[SandToy]

Anyone made a lifting device for thier hardtop? I have seen the ones for sale, but didn't know if anyone had a better (poss cheaper) mousetrap.
Thanks

 

[kg4kpg]

I just wish I could afford a hard top. My soft top doesn't have much life left in it.
If you have a good sturdy ceiling in your garage you could probably rig something up pretty easy with some pulleys and good rope.

 

[khenderson]

my ex-girlfriend's uncle made a simple frame out of 2x4's and ran rope from them through a pulley in the ceiling of the garage and then down to where he tied it off. worked pretty well.

 

[Skitzic]

When I read that the av. lifespan of a soft top is 5 years I wished I'd gotten the hard top...then I read that hard tops are over 100 pounds...so I'm happy with my soft one.

 

[YellowRubiU]

Well lets see...

First I put this on the wall... all parts from Home Cheapo and Lowes

Then broke through the ceiling and put a couple of these in...

Tested it with 230+ lbs. - The Unlimited top weights 233 lbs

Then got some tie-down straps at Walmart and did this...

And up it went...

However, because I don't have a very high ceiling in my garage and was loosing quite a bit of space when the straps were sagging, as you can see on the picture above, I ended up buying the Lange hoist anyway and using it with everything else I had already installed instead of the come-along that it is sold with. The other nice thing about the Lange system is that I don't have to deal with lifting the top to get hooks under it in the rear in order to lift it from the Jeep. You simply place it on the roof, hook it and crank. I tried different configurations with the straps before getting the Lange hoist but got a little nervous when I saw how the top was getting squeezed or expanded when lifted with the straps.

As you can see in the picture above the top does not hang evenly but this actually makes it a little easier to place the top down on the tub. This allows me to get the rear left corner down first which makes it a little steadier and then gradually work it into the rest of the holes while I continue to lower it with the winch. I am close enough behind the jeep to crank with one hand while guiding the top with the other.