Hi Everyone,

Experienced my first green shower last week. Thankfully, it was not an extreme downpour and I was able to prevent damage to the interior of the car by quickly grabbing some towels in the trunk and also thankfully, I was able to get the top closed and latched!

In doing some research, the front convertible hoses seem to be the main point of failure on the forums and are the ones that failed in my car. My question is, would you replace only those or replace all 6 of the hoses in the system. I was recommended by another helpful forum member to purchase Top Hydraulics hoses that are rated much higher than the stock OEM. Just trying to figure out if I should purchase and replace all 6 or if that would be overkill?

Thanks!

Corey

 

The latch ones are the most difficult to replace, the rest are easy (in comparison) so doing them at the same time is less urgent in my opinion.

 

Thank you. I was kind of thinking the same thing. Just going to order the two hoses and try to knock that one out. I have not come across any posts of the rears failing as well so if they are easier to repair and do not fail as regularly then I am just going to work on the two to the front latch. Best of luck to you!

 

I opted to do all the hoses... and purchased rebuilt rams and latch as well. Look in the trunk and if you see the original hoses breaking down with the rubber flaking off then I would do it all and be DONE with it... it is definitely NOT overkill if you plan on keeping the car for any length of time, as the old hoses WILL fail.

 

^^ What he said. Do not assume that the rear hoses are less prone to failure. Wayne (cjd777) and I had to replace the rear hoses in his 2000 XK8 back in March/April 2015. They were leaking and falling apart. He opted to have his rams refurbished at the same time. Top Hydraulics supplied the new hoses and rebuilt his rams. No issues since....

 

Thank you guys for chiming in. Bummer to learn that the rears fail as well. I figured the fronts were the only ones that failed due to the higher temperatures in that region. Figured the rears were more insulated from the heat. Will inspect them and see how they look. With my luck they will need to be replaced as well. Small price to pay for such an enjoyable ride though.

 

I consider the rears to be an economic decision if they haven't failed yet. It's not that difficult to remove the seat and speakers to get at them, so I just did the latch hoses. Every time I get a little money set aside I somehow end up giving it to my dentist for his 275GT fund.

 

It's true that the ram (rear) hoses have been known to fail, but reports of this are way less common than reports of latch hoses going south. I would guesstimate something on the order of 10 to 1.

If (only if) your ram hoses look OK, my vote would be to leave them alone.

 

If your going through the motions, get your latch rebuilt too.

 

I did all 6 hoses and both rams and the top latch at the same time. When I got the front ones exposed I also found a leak on one ram.
Parts about $1100 and 2 days of my time.

Since you have to take the interior out to do the front hoses, might as well get it all at once.

Top Hydraulics hoses as well.

 

Three months after my top hoses failed one of the ram hoses went so my advice is to replace them all and have peace of mind. I too used Top Hydraulics- cheaper and better than the originals.

 

I need to replace the front latch hoses. I thought it would be a good idea to inspect the rear rams and replace the hoses at least while I'm at it. I have the back seats out, but am not sure how to get at the rear stuff. I don't see any info on that. Seems like the top needs to come up to do it? Anyone have advice on this?