. Instead of fishing line, I am using dacron and it has been working great for a month now.
I removed both cables and went to my local Ace Hardware. I picked up four nylon spacers and four longer screws (turns out I only needed two.) Total price: $2.25.
Next I hit our local sailboat store and got some dacron (very low stretch characteristics) line. Total price $1.00
I had to trim the spacers a little, and I drilled the tops out a little so that the screws would fit flush with the top of the nylon.
I was very careful to make sure that the screws didn't touch the rollbar or window frame (that's why I wound up using two of the original screws as the holes in the back are not as deep as the ones in the front.)
Next iI tied a Bowlin in the end of each line and screwed them into place (the nylon catches part of the line and keeps it in place.)
The hardest part was threading the two lines into the top. I wound up using the original wires to push them through.
Then, I tied bowlins into the other two ends and screwed them into place. It took a couple tries to get the length right so that there is enough tension on them when the top snaps in place.
Here is a shot of the installation:

And an up close one:

And a picture of the parts :

 

[dhrivnak]

Excellent and thank you for the clear pictures.

 

[Roadrunner13]

Well, I've been reading this thread diagonally as it evolved since its beginning...not registering all the details...so far.
My rear cable just snapped, so I'll be reading back this thread more carefully from the beginning now!

 

[rdstr]

I was looking at some options for coated cables and came across this on Ebay: http://www.ebay.com/bhp/coated-stainless-steel-cable

Might be an option to consider in the right diameter... rdstr

 

[dhrivnak]

I was looking at some options for coated cables and came across this on Ebay: http://www.ebay.com/bhp/coated-stainless-steel-cable

Might be an option to consider in the right diameter... rdstr

I purchased VERY similar locally at Home Depot. Not hard to get.

 

[Habious]

I found this company in the UK selling an "upgraded" version of the cable. I've ordered and received them (but haven't needed to install them...yet) so, I can't give too much of a review.

http://r.ebay.com/RJaD6w

The description says "Original Cables, supplied by Lotus and Vauxhall, are prone to snapping on the thread as this is 1 of the weak points within the cable assembly. After hearing of so many cables breaking, after such a short amount of time on the car, and breaking at the same weak point every time, we decided to manufacture a complete cable assembly without the weak points. The set-up is the same with the adjuster at one end, and secured to your roof using allen-bolts, but design flaws have been taken away and improvements made."

Seems extremely well made, though.

I've had 2 (original cables) break on me in the last 2 months or so, so I've been stocking up!

 

[wiztecy]

I'm in process of my cable upgrade. The hardware that was created for me was way overkill and too large. So what I did now is I drilled the old cable out of the old softtop fasteners (as dhrivnak did) that attached to the ends of the softtop. For this I used a tap & drill-press, its very hard to get a straight drill without those tools. The depth of the hole should be the same. I was thinking about not running the adjusters like the Mesh top, you just need to get the cable length correct the 1st time. I ran a little short and its putting too much stress / clamping force than I like, so I'm either going to buy more cable / try again by going a little longer than my 1st attempt or find some stainless adjustment barrels so my cuts don't need to be as precise. I ran a larger SS cable (that was given to me for this project) so there should not be any issue with it breaking anymore. I also lined the outside of the cable with black electrical shrink wrap tubing, it slides perfectly right over the cable. I'm soldering the cable into the drilled "original" soft-top fasteners, but working on perfecting my solder technique so I have the strongest bond.

 

[jordanthompson]

This discussion reminds me of the only chapter I remember from "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" which was about a shim made from a beer can tab (remember those?) For those who may not be familiar with this discussion, here it is.

 

[dhrivnak]

I found this company in the UK selling an "upgraded" version of the cable. I've ordered and received them (but haven't needed to install them...yet) so, I can't give too much of a review.

http://r.ebay.com/RJaD6w

The description says "Original Cables, supplied by Lotus and Vauxhall, are prone to snapping on the thread as this is 1 of the weak points within the cable assembly. After hearing of so many cables breaking, after such a short amount of time on the car, and breaking at the same weak point every time, we decided to manufacture a complete cable assembly without the weak points. The set-up is the same with the adjuster at one end, and secured to your roof using allen-bolts, but design flaws have been taken away and improvements made."

Seems extremely well made, though.

I've had 2 (original cables) break on me in the last 2 months or so, so I've been stocking up!

The repair I made on the soft top cable did not hold up. The epoxy (JB Weld) gave way after a month of so. The solder joint did hold so that may be the way to go. So I did get the cable referenced above. It is working but it seems to rub putting it on and off. So for me the jury is still out but I do believe both options are better than the initial cable shipped with the Roadster.

 

[wiztecy]

So I did get the cable referenced above. It is working but it seems to rub putting it on and off. So for me the jury is still out but I do believe both options are better than the initial cable shipped with the Roadster.

That cable from your ebay listing is for the S1 not S2 body style, which is the older design. So it may not have an ideal fit for the Roadster which is based on the S2.