Furious Flapping Foiled
Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2023 9:06 pm
The flat top straps on my 27 roadser tend to flap and pop when driving the car at any speed above a walk. They are tight enough to stay against the underside of the top, but any breeze would set them flapping. I wire-tied thin wooden slats to the rear curtain straps, and that helped a lot, but I'd still get some flapping when driving on breezy days. I tried putting foam pipe insulation tubing on the portion of the straps from the center bow to the bow at the top of the back curtain. The pipe insulation is about 2" OD with about 1" ID. I cut it to length and slipped it over the straps. No more flapping, even in a stiff crosswind. The foam can be put on or taken off in about ten seconds. The foam showed no tendency to come off when driving 40 MPH with a 30 MPH crosswind. The total absence of the flapping and popping sounds makes driving on breezy days much more pleasant. Sleeves, made like the top pads, with Velcro or zipper closures, would be neater than the foam. Make them just a little more than twice as wide as the straps, with padding inside. Fold them lengthwise and slip them over the straps like a hot dog bun and secure with Velcro strips or zippers.
