Thanks for the thoughts and lubricant recommendation. Awhile ago I read a post on another forum where a member disassembled his HECO lift system, cleaned and lubed the track and gear as well as reloaded the torsion spring - was thinking maybe some lube would keep things operating smoothly, but not so sure now. I was thinking of doing the disassembly in the future as the top progressively gets harder to crank up. I'm a little intimidated about disassembling the lift as I would need to support the top during the process. Anybody know of a RV outfit in the greater Portland, OR area that works on the HECO systems? I know they are no longer installed but you can still get parts. Thanks