Homebrew JKU hoist set-up adapted to JLU

[Wapiti]

Bought my first Wrangler in 2008, and I found instructions in a forum for building a jig out of channelstrut to hoist the hardtop. The design was basically a T with J hooks fashioned from u-bolts and an eye bolt pick point somewhere within spitting distance of the hardtop's COG. I used the jig three different ways in 3 different garages. The first was a pole barn, and I used a Harbor Freight ratcheting boat winch bolted to one of the the posts. The second was in my girlfriend's garage. It had suspiciously wimpy rafters, so I made a rolling gantry out of 4x4s, 2x6s, and a barely adequate skill set and the same $20 boat winch. My current house has a small single car garage, so I installed barn door track with a Harbor Freight electric hoist. The idea being that once I have the top off, I can slide it to one side so I can maintain some useability in the garage. Once off to the side, I lower it onto some 2x4s suspended from the ceiling.

Because of the "wing" molded into the back of the JLU top over the rear window, my J hook set up wouldn't work. I bought the Topsy brackets, and added a "horizontal" to the long end of the jig in order to pick from them. Being a cheap, simple man, I used a 3' hunk of all thread and some bolt snaps. The hardtop has a bit of a lip, so I was reluctant to use the J hooks for the area over the rear doors; I added two eye bolts to the front "horizontal" and use a 2" ratchet strap to secure that.

In one of the pics, you can see my door hangers, which are some tool hanger thingies from Harbor Freight covered with pool noodle. Those have also been with me since 2008, and I've never had an issue with weather stripping in either of my JKUs and, so far, my current JLU.

Hope this is helpful...

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[MCJA]

If you're interested, I did a write-up on my hard top and door hoist here. I use mine for hoisting and storing the hard top, storing the doors, pass-through attic storage, overhead storage (for my recovery gear when I'm not using it), and as an on-demand workbench when needed. 600 lb capacity.

A few pictures...

Hard top and doors stored.

Lowered into position to hoist the hard top. Also shows attic pass-through opening.

Plenty of room to park underneath, and even open the hood all the way to the windshield if needed.

Detachable ramp for my miter saw, which I store in the attic. Easily loads and unloads.

On-demand workbench. The door hangers double as workbench legs to raise the height by 7". Also note that the hoisting cables are detached in this photo. Gets them out of the way for working, and also lets me move the bench around if needed.