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I have a 95 993 Cab with 14K miles. The car is just like off the showroom floor and it’s my pride and joy. I only have one problem, when the top is down, the car is tight as a brand new car. But when the top is up, there is a significant rattle at the left/rear when driving on washboard roads. It’s a loud metal on metal rattle. I’ve found that when the rattle is at it’s worst, I can pull over, retract the top about ¼ and then put it back fully up and the rattle is reduced about 80%. After about an hour, the full rattle is back. All the time, the top has been fully up and locked.
If I put the top back down, no rattle at all.
BTW, my 993 does not have the convertible top wind screen located behind the front seat.
Any ideas on what I can do to get rid of the rattle.
Maybe the motor on the left side in back seat area is loose? Take off the easy to remove interior panel and check if all is secured properly…..keep us updated……someone else may benefit……these tops are quite quirky…..whether car is used more or not…with the components of these cabs...
EDIT - See great detailed CosmosMoon post below.....
Check the hinge visible just above the side panels near b pillar. When you hear it on a bumpy road pinch the hinge and see if it stops. I have had the same issue and it was a washer in the visible hinge assembly that was ratting even though it sounded like washers on a cookie sheet!
Check the hinge visible just above the side panels near b pillar. When you hear it on a bumpy road pinch the hinge and see if it stops. I have had the same issue and it was a washer in the visible hinge assembly that was ratting even though it sounded like washers on a cookie sheet!
I have this same rattle in the same hinge, right side. It’s a little loose to the touch as compared to the left side, and if I pinch/hold it while driving the assembly won’t move and the rattling stops. How were you able to tighten the hinge? I attempted to just tighten it with an Allen wrench but it doesn’t want to move at all and I’d rather not break something inadvertently…
The big round "transmission" (1) that transfers the rotation of the the cable (11A) to the arms of the roof (20) is behind the carpet-covered quarter panel. It's held to the body by bolts (17) and (18) that are notorious for coming loose because (IMO) they are too small for the application and don't have enough thread on the body panel that they screw into.
They are under a lot of stress because the "transmission drum" is constantly experiencing rotation forces from the roof pushing the heads of the bolt back and forth, and the it's on stand-offs (15 & 16) so the weight and stress from the movement of the roof is held away from where the bolts screw in.
I discovered when I took my roof off that one of mine was completely stripped, and it looked like someone had tried to repair it once with a heli-coil. I ended up drilling out a bigger hole in the body and installing a riv-nut (before I got rid of the cab roof altogether). Another cab roof I worked on had a couple of loose bolts there as well, but the threads were not stripped - hence the 2-for-2 making me think it's a common problem.
That's where I'd look if I were you. You definitely don't want them loose - they will wear out the threads. It's VERY easy to remove the carpet covered quarter panels and take a look - it's only a few Philips head screws and unplugging the speaker wire from the speaker.
BTW, don't worry about bolt (10) - it's an adjuster for setting the distance and angle of the drum relative to the body and does not come loose and doesn't need to be touched.
Last edited by CosmosMoon; May 16, 2026 at 11:45 PM.
I have this same rattle in the same hinge, right side. It’s a little loose to the touch as compared to the left side, and if I pinch/hold it while driving the assembly won’t move and the rattling stops. How were you able to tighten the hinge? I attempted to just tighten it with an Allen wrench but it doesn’t want to move at all and I’d rather not break something inadvertently…
I left it as is but I was thinking about just cramming some synthetic grease so the washer stays stuck to one side and has some dampening between it the other metal.
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993 Cab Rattle
