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Hitch Mounted Hard Top Removal Redux

RussJeep1

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I found this link.

https://amazon4x4.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/hoist-for-roof-tent/

It's about building this:

hitchmount.jpg


Now, fair disclosure, there's a Patent on this idea related to Wranglers and their hard tops:

https://patents.google.com/patent/US20130280020 but they say great deals are to be found in buying and licensing patents that nobody's making money off of.

But I ask myself again, what would be so hard about this? People have expressed concerns over torsional forces on the hitch lifting the hard top with the distanced and swinging (and high) boom. I say, so make it like a hitch crane's feet.


hitchcrane.jpg


Granted the distance (and height) of the above boom would need to be further from the hitch than here, and I understand about the forces of leverage, but Google these devices and you see them picking up large generators, some of those cranes without even support feet. The back of the 4 door hard top pushes something not much North of 100 pounds. And sure, I'd work with a Type 2 hitch or higher.

Such a device could be portable, so you could take your hard top off at, say a camp sight. The Top Lift Pro or Hoist A Cart aren't easily portable.

And yet nobody's done it. Am I inflating the need for portable top removal...missing something fundamental about the engineering?

Sure the back of the hard top is cumbersome...but its an issue of balance already dealt with by the people at Lange Originals with their Hoist a Cart.

hoistacart.jpg

I think its bound to be easier and cheaper to make, and for the user to assemble.

When the warm weather returns I may give this a try--on smaller stuff than a hard top first.;)

Thoughts?
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DesmoDog

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Fack me, that's got me thinking... something along the lines of forklift but powered off a screw that lifts the top up to the ceiling of the garage, where it'd then have to be secured. Going straight up, there would be no torsional loads.

There has to be some existing application that could be modified to provide the screw... or maybe a hydraulic cylinder off say an engine hoist? Hmm... the challenge would probably be making the lift light enough it could be manhandled into the receiver without damage to human...

EDIT: Then again, a lift that goes in the receiver would be one more thing to find space for in the garage... a ceiling mounted hoist does have it's advantages for home use.
 

mizzoujake

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I saw this one online. Lifts the top and roll it away...

 
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RussJeep1

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I saw this one online. Lifts the top and roll it away...

Yes @mizzoujake Jake, the Top Lift Pro, as mentioned, is a great, if not terribly portable product. In fairness I don't own this and can't speak to how easily it disassembles and how much of it would require disassembly, to take on the road with you.

Then there's reassembly and disassembly again...so there's that.

@DesmoDog Craig: thought you'd enjoy

 

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GreyFox

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Wouldn't it just be easier and cheaper to invest in a soft top?
Edit: of course store the hard top at home. But for camping trips and what not, a soft top would be the way to go.
 

robaw

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Wouldn't it just be easier and cheaper to invest in a soft top?
Edit: of course store the hard top at home. But for camping trips and what not, a soft top would be the way to go.
I would agree with that, unless you're rolling with a rooftop rack of some sort. Personally I went with dual tops and a TopLift Pro.
 

robaw

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FWIW - the TopLift Pro says this in their FAQ...

Q. Can I travel with my TopLift Pro?
A. Yes, this is a portable lift! Many folks travel with theirs simply by keeping it assembled, mounting it atop a basket system that is then mounted into the receiver hitch, and then using two straps to hold it in place while traveling.​

Seems kinda crazy to me (it weighs like 130 pounds) but I suppose it might work.
 

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RussJeep1

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https://top-off.biz/product/topoff-jk74/

Another option if you don't mind drilling. Don't have just thought was good idea.
Yes. I've written about this one before, most recently here:

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...cks-show-em-off-here.18785/page-5#post-468854

Agreed...you're drilling through the top, and equally important to me, your twisting turnbuckles a lot of times on each side of the rig to bring the legs closer together to raise the height of the hardtop attached to the device.

More recent implementations of the device feature the hand cranks in the middle. If I remember it use to involve rotating turnbuckles directly.

I don't know if it sold that well, which makes me ask if it was the price, the drilling through the hard top or that portability of hard top removal devices just isn't as important as I may think, especially in light of points like Brandy @Mt Jeep made about just getting a soft top instead or in addition to a hard top.

Yeah, I'd really have to say Rob @robaw that among otherwise excellent features, the Top Lift Pro, or the Hoist a Car, or the Freedom Jack don't excel at portability.
 

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OK so if this thing weighs a lot and the top is ~100lbs and you don't have a cement driveway or take it camping in the uneven dirt/rocks it's not going to budge with those wheels. Sure, you could drive your vehicle forward then back to reattach but seems impractical. For my example my driveway is out front and is rock. My garage is out back in the alley. Yes, the garage is cement but not large enough to maneuver anything that far from the Jeep (it was built in the 20's or 30's) and is tiny. I use it for a shed.

I think I'll stick with the type that attaches to the rafters in the unfinished garage and just back in, take it off and then drive out. I may get a soft top later on as I agree with the above that's the best solution for certain situations or just the summer.

What I like about Jeeps the most is we have a vehicle that can be optioned in an endless array. I have a hardtop but installed the new Bestop Sunrider convertible that takes place of the Freedom Panels so I have the best of 2 worlds now!
 
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RussJeep1

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OK so if this thing weighs a lot and the top is ~100lbs and you don't have a cement driveway or take it camping in the uneven dirt/rocks it's not going to budge with those wheels.
I'm lost Darrell. Exactly what is not going to budge with those wheels? The hard top that your place, maybe on a carted carrier at a campsight that doesn't move well off pavement?

Sure, you could drive your vehicle forward then back to reattach but seems impractical.


Well, the vehicle weighs more than the top but the vehicle...moves....so why would you not move it to proximity of the top so the boom could reinstall it?

For my example my driveway is out front and is rock. My garage is out back in the alley. Yes, the garage is cement but not large enough to maneuver anything that far from the Jeep (it was built in the 20's or 30's) and is tiny. I use it for a shed.
I think I'll stick with the type that attaches to the rafters in the unfinished garage and just back in, take it off and then drive out. I may get a soft top later on as I agree with the above that's the best solution for certain situations or just the summer.
I'm not getting your visual. The crane attaches to the rig's hitch and goes where it goes. I respectfully am not following you.

What I like about Jeeps the most is we have a vehicle that can be optioned in an endless array. I have a hardtop but installed the new Bestop Sunrider convertible that takes place of the Freedom Panels so I have the best of 2 worlds now!
Yes, I just installed my Sunrider. Good compromise.
 

Firecracker18

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I'm lost Darrell. Exactly what is not going to budge with those wheels? The hard top that your place, maybe on a carted carrier at a campsight that doesn't move well off pavement?



Well, the vehicle weighs more than the top but the vehicle...moves....so why would you not move it to proximity of the top so the boom could reinstall it?



I'm not getting your visual. The crane attaches to the rig's hitch and goes where it goes. I respectfully am not following you.



Yes, I just installed my Sunrider. Good compromise.
I'm talking about this set up. Sorry I wasn't more specific.

Screen Shot 2018-12-04 at 9.58.59 PM.png
 

GreyFox

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I'm talking about this set up. Sorry I wasn't more specific.

Screen Shot 2018-12-04 at 9.58.59 PM.png
Can the sunrider stay on all year? We live in Ohio, so just curious if it keeps the snow and ice out. The Jeeps are garaged at home, but curious how the top holds up during yucky travel.
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