Hard top ceiling suspension

[RubiRob]

Before building a hoist on your own consider a safety on it. Knew one guy that did it but didn't get a ratchet stop and it came crashing down.

I got the harken which came with a safety built in and I installed a clear to wrap the rope around when the top is hanging as well.

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[brewtus98]

Harken Hoister with Topsy lift brackets on the back. Works like a champ, easy 1 hand lift. Definitely recommend.

Put an X on the floor directly below hitch ball and I can line it up perfect using the backup camera.

 

[TimmH]

I bought the Lange kit, but found the hand crank extremely difficult.
Once there was some weight on the crank, the gears began to grind and shave metal off the pinion gear. Take like 3-4 cranks to raise it like 1 inch, raising it to my 10' garage ceiling took like 5 minutes of hand cranking.

So, I went on amazon and bought an electric hoist for $90, went to Lowes and bought a couple more pulleys, and hopefully this coming weekend, get the hoist and pulleys mounted, and cut and rebuild my lines.

I am going to build a box frame to lower down on top of the jeeps top, then strap the top to the frame and lift. I did not like the rear window hook that came with the kit, and especially did not like that you have to leave the window open to use it. I may look into some of those rear window hinge hooks, I think those would also help stabilize the top when lifted.

Hopefully be able to add some pics once complete, but the wife sidetracked me with a closet makeover project that is taking longer than expected.

 

[JohnnyB54]

I bought the Lange kit, but found the hand crank extremely difficult.
Once there was some weight on the crank, the gears began to grind and shave metal off the pinion gear. Take like 3-4 cranks to raise it like 1 inch, raising it to my 10' garage ceiling took like 5 minutes of hand cranking.

So, I went on amazon and bought an electric hoist for $90, went to Lowes and bought a couple more pulleys, and hopefully this coming weekend, get the hoist and pulleys mounted, and cut and rebuild my lines.

I am going to build a box frame to lower down on top of the jeeps top, then strap the top to the frame and lift. I did not like the rear window hook that came with the kit, and especially did not like that you have to leave the window open to use it. I may look into some of those rear window hinge hooks, I think those would also help stabilize the top when lifted.

Hopefully be able to add some pics once complete, but the wife sidetracked me with a closet makeover project that is taking longer than expected.

I have the hand crank version of the Lange hoist. Forget cranking by hand, just remove the crank along with the square crank locking bracket. Tighten down the lock nut on the crank and get yourself a deep socket that fits the nut (I forgot the size). Then use a cordless drill to raise or lower it, it works great!

I agree the Lange rear hook is terrible. I used the Topsy brackets along with their T-Bar adapter (http://topsyproducts.com/products/hinge_hook_hoist_bracket) and it’s way better then the Lange hook. I can not take credit for this as this idea came from TXRUBICON. His original post can be found here https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...-a-top-into-something-usable-on-the-jl.21562/

 

[TimmH]

I have the hand crank version of the Lange hoist. Forget cranking by hand, just remove the crank along with the square crank locking bracket. Tighten down the lock nut on the crank and get yourself a deep socket that fits the nut (I forgot the size). Then use a cordless drill to raise or lower it, it works great!

I agree the Lange rear hook is terrible. I used the Topsy brackets along with their T-Bar adapter (http://topsyproducts.com/products/hinge_hook_hoist_bracket) and it’s way better then the Lange hook. I can not take credit for this as this idea came from TXRUBICON. His original post can be found here https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...-a-top-into-something-usable-on-the-jl.21562/

Hmm,

 

[JohnnyB54]

Hmm,

What bracket are you looking at? The Topsy bracket and T-Bar are available from the site I posted.

 

[TimmH]

What bracket are you looking at? The Topsy bracket and T-Bar are available from the site I posted.

4dr JLU Kits

View attachment 156295

 

[TimmH]

What bracket are you looking at? The Topsy bracket and T-Bar are available from the site I posted.

I decided to order just the brackets, which it went through, I pretty much have all the other parts necessary anyway.

 

[Hardybreed]

Racor - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009I8AO6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
With Topsy brackets - http://topsyproducts.com/products/hinge_hook_hoist_bracket

 

[Helloh2u]

I bought the Lange kit, but found the hand crank extremely difficult.
Once there was some weight on the crank, the gears began to grind and shave metal off the pinion gear. Take like 3-4 cranks to raise it like 1 inch, raising it to my 10' garage ceiling took like 5 minutes of hand cranking.

So, I went on amazon and bought an electric hoist for $90, went to Lowes and bought a couple more pulleys, and hopefully this coming weekend, get the hoist and pulleys mounted, and cut and rebuild my lines.

I am going to build a box frame to lower down on top of the jeeps top, then strap the top to the frame and lift. I did not like the rear window hook that came with the kit, and especially did not like that you have to leave the window open to use it. I may look into some of those rear window hinge hooks, I think those would also help stabilize the top when lifted.

Hopefully be able to add some pics once complete, but the wife sidetracked me with a closet makeover project that is taking longer than expected.

I had the same issue with the Lange hoist. I emailed them and they sent me a new crank assembly for free. I installed it upside down (so that the tapered part of the screw leads on the crank shaft when raising) and the noise is gone and I can use a drill to raise and lower the top. I use a rope to secure the handle when the top is up and have had no problems since then. Good luck with your hoist and pulleys, I just thought I would share a similar experience and fix. Happy Jeeping.

 

[James_a]

Any help would be appreciated!

I need some advice relatively quickly... I was looking at hardtop hoists and was leaning towards the Racor hoist with the Topsy kit. I have a low ceiling 8' max and looking at adding a maximus-3 roof rack. After a bit of forum searching and e-mailing Topsy I figured out I could make this work and planned out how to do it.

Now before I could move on this I needed to clear out an old 1880's carriage barn and stabilize the floor etc...so I did not purchase it right away... Today I'm in the process of installing lighting and decided to check on the dimensions to make sure I left enough room for the hoist and It's now listed on Amazon for $460!!! On top of this the Topsy JLU kit is sold out...

I checked their website and it doesn't mention that its been discontinued but I found a post here that mentioned it was being discontinued...

So at this point I started looking every where for it and found it at several places for over $500... However I did find 2 postings on Ebay 4 total units at $259 and $279 respectively...

Should I jump on this...

Always had trust issues buying on ebay...

 

[fightingmajor]

I checked their website and it doesn't mention that its been discontinued but I found a post here that mentioned it was being discontinued...

Where did you see that?

 

[James_a]

Where did you see that?

Posted on the thread "Top Hoist" by Greg H:

"The Racor hoist has been discontinued. But you can still find it on Amazon. I've had mine since 2013 and it works great. I use my cordless drill to raise and lower it instead if the hand crank."


Also e-mailed Topsy to see when their Hoist Bracket JLU kit would be in-stock and received this response:

"We are currently sold out of kits and are hoping to have them back in stock in before the end of next week.
I will add you to the list and send you an email when they are ready to ship out. So don't worry, we got you covered.
As for the RACOR's? I did hear that they were discontinued but their website still shows them and a current product. Which is another reason for Topsy to make our own hoist system."


With the huge price jump I'm assuming the Racor is discontinued...I grabed one of the last 2 on ebay for $270...

 

[fightingmajor]

Posted on the thread "Top Hoist" by Greg H:

"The Racor hoist has been discontinued. But you can still find it on Amazon. I've had mine since 2013 and it works great. I use my cordless drill to raise and lower it instead if the hand crank."


Also e-mailed Topsy to see when their Hoist Bracket JLU kit would be in-stock and received this response:

"We are currently sold out of kits and are hoping to have them back in stock in before the end of next week.
I will add you to the list and send you an email when they are ready to ship out. So don't worry, we got you covered.
As for the RACOR's? I did hear that they were discontinued but their website still shows them and a current product. Which is another reason for Topsy to make our own hoist system."


With the huge price jump I'm assuming the Racor is discontinued...I grabed one of the last 2 on ebay for $270...

Oh I thought you were talking about the Topsy part being discontinued.

 

[Shooting or Jeeping]

I've got the Topsy Hinge Hook paired with a Racor lift and couldn't be happier with it.

http://topsyproducts.com/products/hinge_hook_hoist_bracket

amazon.com/Racor-Ceiling-Storage-Heavy-Lift/dp/B0009I8AO6/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8&sa-no-redirect=1

100% this by far. Simple to install and I can take the top off in about 5 minutes total - by myself. Even with a low garage, it works well

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