DIY $200 Winch Hardtop Removal

[Ereanor]

Hi All,

This is likely to be my last post in here as I came across a great deal on a JKUR that I couldn’t pass up.

I wanted to share a cheap ceiling mounted winch setup to easily remove your hard tops. I’m by no means an engineer, so if you see anything I can improve on please feel free to share.

Anyways I went to the trusty Harbor Freight and picked up a 1500# winch. It was right around $200. You can get one cheaper for around $70, but I opted for this one due to the plug and play with the power cord.

I went to Lowes due to the Home Depot having a line around its building with social distancing. I picked up some U Bolts. They fit perfectly through the mounting bracket on a diagonal.

Use the U Bolts and a stud finder and mark the locations around a truss. Then chalk the lines.

Use the mounting bracket as a template and mark then drill the holes around a truss.

Then all you have to do is mount the winch to the truss, plug it into the outlet for the garage door opener, and proceed with caution.

Hope this helps some people out.

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[MileHigh]

Here's a write up of the one I did. Similar cost and used a Badland winch.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/diy-electric-hard-top-hoist.48069/#post-1055261

 

[sf5211]

Hi All,

This is likely to be my last post in here as I came across a great deal on a JKUR that I couldn’t pass up.

I wanted to share a cheap ceiling mounted winch setup to easily remove your hard tops. I’m by no means an engineer, so if you see anything I can improve on please feel free to share.

Anyways I went to the trusty Harbor Freight and picked up a 1500# winch. It was right around $200. You can get one cheaper for around $70, but I opted for this one due to the plug and play with the power cord.

I went to Lowes due to the Home Depot having a line around its building with social distancing. I picked up some U Bolts. They fit perfectly through the mounting bracket on a diagonal.

Use the U Bolts and a stud finder and mark the locations around a truss. Then chalk the lines.

Use the mounting bracket as a template and mark then drill the holes around a truss.

Then all you have to do is mount the winch to the truss, plug it into the outlet for the garage door opener, and proceed with caution.

Hope this helps some people out.

Great job Jon, you can still visit us and post. We're all Jeep people here. Jk, JL whatever.

 

[Ereanor]

Here's a write up of the one I did. Similar cost and used a Badland winch.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/diy-electric-hard-top-hoist.48069/#post-1055261

I like this, thank you. The straps make the top flimsy. I’ll try and incorporate some of your set up.

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