******* ******

[mach4444]

I've owned my car since late march 2007 (2000 rt/10).
I've put on 12,000 miles and have yet to take off the top. rainy season in so.florida makes rain fall from sunny blue skies.
looking for any suggestions on how you store your tops.
also considering 3 piece top, got any feedback about them?
Thanks

 

[propsail]

I hear great things about the 3-piece top. It's my next purchase before next Spring!!

 

[steponz]

Damn what a tease....heheh

Joe

 

[agentf1]

I've owned my car since late march 2007 (2000 rt/10).
I've put on 12,000 miles and have yet to take off the top. rainy season in so.florida makes rain fall from sunny blue skies.
looking for any suggestions on how you store your tops.
also considering 3 piece top, got any feedback about them?
Thanks

OMG, living in Florida you would think it would be the exact opposite. I can see the summers are rainy but what about December thru March? It has always been a dream of mine moving to Florida and being able to drive my cars all year. I would also have to own a boat if I lived there.

 

[Donuts4me9]

your in Bonita and you have never taken the top off? what a beautiful place. I'm in Naples quite a bit and I couldent keep the top on at all ! Its a whole differant experiance with the top off, its the way the viper was ment to be experianced.

Scott

 

[Steve 00RT/10]

The best way to store the top is on the car -- unlatched. Of course, that's for us winter guys. If you just want to store it in your garage....a couple big L brackets and some weatherstripping mounted to your wall will do the trick. Easily done for $5-10 dollars. Less if you already have the stuff. I made some L brackets out of some scrap 1/8" x 1" flat stock I had. Wrapped some weatherstripping around the contact parts, finished off with some 33+ tape, and lagged it to the wall. I throw a furniture blanket over it when stored for the winter.

The 3 piece top is a very good looking piece... and probably very suitable for a majority of owners. The only drawback to the top I can see, is if you travel much. It would seem you're not concerned about putting miles on your car. That's great!! We travel as well --76K to date. I see the top becoming a problem when you want it off. What do you do with it? You have to be extremely careful.........whether hauling it into a motel room or stashing it in the trunk. You can throw the soft top around quite a bit without worrying about it. You can stuff it in the trunk (in case it might rain ) and pile stuff all around -- nothing to break or scratch. If it does start to rain, you can quickly throw it on top of the car and put it together in minutes. We have a hard top as well which requires this same sort of added care and protection. We run the hard top in early spring, track events, and late fall. We run ******* whenever we can for most of the summer and throw the soft top basically anywhere it will stand up for storage or throw it in the trunk if necessary. The soft top can take some abuse without any wear or 'tear' so to speak.

Steve

 

[GTSDave]

Damn that thread title was misleading!!!

I have had my RT since December and am yet to remove the hardtop, so I know the feeling...

With regard to storage I've seen some pretty good deep ladder brackets at my local DIY store which have a foam padded lower section to them, I'm contemplating giving them a go as storage for the roof on the wall... Obviously some kind of padded strap will be required to fix to the wall higher up to stop the roof tipping forward, but it looks like a pretty good option at the moment... I have seen custom hardtop stands available on the net too.

 

[wastntim]

I love my three piece but recommend professional installation.

 

[Steve 00RT/10]

Damn that thread title was misleading!!!

I have had my RT since December and am yet to remove the hardtop, so I know the feeling...

With regard to storage I've seen some pretty good deep ladder brackets at my local DIY store which have a foam padded lower section to them, I'm contemplating giving them a go as storage for the roof on the wall... Obviously some kind of padded strap will be required to fix to the wall higher up to stop the roof tipping forward, but it looks like a pretty good option at the moment... I have seen custom hardtop stands available on the net too.

My brackets extend out far enough to provide enough angle so it can't tip out. I'm guessing 15 degrees or so. The bottom of my brackets are around 4.5 feet off the floor. If you can't get the angle, it should be easy enough to add the bracket on top. I store the hard top on the car -- unlatched -- for winter, with the soft top on the brackets. The opposite in the summer. I figure the soft top, being much lighter, compresses the seal less when on the brackets for the 5-6 month hibernation.

Steve

 

[ViperGTS]

I opened this thread to see pictures of a ******* ****** and what comes up...?

 

[yogibayer]

I never liked taking mine off or putting it on. It was just too cumbersome to do by myself. So I built this to lift it off the car easily

You must be registered for see images attach

Ingredients: 8 pulleys, climbing rope, a 2X4 frame wrapped with packing foam, tie down straps and a trailer hoist. With this set up I am able to put the top on by myself in minutes and removal is just as easy with storage completely out of the way.

 

[GTSDave]

I never liked taking mine off or putting it on. It was just too cumbersome to do by myself. So I built this to lift it off the car easily

You must be registered for see images attach

Ingredients: 8 pulleys, climbing rope, a 2X4 frame wrapped with packing foam, tie down straps and a trailer hoist. With this set up I am able to put the top on by myself in minutes and removal is just as easy with storage completely out of the way.

I like that idea! being able to do it single handed seems like an extremely good idea too!

 

[PittsburghRT]

I haven't had my hardtop off in a year.

 

[DodgeViper01]

I like that idea! being able to do it single handed seems like an extremely good idea too!

That top storage idea is genius.

 

[DodgeViper01]

I've owned my car since late march 2007 (2000 rt/10).
I've put on 12,000 miles and have yet to take off the top. rainy season in so.florida makes rain fall from sunny blue skies.
looking for any suggestions on how you store your tops.
also considering 3 piece top, got any feedback about them?
Thanks

Wow. I thought I was bad at times. Once the top comes off, you are not going to want it back on.

 

[propsail]

I love my three piece but recommend professional installation.

Hmm. The website didn't make it seem difficult at all for a DIY job.

 

[RAYSIR]

I haven't had my hardtop off in a year.

Sounds like you guys need a GTS or warmer climate. LOL

 

[klamathpro]

I haven't had my top on in over a year and I have both tops. And I've never ever put my curtains on. Why even own an RT/10 if you keep the top on?

 

[Disturbed]

Rooster + T + Zs!

 

[Kenneth Krieger]

You need to move to Arizona.....other than daytime summer temps, I have the top down (was a Gen 1 owner till car totaled, now Gen III), almost all year, only occasionally do we have to "top on or up" here. Remember, we get only about 6" of rain in a year (and they call Florida "the sunshine state!").......this is a top off or down paradise!!!

 

[KepRght]

get a little rain on the leather, its good for the old cow

 

[ViperGTS]

Temps above freezing point in the morning - lots of fog...500 miles later the top is still down...4 days of driving now...1800 km (1100 miles, 300 miles on the race track) without TOP of course - nice TAN!? Never mind, except in the rain