Last night I was driving on the highway going about 70 MPH and the conv. top just opened and flew back. I had the windows open. I'm positive that I had the latching mechanisms in place. I had not had the top down for several trips on the highway. Its cold here in MA. I have had a persistant rattle when I go over bumps near the driver side latching mechanism. I was planning on taking it in for service for that. No rattle when top is down.

After pulling over I was able to lower the top for the ride home. Something is bent however and it will not lower perfectly. If I try to close it stops about 6 inches short of the windshield. I haven't taken it in for service yet as it is raining today.

Has anyone heard of this happening?

-Chris

 

hmmm, pretty sure that if the latches were closed properly there is no way that top would have opened up.

 

Sorry to hear about your bad luck, WeldP. I hope it dosent take much to fix her back.

 

Yeah, I have a hardtime seeing how you'd get enough force to throw the whole op up even if one mechanism broke, but who knows?

Keep us updated onto what you find out.

 

i weould call them and stick to that story............................i would never mention that i was sure it was locked properly......i would say i know for a fact it was locked.......it scared the crap out of me , i amost crashed...blah blah blah.....you get the idea....the worst they will tell you is your going to have to pay for it.....

 

I can't see a way of that happening with both latches closed. Even if one latch failed, the other should have held the top in place. Sorry to hear about it tho' that sure stinks

I have the same rattle btw, seems to be common.

 

I always worried about that when I had a ragtop. I'm sure that you gained a streak of grey when that happened. Not to mention the streak in your shorts!

 

I agree.

Sorry to hear about that though

Was somebody riding in the passenger seat recently and maybe was playing with the latches and didn't put them back?

Hope all goes well getting it fixed.

 

You should start the Haunted Mustangs Club.

 

I was talking with a girl here at work who has a silver vert. She had her top open while on the freeway last week. She swore it was all the way latched and was pretty upset about it.

 

Are we talking her convertible top here?

 

 

... but back on topic... hope it works out ok man...

 

I seem to remeber a post a while ago with locking the top, and if done incorrectly, can actually break the locking latches. I just did a search for it but was unable to find it. :bang:

 

WOW. hope that never happens to me. You'll feel a lot better when you get it fixed. I don't have that rattle.Knock on wood.and as far as breaking the latches from doing it incorrectly,you'd have to be an idiot.Ford couldn't have made this system any easier.A 4 year old could do it.

 

I think this might be the one you're talking about.

http://forums.bradbarnett.net/index.php?sh...ndpost&p=348475

 

Just a guess here.......but with a new latch design, AND "a persistant rattle when I go over bumps near the driver side latching mechanism" I'd bet it was already broken and you were driving on borrowed time.

I'm not saying you did it. Was it demo-ed? It could have been damaged in prep. Ford need to have a READ ME BEFORE OPERATING TOP tag on all Mustang convertibles. The design may not be defective, but if it's counter intuitive it should be noted.

 

I have had no rattle and now have 10,000 miles on the car.
Can't not see how the top can open if it is latched correctly.
I have taken trips with the windows open and driving much faster than 70, and nothing has happened.
Wish you the best of luck, with this problem

 

They do, it is called an owner's manual.

 

Man it was raining real bad too last night during rush hour. Hope you didn't ruin your interior too much.