2-door Over-the-top Hoist

[Kreepin1]

I recently built a pair of hoists for my new JL and buddy's wife's Jeep as well. I'm not sure this qualifies as a DIY project unless you have access to a torch, welder and other metal working equipment. However, a handy person could certainly adapt this design to the point you could do it with a hacksaw, file and hand drill.

Materials list:
2 - Cam-lock straps
2 - 3-3/4" pieces of 2-1/2" x 1/8" strap
1 - 47-1/4" piece of 3/4" x 1/8" wall square steel tube (front bar)
1 - 48" piece of 3/4" x 1/8" wall square steel tube (middle bar)
1 - 47-3/4" piece of 3/4" x 1/8" wall square steel tube (rear bar)
2 - 10-1/2 pieces of 1-1/2" x 3/16" steel strap
2 - 5/16"-18 x 1-1/2" square head bolts
2 - 5/16" locknuts
2 - 1/4" x 3/4" x 2" U-bolts
Paint
Plasti-dip
Electrical tape

Here is what the final product looks like:

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[Kreepin1]

The rear of the top is supported at the bottom by two hooks. Start with a pair of cam-lock straps:

Now cut the hooks off the short part:

Then bend a pair of flat hooks. Here is the jig I used:

Then weld the hook onto the other end of the strap. Hint: use a wet rag to cool the steel before the heat reaches the strap and melts it.

This is sort of a time sequence.

Finish with Plasti-dip:

 

[Kreepin1]

Now for the frame. Weld the square bolts into the rear bar.

Bend the two pieces of 1-1/2 x 3/16 strap so that one leg is 6" long. I like to make the tip of this long leg well rounded and smooth so it doesn't scratch the roll bar or top. Weld the middle and front bars on and then attach these two pieces as shown:

Next weld one of the U-bolts at the front of the middle bar. This will be used to stabilize the top when you store it. The balance point of the top is 34-1/2" from the front of the front bar. You actually want the attachment point further to the rear than that so that some weight is on the front U-bolt. I would weld the second U-bolt about 35-1/2" from the front of the front bar. I had some of these laying around the shop and welded a pair of them on instead with the middle hole at 34-1/2" back. This gives me some adjustment. I'm currently using the second hole from the rear.

Here is the test fit. You can see the front U-bolt here:

Time for some paint and wrapping electrical tape around the two front hooks. I had some truly enormous shrink tubing laying around so I used that instead:

Here is how the straps attach in the rear:

 

[Kreepin1]

There are lots of ways to lift the top. I prefer to have a track so I can slide the top on and off and store it well out of the way at the back of the garage. My buddy wanted to slide his to the side of the shop. For this I used a 10' barn door track, three barn door wheels and a 110V hoist from Harbor Freight.

One of the wheels is used to stabilize the front of the top. Here is the hook I used. Note that next time, I will put an eye bolt in the track and use a hook on the front of the frame instead. This way you can tie a short piece of rope to the wheel and slide it back and forth in the track, then hook it to the frame/top.

Next you put the hoist on wheels. You need some longer 6mm bolts, a stack of washers, a pair of 1/2" button head bolts and some thin 1/2" nuts to pull this off.

Finished wheel:

And installed:

 

[theTalkingKoi]

You need a lot more kudos than youve gotten for this! Turned out really nice. Not many people have access to weld at home maybe, but it turned out great.

 

[Kreepin1]

You need a lot more kudos than youve gotten for this! Turned out really nice. Not many people have access to weld at home maybe, but it turned out great.

Thanks! It's a pretty high degree of difficulty for a DIY project but I hoped it would give some fellow Jeepers ideas to incorporate in their lifts. First time my daughter took the top off her JK with one she called me up "Dad! This lift is so cool! You need to patent it!" I had to laugh but understand where she was coming from. It is so easy to remove and replace the top with it there is no reason not to go topless in the Summer. Here are my favorite aspects:

1) The hooks go on and off effortlessly. I've had hoists before where you have to lift the top up a little to get the hooks in place. This is so much nicer, won't damage the Jeep or the top and doesn't put any pressure on the window seal. Also, the window is kept down and takes up less space.

2) The barn door track allows you to easily slide the top to the rear of the garage. No more ducking under the top and/or whacking your head on it.

The down side is price and time. Just materials for my buddies lift totaled $320. I didn't keep track of time but it probably took me 5 or 6 hours.

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