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Hardtop Cart / Holder DIY

sdtitmas

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Most likely going to give this a go once the weather gets warmer. My only concern is that living in a townhouse I’ll need to wheel the cart from the front of my house, along the side (all grass) and into my backyard. Any thoughts on making this more suitable for that? I’m thinking heavy duty casters. What else?
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kkuntz01

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Most likely going to give this a go once the weather gets warmer. My only concern is that living in a townhouse I’ll need to wheel the cart from the front of my house, along the side (all grass) and into my backyard. Any thoughts on making this more suitable for that? I’m thinking heavy duty casters. What else?
My 2¢ for your situation if it's feasible would be to rig up or pick up a ceiling hoist and store it that way. As long as you hit the necessary studs you should good.


If however you have your heart set on storing it outdoors all summer and have to wheel it over rough terrain (ie grass) you're going to want pneumatic tire as they'll have a better chance of rolling on most surfaces. You'll also want to put those screw in eyelet things on either side and use ratchet strap over the top secure it.

https://www.amazon.com/Pneumatic-Wh...t=&hvlocphy=9021520&hvtargid=pla-568845563899
 

DaddysJeep

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If you built the cart with only 2x4's you'd be totally fine whether you build it 60" or 72". The 2x4's will more than handle the weight of the hardtop without any problems.

I built two hardtop carts myself using my own spec (back when my wife and I both had JK's), one built out of 2x4's and the other out of 1x4's. My honest opinion was that the cart built with 2x4's was over built, however it could take a TON of weight. The cart I built out of 1x4's certainly was no slouch and could also handle a good amount of weight without any issues. The pic below is of the cart I built with 1x4's with 5qty JK Sahara wheels. Currently the cart has 5qty JL Rubicon wheels on it.

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My question is not about whether 2x4s are strong enough for the load, but where does the top itself sit when on the cart? I was thinking that the side 2x4s hold some of the load, and that if you widen the cart too much, the top could just slide out the bottom of the cart onto the floor. For instance (and only for the sake of argument), let's say you made a cart 120" wide, what is holding the top in the cart? The 15" blocks and the 1x2"? Thanks, apologies for the ignorance here.
 

kkuntz01

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My question is not about whether 2x4s are strong enough for the load, but where does the top itself sit when on the cart? I was thinking that the side 2x4s hold some of the load, and that if you widen the cart too much, the top could just slide out the bottom of the cart onto the floor. For instance (and only for the sake of argument), let's say you made a cart 120" wide, what is holding the top in the cart? The 15" blocks and the 1x2"? Thanks, apologies for the ignorance here.

Not sure if this answers it or not.

What I did was put a lip at the one end of the to catch the bottom (body side) of the top. Pic below of what I did.

xcvrVzmtgwJdPM-OrJoSsLsE6tKBidaM1YCvKrzra6D7KmouG7yuSnzoX5M5RfwqhifxaE9JA&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.jpg
 

DaddysJeep

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Not sure if this answers it or not.

What I did was put a lip at the one end of the to catch the bottom (body side) of the top. Pic below of what I did.

xcvrVzmtgwJdPM-OrJoSsLsE6tKBidaM1YCvKrzra6D7KmouG7yuSnzoX5M5RfwqhifxaE9JA&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.jpg
Oh, I see your solution for going extra wide (which makes sense, thanks for the clarification). I was thinking more about the designs where the bottom is open. I'll give some thought to adding a floor, like you have.
 

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kkuntz01

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Oh, I see your solution for going extra wide (which makes sense, thanks for the clarification). I was thinking more about the designs where the bottom is open. I'll give some thought to adding a floor, like you have.
Yeah, I opted to put a floor in mine as I wanted the cart to be able to do more than just move a hard top around. For us having to rely on an offsite public storage unit, having something that can be used for multiple purposes has been pretty helpful.

As far as the flooring, even with the 3/16" press board I used the carts hold a heck of a lot of weight.

If you want to click through more pic's of the cart I built, you can check it out here.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/dirtyturtlemotorsports/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1643997352302134
 

sdtitmas

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My 2¢ for your situation if it's feasible would be to rig up or pick up a ceiling hoist and store it that way. As long as you hit the necessary studs you should good.


If however you have your heart set on storing it outdoors all summer and have to wheel it over rough terrain (ie grass) you're going to want pneumatic tire as they'll have a better chance of rolling on most surfaces. You'll also want to put those screw in eyelet things on either side and use ratchet strap over the top secure it.

https://www.amazon.com/Pneumatic-Wh...t=&hvlocphy=9021520&hvtargid=pla-568845563899
Thanks! Yeah, I wish I had a garage to install a hoist because then I wouldn’t have to ask my wife to help me lift off the top either hah Unfortunately nowhere to install one.

The eyelets and straps are a solid idea.
 

ohsobad21

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Question for the 72" width guys: It looks like on the 60" width carts, the weight of the top is supported in part (or maybe even primarily) by the 29" side-frame 2x4's (or 2x6's, depending on what you went with). On the 72" width design, does that weight end up being supported more by the 1x2? Or does the friction from the way the top braces against the front 72" 2x4 support the weight some as well?
Your answer is yes it will rest on the 1x2... so what I did is just added 2 more 2x4s at the 60" mark and not only does it allow the top to rest on a solid place but it also adds support to the 1x2.
 

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Here's what I did: I was trying to build a shelf, using the cart design as the platform of the shelf. The studs in my garage were spaced in such a way that I had to go with 64", build a frame, and then build the cart part on top of that. I probably over-built this, but I like it. Picks the top up off the floor, where kids might be tempted to mess with it, and it saves storage space for kids' toys beneath it.

Hardtop rack-shelf.jpg
 

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Paul. That is awesome! I am now thinking of this over an overhead hoist system. Thanks for sharing
 

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DaddysJeep

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Paul. That is awesome! I am now thinking of this over an overhead hoist system. Thanks for sharing
Thanks! I also was thinking about a hoist, but it made me a little nervous and claustrophobic (probably unnecessarily so, but to each his own).
Once the top goes up there, I’m also going to use ratchet straps to secure the top on top of everything.
 

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Got around to changing to the soft top this weekend. Took 1:40 - a little longer but I expect that was due to it being first time. Thanks to YouTube for great videos. Here is the hardtop stored on the cart I built last weekend. I am in between houses and needed to put this is a storage shed until I move in July. Then I can build either the shelf or hoist.

IMG_0570.jpg
 

Lisad

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Got around to changing to the soft top this weekend. Took 1:40 - a little longer but I expect that was due to it being first time. Thanks to YouTube for great videos. Here is the hardtop stored on the cart I built last weekend. I am in between houses and needed to put this is a storage shed until I move in July. Then I can build either the shelf or hoist.

IMG_0570.jpg
Did it take you an 1:40 to build the cart or to get the hard top off and situated on it?
 

zoepup

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Did it take you an 1:40 to build the cart or to get the hard top off and situated on it?
140 to remove hard top, unpack soft top from box and install soft top. Seems too long but I did take it slow first time
 

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what is the dimension from the "Front" to the 1x2, ??

upload_2019-4-26_12-23-59.png
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