Topsy Lift thread

[Yellow109r]

Got mine on. Love these things and actually like the look. Dare I say taking the top off is fun/easy now!?

They are installed incorrectly, your supposed to have them to the outside of the hinge not the inside.

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[Movingday]

Good install video as reference for the racor

 

[blessidsoul12]

They are installed incorrectly, your supposed to have them to the outside of the hinge not the inside.

Ah yes I see. Thanks! I even caught myself wondering why they put their badging on the inside of the brackets ;-)

 

[S2k Chris]

Anyone do anything custom instead of the Racor lift? It looks like the Racor has a fair amount of space between the ceiling and the bottom of the Racor square frame. I have a really low ceiling (9'?) so I would like to keep the HT as close to the ceiling as possible. I was thinking of rigging something up of either wood or maybe some metal if I could find something that works, just a simple I frame. I think I'd do two connected rope pulleys, and then have some anchors in the ceiling to clip the frame to, and maybe even run some extra safety straps directly to the HT. The rope pulleys would only support the HT when I was raising/lowering it, the rest of the time it would be clipped to the joists. My ceiling is unfinished, so it's cake to make sure I'm tied directly into the 2x8 ceiling joists.

Anyone done something similar?

 

[mdelzer]

Anyone do anything custom instead of the Racor lift? It looks like the Racor has a fair amount of space between the ceiling and the bottom of the Racor square frame. I have a really low ceiling (9'?) so I would like to keep the HT as close to the ceiling as possible. I was thinking of rigging something up of either wood or maybe some metal if I could find something that works, just a simple I frame. I think I'd do two connected rope pulleys, and then have some anchors in the ceiling to clip the frame to, and maybe even run some extra safety straps directly to the HT. The rope pulleys would only support the HT when I was raising/lowering it, the rest of the time it would be clipped to the joists. My ceiling is unfinished, so it's cake to make sure I'm tied directly into the 2x8 ceiling joists.

Anyone done something similar?

Racor has a lifting range of 8' if I remember correctly. Mine lowered I feel like was around 8-12 inches off my floor. That said mine has enough room to clear. Just make sure you have enough room to leave the glass open after lifting so the spare tire clears. The extra space at the top is the perfect height to accommodate the freedom panels in the bag. As for pulling in I have plenty of room for the hood/flares to clear and I have a stock Rubicon. I could probably even add a lift and bigger wheels and still have clearance to pull in. The part that would hit first would likely be the front of the top hitting the windshield frame. I'll see if I have some pictures on my phone. I'm out of town so I can't take any for a few days.

 

[mdelzer]

This is the only one I have with the top on it. And like I said, I’m pretty sure my joists are around 9 feet.

 

[S2k Chris]

Appreciate the insight, but my Jeep will be parked outside except for 5 minutes to take the HT on/off. I have a sports car I park inside (along with my wife's CUV). My main concern is that the spot in my garage where my HT would hang is right in front of my little work bench area, so I want it high enough up so I can still putz around there as much as possible. So I don't want the ~foot or so that it looks like the Rancor holds the HT from the ceiling, I want it basically as close to the ceiling as possible.

Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the HT. Options are hang it in the garage, hang it in the shed, build some sort of shelf to stick it in the shed, or surreptitiously stash it in my inlaws' house or shed somewhere. Might just build a wood or PVC cart and stick it in the front of my garage and ditch the workbench. I have a very small old house packed to the gills with wife/kid stuff, so storing this giant bulky thing somewhere is going to be a bit of a trick.

 

[mdelzer]

I feel your pain, 1170 on my main level built in 1957. Note the giant warehouse style shelf behind my top. I had to get that to get rid of a bench and shelf at the font in order to have enough room just to pull in. I can say that even if I had my top flush with my joists I would still hit my head on my top and I'm only about 5' 10". This is my temporary solution until we build a new house next year. So far it sounds like the main garage will be around 25x25 and a second attached garage that is 16x30. Both with at least 11' ceilings and wall mounted garage door openers. The goal is to be able to do a storage lift or 2 in the future and also potentially add another door at the back of the deeper garage to pull through if we ever want to build an out building behind the house.

 

[Shots]

I'm planning on making a wood frame, and connect it to an electric hoist. The hoist will be mounted in the attic of the garage with the cable hanging through. In doing that, I should be able to run the top all the way up to the ceiling until the wood frame makes contact with the drywall. We'll see if it pans out as planned. First things first, it's time to buzz over to Topsy's site and order my brackets.

 

[TA1ton]

Appreciate the insight, but my Jeep will be parked outside except for 5 minutes to take the HT on/off. I have a sports car I park inside (along with my wife's CUV). My main concern is that the spot in my garage where my HT would hang is right in front of my little work bench area, so I want it high enough up so I can still putz around there as much as possible. So I don't want the ~foot or so that it looks like the Rancor holds the HT from the ceiling, I want it basically as close to the ceiling as possible.

Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the HT. Options are hang it in the garage, hang it in the shed, build some sort of shelf to stick it in the shed, or surreptitiously stash it in my inlaws' house or shed somewhere. Might just build a wood or PVC cart and stick it in the front of my garage and ditch the workbench. I have a very small old house packed to the gills with wife/kid stuff, so storing this giant bulky thing somewhere is going to be a bit of a trick.

I’m was going to suggest something similar to this:

I'm planning on making a wood frame, and connect it to an electric hoist. The hoist will be mounted in the attic of the garage with the cable hanging through. In doing that, I should be able to run the top all the way up to the ceiling until the wood frame makes contact with the drywall. We'll see if it pans out as planned. First things first, it's time to buzz over to Topsy's site and order my brackets.

And I suppose you could even mount a Racor lift this way...just have to be careful not to keep ramming it into the joists.

I made my lift with a gambrel and hand winch from harbor freight. Also made my own Topsy style brackets (I would just order some cause getting the geometry right is a PITA). Due to the layout of my garage, it made more sense to hang my top above my wife’s truck. I am making a cradle for the lift which will better hold the top and allow me to lift it even higher...these pics were taken while I was testing it. Once I finish the cradle, I should have my lift done for under $100...but if you don’t care about budget, I’d get an electric hoist. But here is my set up.

 

[S2k Chris]

I think my plan is going to be to sandwich some 2x4s together to build an I-beam, and then use some pulleys to raise/lower it. And then once it is in the up position, as close to the ceiling as possible, I'll run some chains to the I-beam or Topys brackets and chain it up there; the rope will only be used to raise/lower it, not support it long term. Since I only plan to switch tops occasionally, I think an electric winch will be overkill, but we'll see.

 

[S2k Chris]

I'm planning on making a wood frame, and connect it to an electric hoist. The hoist will be mounted in the attic of the garage with the cable hanging through. In doing that, I should be able to run the top all the way up to the ceiling until the wood frame makes contact with the drywall. We'll see if it pans out as planned. First things first, it's time to buzz over to Topsy's site and order my brackets.

Unfortunately, I have a flat roof over my garage and no attic or anything to speak of. Otherwise I'd do exactly this.

 

[Shots]

Well my Topsy brackets were ordered immediately after my last post. After talking to my brother, who has a JK, I'm definitely going with the electric hoist. He's using a Racor lift with his, and he said it's not as convenient as he'd like it to be so he doesn't take his top off that often as he would if it were easier. From his description, it sounds like Racor gets a little tougher to crank as you get the top higher and closer to the ceiling. Not sure why that would be, but I'm just relaying what he said. Despite that one issue he does seem to really like the system. Though on a related note, he's also using straps all around rather than the Topsy brackets, but he hadn't heard of them yet. I suspect he'll buy a set once he sees mine.

I'll be sure to post my set up once I get it all purchased and installed.

 

[BlairF]

Well my Topsy brackets were ordered immediately after my last post. After talking to my brother, who has a JK, I'm definitely going with the electric hoist. He's using a Racor lift with his, and he said it's not as convenient as he'd like it to be so he doesn't take his top off that often as he would if it were easier. From his description, it sounds like Racor gets a little tougher to crank as you get the top higher and closer to the ceiling. Not sure why that would be, but I'm just relaying what he said. Despite that one issue he does seem to really like the system. Though on a related note, he's also using straps all around rather than the Topsy brackets, but he hadn't heard of them yet. I suspect he'll buy a set once he sees mine.

I'll be sure to post my set up once I get it all purchased and installed.

Just use the drill attachment... won't matter... 1/2" chuck, no hand power needed.

 

[Movingday]

Yeah it goes up in seconds with the drill

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