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Freedom from the High Cost of Removing Your Hardtop

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Turfman

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If this was your only way of storage I would keep the hardtop on! I would never store my doors like this. Your just asking for damage!
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RussJeep1

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If this was your only way of storage I would keep the hardtop on! I would never store my doors like this. Your just asking for damage!
OK James. I respect your opinion but I'm a little confused, and want to make sure neither of us are.

If you don't like the add on kit from Freedom Jack that allows door storage on the crane--which I didn't talk about--so be it, but know--if you don't, that its a relatively inexpensive add on accessory that will hold your doors firmly and wont affect that crane's center of balance.

Still more, for those who want great hard top removal, all the door storage deficiencies one *might* find here don't change the ease with which the top is safely removed and stored.

The Top Lift Pro makes you buy a whole separate device, the Hoist-A-Cart provides door storage that I don't see as being significantly better. The Top Off device has nothing.

I'm not a doors off kind of guy. Many here that are just make their own devices out of PVC to do that.

But to each there own.:)
 

Turfman

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OK James. I respect your opinion but I'm a little confused, and want to make sure neither of us are.

If you don't like the add on kit from Freedom Jack that allows door storage on the crane--which I didn't talk about--so be it, but know--if you don't, that its a relatively inexpensive add on accessory that will hold your doors firmly and wont affect that crane's center of balance.

Still more, for those who want great hard top removal, all the door storage deficiencies one *might* find here don't change the ease with which the top is safely removed and stored.

The Top Lift Pro makes you buy a whole separate device, the Hoist-A-Cart provides door storage that I don't see as being significantly better. The Top Off device has nothing.

I'm not a doors off kind of guy. Many here that are just make their own devices out of PVC to do that.

But to each there own.:)
To be clear, I do not like the idea of storing my hardtop off a crane. it may be just me but no matter how stable you think it is unless it is all the way on the ground it is possible that it can get damaged. if it can move it can be bumped out of the storage space without your knowledge and you may hit it. this is no different then and engine hoist which I have tons of experience using. they can be flipped in just about any direction! you can never be 100% sure it is safe. as for the doors they would be better off hanging on hooks off the wall.

as for the person that ask about storage outside with winds! this would be a very bad idea. it only takes one really bad storm to move through when you are not around and this thing becomes a kite that is inside your storage area getting blown around into walls the ceiling or even another person's stall. a large shelf at the top of the ceiling with hardly any gap would be better (less area to be lifted).

To each their own, this is just my opinion. Albeit one from a mechanics point of view!
 
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RussJeep1

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To be clear, I do not like the idea of storing my hardtop off a crane. it may be just me but no matter how stable you think it is unless it is all the way on the ground it is possible that it can get damaged. if it can move it can be bumped out of the storage space without your knowledge and you may hit it. this is no different then and engine hoist which I have tons of experience using. they can be flipped in just about any direction! you can never be 100% sure it is safe. as for the doors they would be better off hanging on hooks off the wall.

as for the person that ask about storage outside with winds! this would be a very bad idea. it only takes one really bad storm to move through when you are not around and this thing becomes a kite that is inside your storage area getting blown around into walls the ceiling or even another person's stall. a large shelf at the top of the ceiling with hardly any gap would be better (less area to be lifted).

To each their own, this is just my opinion. Albeit one from a mechanics point of view!
I respect this James.

Nothing would prevent you from having the top, at least in part, interface with the floor using the Freedom Jack--although I do suggest some towels or an area rug between its plastic and say a hard garage floor. Your concern over movement is shared by any mobile top removal device (on wheels) and I'd say the Top Lift Pro and Hoist A Cart would require less force to move (4 wheels versus the crane's 6) that locking wheels could address.



It's funny you mention hard top storage on the crane; because as much as it's highly doable for all 3 devices, for entirely different reasons than yours (i.e. I'm not concerned about tip/stability) I too don't plan on storing my hard top on the crane, although I think it perfectly fine as long as you put a sleeve on the gas shock shaft (purchaseable, or $3 of the right size PVC pipe with an arc of its length cut out to fit and stay on the shaft). And this is simply because you can't expect over months, for air to not escape any manufacturer's crane gas shock anymore than you would never have to put air in your tires.

By way of bad visual explanation, the back of my stand alone single car garage features a full width shelf, high enough for me to get enough of my rig, front first, under, to close the garage door, but I need to store my hard top in the reverse direction on this shelf. as the crane, in my unusual case, storing a hard top high up, at the front of rig, in the opposite direction to the rig, won't allow me enough room to pull the whole rig into the garage (it's a close fit as is.)

I hope to soon show a video where I take the top off, set it down at some height, and then flip the direction of the Freedom Jack on the crane, 180 degrees, re-lift the top, and place it on the shelf--reversing the process when reinstalling the hard top on the rig.

Is my case rare: yep. Can you do this with a Top Lift Pro: I don't see how, it's designed to remove and store the hard top below its footprint. Can you do this with a Hoist-a-Cart: maybe with a 2 door hardtop as you swing (don't do this!) the top 180 degrees on the hoist, (like bait on a fishing line--far more unstable if you ask me), but unlikely will a 4 door top fit such a 180 spin--in either case your spare, which has to remain on a closed back door, with open back glass, might get in the way.

(BTW: despite its curvature, a Top Lift Pro won't fit enough under this shelf for me, I checked.)

But can you drop stuff at a site distal from a crane's footprint, or at least a footprint that doesn't rise, like in the Top Lift Pro: that's what cranes do.:)

Do I recommend use of the Freedom Jack outside in a cat 5 weather event;) no. But if I had to pick a device to store a hard top in such a scenarios, I'll bet the Top Lift Pro and Hoist a Cart tip long before the Freedom Jack's setup with an engine crane do; especially the Top Lift Pro, which offers far better front to back of the top tip resistance (with the arms installed that is) than side to side: neither my engineering intuition tells me than the engine crane Freedom Jack paradigm.

BTW: I would strongly recommend the use of those extension and short rail supports, more than before when using a Top Lift Pro on a JLU (I see plenty of people in videos not using them when moving the top.) Here's why. The distance from the back of the JLU hardtop to the sports/roll bar, where the Top Lift Pro does its work sans these rails, is shorter than in the JK, distancing the center of gravity of the top, in would seem, front to back that is, further forward for the Top Lift Pro on a JLU than a JKU. The Freedom Jack has built in arms that extend beyond the roll/sports bar to address this design change in the JLU. I believe current Top Lift Pros come with these rails. Fairly, I cannot speak to their coming with, or compatibility/purchase for JK era Top Lift Pros.

Know though James that I do respect through your experience with use of these crane's for engine mobility and value your opinion.
 

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I have owned an engine hoist for years. I like this new tool and will be ordering one. I have used a winch on the ceiling in the past but don't like that.
 

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I have owned an engine hoist for years. I like this new tool and will be ordering one. I have used a winch on the ceiling in the past but don't like that.
Some background. I'm semi-retired. Like you, I spent a lot of hard earned money on my JL, love it, and even with my eyes wide open, knew that, like you, on top of the purchase expense, there'd be a plethora of gear I'd want to get for it post purchase.

Integral to the DNA of any Wrangler, perhaps more than any one single element, lies in its ability to ride with degrees of open air. Whether that's simply a mindset one has in February, waiting for the end of winter, or the feeling of warm air as you (and the dog) cruise down some beach highway in summer, with all or parts of your Wrangler removed, there's a degree of freedom doing this that no pill can provide, that I know many of you "get"--as you also love this rig.

But dangit, hard top removal can be a pain: in the back and the wallet. Oh sure, there's great gear out there to take the top off solo, be it a Top Lift Pro or Hoist-a-Cart, (both which cost more than I paid for my first car) and with "1000 tries" you too can align your rig just below the hoist in your garage, that is, if you have a garage to pull the top off.

But there has to be a better way, a cheaper way, a portable way, a way that involves no holes or changes to your rig, a way that's safe, that won't let you tip even if you wanted to.

There is.

Did you ever run across a product and ask, why doesn't everyone in this position use this? I did.

https://www.freedom-jack.com/

But it wasn't yet available for the JL. But that's changing, real soon. Prototypes are being tested as we speak.

The, made in the U.S. Freedom Jack cost, including the shop crane you'll need for it, is a fraction of the cost of competing products. A shop crane you gasp....yes a shop crane. Buy a "1 ton" on ebay, or Northern Tool, or one of a zillion (oops, it's now a zillion and one) Harbor Freight stores https://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?dir=asc&order=EAScore,f,EAFeatured+Weight,f,Sale+Rank,f&q=1+ton+shop+crane

or an enormous number of other retail and online vendors.

I'll bet you can put 4 of these cranes and a Freedom Jack together before one of its competitor's products. Here's a young adult operating one for the JK:



Other videos show her putting it together.

Wanna take off the doors and store them? Reasonably priced, made in the U.S. accessories to the Freedom Jack will do that. Want to efficiently store the hard top in the garage, the Freedom Jack design will let you do that. Wanna use the crane for other things, go right ahead: but if you never do, it stills pays for itself in hard top removal that's a fraction of the cost of the competition.

You've already financed your rig. Do you want to also finance the appliance to take its hard top off?

I didn't think so.

This is not an ad. I don't make a penny here. I'm just a product fan.

Who's interested? Thoughts, ideas, suggestions?
Rude I know sorry

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2E995510-5308-4EF6-B004-6F97F2A1968C.jpeg
 

Shwaman

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Your standard shop crane has long legs which sit vertical for compact storage when not in use, giving the crane a minimal footprint for out of the way garage storage.

But these legs come down when it lifts things, and in so doing provides a remarkably low center of gravity. I invite you to see these legs for yourself, and just how stable this setup is here as the hardtop is tipped near to the ground like a kneeling horse, and sits like a rock with zero front to back tip.



Those outstretched crane legs, pigeon toed out, (and which can go under your rig) provide the same resistance to side to side tip. You see, the device fits snugly into the underside FCA designed corrugation of the hard top, behind the sports/roll bar, and additionally beyond (in the case of the JL's smaller behind the sports bar to rear of the hardtop dimensions than previously designed Wranglers by FCA.

How sturdy: wind won't tip it over especially if you kneel the top like in the video and add a few bungee cords for the worst of the wind. Then you could not tip it over unless you pick the crane up by yourself, with hardtop, off the ground and flip it.

Have an orthopedic surgeon standing by after that.

You say a condo spot? ...fit your stored hard top and rig all in the same place. You can even lock the hard top with some cable locks to the crane, and the crane to the rig if you want.

You want to talk about wind and a Hoist-A-Cart, or Top Lift Pro? I'd rather not go were
these products and the wind will take you. They are not simply not meant for high wind exposed areas.

That top is far more likely to act like a sail with those setups. No way the Top-Lift Pro is as sturdy to side-to-side movement as front to back, and no way front to back is as sturdy as any direction on the Freedom Jack---the Top Lift Pros footprint is just too small--it's physics.




Thanks for the detailed input, I will definitely look into this! thanks!
 
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RussJeep1

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Rude I know sorry
Rude? No way Ben; the opposite? The Freedom Jack isn't for everyone. Better still, your second picture is my situation, only the shelf spans the entire width and is much deeper than the length of the side windows.

..see you've got that gap in the shelf between where the side windows of the hard top sit for maneuverability of getting the hard top there, and still you had to get it there somehow, even if the distance off the rig was short, and the lift off the rig little to none.

Rude: quite the contrary. You help me illustrate my point. I hope to take the hardtop off with a Freedom Jack, set it down temporarily at a similar height, reverse the Freedom Jack on the engine crane, and then lift the top again, now with the crane under the 2nd row seat portion of the hard top, and put it on shelf that doesn't have your cut out, and necessitates my approaching the second step of the hard top lift with the crane 180 degrees in the other direction, to then sit it on a shelf.

Thanks for pictures that made my point clear. Not everyone can do your carpentry, or has your strength. You can have the Freedom Jack holding up that top instead of both skill sets!

(I've got the same rig, black top, ain't she a beauty? Use in good health.)

P.S. to get the shelves at the near height of the hardtop on the rig--which is what I guess you were going for, could you have still arguably pulled the rig all the way in without the hood hitting the bottom of the shelves (part of my problem/tradeoff)?
 
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RussJeep1

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Let's talk cost here. Whoever you buy your hard top lift from your going to pay some portion of the shipping cost, whether it's factored in the purchase price or separate: brick and mortar or internet bought.

Buy the Top Lift Pro or Hoist A Cart and pay USPS/UPS/Fed Ex for a big box. Buy the Freedom Jack: I've had books come in bigger boxes, even if the Freedom Jack weighs a little bit more (not much) than some of those books.

But the crane...!



No, not the plane Tatoo, the crane....

My Harbor Freight's (HF) 13 minutes away. Before coupon, and EVERYONE uses a coupon at Harbor Freight, the 1 ton crane is $179.99.

The two ton crane's $189.99. Another ton for $10 more, how can that be? The two ton's on special this week. Check for yourself. Normally it's $239. This week it's $50 off.

Catch my drift about paying full price at HF?

Far away?....Harbor Freight opens 3 new stores nationwide every week.

But aren't you paying for the shipping of that crane to the store in its purchase price?

You most certainly are: at the lower bulk trucking rate of a nationwide store chain. And why do stores use their own private trucking to acquire, if not ship out their inventory? Well if the USPS/UPS/FedEx cost them less they'd use that.

I assembled my shop crane before dinner. I attached the included wheels, pushed a couple of pins in place, viola.

Here's video of a young adult assembly the Freedom Jack, 2 minutes:



Here's a video of a mechanic assembling the Hoist-A-Cart, the next closest in price alternative: 15 minutes:



..and that's if never use the crane for hard top storage or anything other than getting your top off.

...and when the Scrambler comes out, I wonder if Alien Technologies and Lange Originals, the makers of the Top Lift Pro and Hoist-A-Cart will be scrambling..,
 

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Some background. I'm semi-retired. Like you, I spent a lot of hard earned money on my JL, love it, and even with my eyes wide open, knew that, like you, on top of the purchase expense, there'd be a plethora of gear I'd want to get for it post purchase.

Integral to the DNA of any Wrangler, perhaps more than any one single element, lies in its ability to ride with degrees of open air. Whether that's simply a mindset one has in February, waiting for the end of winter, or the feeling of warm air as you (and the dog) cruise down some beach highway in summer, with all or parts of your Wrangler removed, there's a degree of freedom doing this that no pill can provide, that I know many of you "get"--as you also love this rig.

But dangit, hard top removal can be a pain: in the back and the wallet. Oh sure, there's great gear out there to take the top off solo, be it a Top Lift Pro or Hoist-a-Cart, (both which cost more than I paid for my first car) and with "1000 tries" you too can align your rig just below the hoist in your garage, that is, if you have a garage to pull the top off.

But there has to be a better way, a cheaper way, a portable way, a way that involves no holes or changes to your rig, a way that's safe, that won't let you tip even if you wanted to.

There is.

Did you ever run across a product and ask, why doesn't everyone in this position use this? I did.

https://www.freedom-jack.com/

But it wasn't yet available for the JL. But that's changing, real soon. Prototypes are being tested as we speak.

The, made in the U.S. Freedom Jack cost, including the shop crane you'll need for it, is a fraction of the cost of competing products. A shop crane you gasp....yes a shop crane. Buy a "1 ton" on ebay, or Northern Tool, or one of a zillion (oops, it's now a zillion and one) Harbor Freight stores https://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?dir=asc&order=EAScore,f,EAFeatured+Weight,f,Sale+Rank,f&q=1+ton+shop+crane

or an enormous number of other retail and online vendors.

I'll bet you can put 4 of these cranes and a Freedom Jack together before one of its competitor's products. Here's a young adult operating one for the JK:



Other videos show her putting it together.

Wanna take off the doors and store them? Reasonably priced, made in the U.S. accessories to the Freedom Jack will do that. Want to efficiently store the hard top in the garage, the Freedom Jack design will let you do that. Wanna use the crane for other things, go right ahead: but if you never do, it stills pays for itself in hard top removal that's a fraction of the cost of the competition.

You've already financed your rig. Do you want to also finance the appliance to take its hard top off?

I didn't think so.

This is not an ad. I don't make a penny here. I'm just a product fan.

Who's interested? Thoughts, ideas, suggestions?
 

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mmcmahon

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Your standard shop crane has long legs which sit vertical for compact storage when not in use, giving the crane a minimal footprint for out of the way garage storage.

But these legs come down when it lifts things, and in so doing provides a remarkably low center of gravity. I invite you to see these legs for yourself, and just how stable this setup is here as the hardtop is tipped near to the ground like a kneeling horse, and sits like a rock with zero front to back tip.



Those outstretched crane legs, pigeon toed out, (and which can go under your rig) provide the same resistance to side to side tip. You see, the device fits snugly into the underside FCA designed corrugation of the hard top, behind the sports/roll bar, and additionally beyond (in the case of the JL's smaller behind the sports bar to rear of the hardtop dimensions than previously designed Wranglers by FCA.

How sturdy: wind won't tip it over especially if you kneel the top like in the video and add a few bungee cords for the worst of the wind. Then you could not tip it over unless you pick the crane up by yourself, with hardtop, off the ground and flip it.

Have an orthopedic surgeon standing by after that.

You say a condo spot? ...fit your stored hard top and rig all in the same place. You can even lock the hard top with some cable locks to the crane, and the crane to the rig if you want.

You want to talk about wind and a Hoist-A-Cart, or Top Lift Pro? I'd rather not go were
these products and the wind will take you. They are not simply not meant for high wind exposed areas.

That top is far more likely to act like a sail with those setups. No way the Top-Lift Pro is as sturdy to side-to-side movement as front to back, and no way front to back is as sturdy as any direction on the Freedom Jack---the Top Lift Pros footprint is just too small--it's physics.
 

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Just get a soft top. Problem solved.
 
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RussJeep1

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Awesome info. Is it available for the 2018 JL yet
I'm going to say yes Michael. Here's why.

I took dimensions for my JLU Sahara and the inventor made me one for it. I just got and tried it today and it fits like hand in glove.

I hope to make a video.

Make sure you tell him its for a JLU.
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