Hardtop Removal Options?

[PizzaFreak]

Hi everyone, I am new to a hard top, only had soft top on my last one, and I don't have another person in the house to help with removal. How do I simplify this process? What is everyone using? Thanks in advance for your input.

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[Arjeep]

Buy or build you a hoist of some kind. Several threads with photos of different setups.

Here’s what I made.

 

[Carbonalpine]

That’s really cool, now I’m regretting turning my garage into a theatre

 

[grady2hig]

Do you have to worry about it warping if hanging from something? Or not really?

 

[Rhinebeck01]

@PizzaFreak

Well, if you have lots of $, this is the ultimate. https://www.topliftpros.com/

I'd take this rather then any hard top hoist.... but yup, lots of $ and you will have to order and wait a couple of months for it to arrive.

 

[Arjeep]

Do you have to worry about it warping if hanging from something? Or not really?

Mine has never hung up there for long periods of time so I can’t really say, but if I was going leave it for a long time I might use Rachet straps to support the bottom. That being said, the top seems pretty rigid so I am not too concerned about warping.

 

[PizzaFreak]

Buy or build you a hoist of some kind. Several threads with photos of different setups.

Here’s what I made.

Great Video! Thanks for the info!

 

[RubenZ]

Not that much Money? This option is best


You have money this option is better: https://amzn.to/2OVy0f1

 

[Chuck]

I made a hardtop table for about $30 using scrap wood and miscellaneous parts I found in my garage. I spent the $30 on latches and foam for the table top. My solution was based on my unique situation and limits, which were:

1. My wife wasn’t able to just lift the hardtop off with me, so I needed to come up with a way to do it by myself.

2. I have a small, one-car "garage" (aka carriage house) with a low ceiling, so a pulley system was out of the question.

3. Since I occasionally park one of our vehicles in the garage, I needed to build a table that could be easily disassembled and stored out of the way, yet be sturdy enough so support the weight of the hardtop.

I was originally inspired by this thread: https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-write-ups-39/hard-top-removal-alone-17481/ … but I wouldn’t be able to build my table with permanent braces, which keep it from collapsing sideways, so I had to get creative. I ended up going with latches for all four connection points. Those, combined with tightened bolts in the back, keep it from collapsing or wobbling.

Here is the table disassembled into 4 pieces (2 side frames and 2 back boards -- one of which has a flat top, which you can't see because it's angled in this image):

And here is the table assembled (it takes about a minute to put it together):

I made slots in the back boards so that they could lock into the extended bolts (then I tighten them down a bit for added stability):

Here’s a closeup of one latch (I have 4 in total, one at each corner):

To get the hardtop off, I just back the Jeep right up to the table, open the back door and raise the back window, and then I sit in the back (facing the table). I find the center balance point and just lift it up and move it forward about a foot. This gets the front of the hardtop over that high point in the top of the roll bar, and it also gets the back of the hardtop onto the front edge of the table. From there, I just lift and move a few more times (shifting from sitting to standing) to get it fully onto the table. To get it back onto the Jeep, I basically just do everything in reverse, though once it’s partway on the Jeep, I find it easiest to stand, bent forward, in the back of the Jeep and lift the top with my back.

My solution (the table and my process) doesn’t look pretty, but it was cheap and it works great. As a bonus, I can also use the table to dry my hops.

 

[Karl_in_Chicago]

I made a hardtop table for about $30 using scrap wood and miscellaneous parts I found in my garage. I spent the $30 on latches and foam for the table top. My solution was based on my unique situation and limits, which were:

1. My wife wasn’t able to just lift the hardtop off with me, so I needed to come up with a way to do it by myself.

2. I have a small, one-car "garage" (aka carriage house) with a low ceiling, so a pulley system was out of the question.

3. Since I occasionally park one of our vehicles in the garage, I needed to build a table that could be easily disassembled and stored out of the way, yet be sturdy enough so support the weight of the hardtop.

I was originally inspired by this thread: https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-write-ups-39/hard-top-removal-alone-17481/ … but I wouldn’t be able to build my table with permanent braces, which keep it from collapsing sideways, so I had to get creative. I ended up going with latches for all four connection points. Those, combined with tightened bolts in the back, keep it from collapsing or wobbling.

Here is the table disassembled into 4 pieces (2 side frames and 2 back boards -- one of which has a flat top, which you can't see because it's angled in this image):

And here is the table assembled (it takes about a minute to put it together):

I made slots in the back boards so that they could lock into the extended bolts (then I tighten them down a bit for added stability):

Here’s a closeup of one latch (I have 4 in total, one at each corner):

To get the hardtop off, I just back the Jeep right up to the table, open the back door and raise the back window, and then I sit in the back (facing the table). I find the center balance point and just lift it up and move it forward about a foot. This gets the front of the hardtop over that high point in the top of the roll bar, and it also gets the back of the hardtop onto the front edge of the table. From there, I just lift and move a few more times (shifting from sitting to standing) to get it fully onto the table. To get it back onto the Jeep, I basically just do everything in reverse, though once it’s partway on the Jeep, I find it easiest to stand, bent forward, in the back of the Jeep and lift the top with my back.

My solution (the table and my process) doesn’t look pretty, but it was cheap and it works great. As a bonus, I can also use the table to dry my hops.

Necessity is the mother of invention! Nicely done.

 

[millerjl]

Just the fact that you use it to dry hops makes it a 10+++++++

 

[Shots]

Ha ha. I was thinking the same thing. I love the creativity of that set up. Making the most of the space you have to work with. Well done.

As for my lift. I've got about $200 into it. I bought an electric hoist from Harbor Freight for $100. Then I bought some 2 x 4's, black iron pipe, a hand full of eye bolts, carpet, and some chain (all that was roughly $50). Top it off with a Topsy kit for $50 and that was all I needed to make a 1 person removal/install set up.

I mounted the hoist in the rafters of the garage. Then I made a frame with the 2 x 4's and pipe. I attached the frame to the hoist via the chains (I originally used rope), and the top to the frame by the Topsy kit. Undo the 8 bolts, push a button and wa-la the top comes off.

These photos are from the build and test run so it wasn't fully wrapped in carpet, and still had the rope. Concept is unchanged though.

 

[TheJoyceIsYours]

Has anyone heard anything on this?

Looks like Topsy is coming out with their own hoist? I noticed that the Racor Lift has been less available around the internet-wonder if this has anything to do with it?

 

[nerubi]

Hi everyone, I am new to a hard top, only had soft top on my last one, and I don't have another person in the house to help with removal. How do I simplify this process? What is everyone using? Thanks in advance for your input.

I went with a much more expensive and time consuming route for removing my top. I had sons and grandsons so that they could eventually remove it for me. I have a storage roller to move into my spare bedroom because my garage is too full to store it. Plus I rent so can't install a hoist and ceiling is too low anyway.
I know a guy who built his own hoist to save a few dollars but he didn't get a safety ratchet and it crashed into the floor. Save a penny spend thousands he found out.

 

[Harley]

2 straps. 4 eyelits. 20 mins

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