What's a good hardtop hoist DIY frame?

Carve

Carve

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Apr 2, 2018
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Albuquerque, NM, USA
Hey guys. I rigged up a hardtop hoist using the el-cheapo Harbor Freight UTV winch. However, by the time I get all the slack out of the straps (and flex out of the top) I can only lift the thing about 1". What's the best DIY frame design for these things. I can't weld. I was thinking a couple of 2x4's in an "X" Pattern. Also, I'd like to keep the rear window closed- otherwise it'll interfere with that bump-out for duct work you can see on the ceiling. Ideas?

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Here’s what I did in my garage. I built a frame out of 2x2’s and bolted the hardtop to it. I laid a piece of foam on top of hard top so it stays in place when raised. I then put all my other Jeep pieces inside the hardtop when it’s raised and back seat when not in use.

When hard top is on In winter I zip tie soft top frame all windows and other pieces to the 2x2 frame and raise to ceiling.
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LJtheunicorn said:
Here’s what I did in my garage. I built a frame out of 2x2’s and bolted the hardtop to it. I laid a piece of foam on top of hard top so it stays in place when raised. I then put all my other Jeep pieces inside the hardtop when it’s raised and back seat when not in use.

When hard top is on In winter I zip tie soft top frame all windows and other pieces to the 2x2 frame and raise to ceiling.
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Have you had an issue with warping? I read long time ago to build a frame to the outside dimension to keep the bottoms from spreading out. Instead of just letting it rest on 2x4s like you have there.
 
LJtheunicorn said:
Here’s what I did in my garage. I built a frame out of 2x2’s and bolted the hardtop to it. I laid a piece of foam on top of hard top so it stays in place when raised. I then put all my other Jeep pieces inside the hardtop when it’s raised and back seat when not in use.

When hard top is on In winter I zip tie soft top frame all windows and other pieces to the 2x2 frame and raise to ceiling.
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I wish my garage ceiling was so high! How do you lower it slowly and evenly with those straps? It seems like you loosen one corner and it'd just want to fall, yes?
 
NDSpeed said:
Have you had an issue with warping? I read long time ago to build a frame to the outside dimension to keep the bottoms from spreading out. Instead of just letting it rest on 2x4s like you have there.
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I built a frame to mimick the side rails of the tub to prevent any warping and then it is bolted to the frame in 4 places.
Carve said:
I wish my garage ceiling was so high! How do you lower it slowly and evenly with those straps? It seems like you loosen one corner and it'd just want to fall, yes?
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Haha I customer built my home with tall everything. When lowering it does take a lot of time because as you stated lower one corner and it’s all lopsided however since there is a wooden frame under it this hasn’t been an issue. It really helps to have a second set of hands so I can lower it evenly but if I’m by myself it hasn’t been an issue.
 
Mine is threaded galvanized pipe put together in the shape of an “H”. I attach heavy ratchet straps that run through door opening to rear window opening and connect to the 4 ends of the H. Hard to really see a lot from the pic I have though

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rebelles said:
Mine is threaded galvanized pipe put together in the shape of an “H”. I attach heavy ratchet straps that run through door opening to rear window opening and connect to the 4 ends of the H. Hard to really see a lot from the pic I have though

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Perfect- clever and simple! How did you attach the cable to the hang point? Did you just drill through the pipe and screw in an eyelet?
 
Carve said:
Perfect- clever and simple! How did you attach the cable to the hang point? Did you just drill through the pipe and screw in an eyelet?
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I'd look at moving your winch close to the back wall, then run the cable through a pully where the winch is currently. You'll gain a couple more inches in height, and the control can be stored in a cradle on the wall, out of the way.
 
Artsifrtsi said:
I'd look at moving your winch close to the back wall, then run the cable through a pully where the winch is currently. You'll gain a couple more inches in height, and the control can be stored in a cradle on the wall, out of the way.
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This is how I wanted to do it with pulleys a winch and all the goodies. I opted out as I didn’t trust myself to stop the winch at the exact moment and avoid cracking the top breaking windows or some other mishap. I know tons do it this way without issue but I know myself well, I’ll just eliminate that opportunity for disaster!
I looked into a manual winch like the ones on a boat trailer but in the end went with the simple straps because I didn’t want to fuss with all ends of straps aligning and the other headaches associated with 4 cables meeting and connecting to one cable. If you do go a pulley route PLEASE post pictures
 
Carve said:
Perfect- clever and simple! How did you attach the cable to the hang point? Did you just drill through the pipe and screw in an eyelet?
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Yes, the frame was originally set up for a CJ hard top. I lengthened the center pipe to accommodate my LJ hard top and had to try two holes to find the correct balancing spot for the eye bolt so the hard top wouldn't tilt much while suspended (I still had to add a zip lock bag of old lug nuts to the rear strap to get balanced just right).

I also used pulleys mounted to studs in the ceiling and ran the cable to the back wall (cable is run to a boat style winch but same principle). It's easily raised and lowered with one person.
 
LJtheunicorn said:
This is how I wanted to do it with pulleys a winch and all the goodies. I opted out as I didn’t trust myself to stop the winch at the exact moment and avoid cracking the top breaking windows or some other mishap. I know tons do it this way without issue but I know myself well, I’ll just eliminate that opportunity for disaster!
I looked into a manual winch like the ones on a boat trailer but in the end went with the simple straps because I didn’t want to fuss with all ends of straps aligning and the other headaches associated with 4 cables meeting and connecting to one cable. If you do go a pulley route PLEASE post pictures
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If you zoom in on my first picture, you can see the two pulleys I used.
 
rebelles said:
Mine is threaded galvanized pipe put together in the shape of an “H”. I attach heavy ratchet straps that run through door opening to rear window opening and connect to the 4 ends of the H. Hard to really see a lot from the pic I have though

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Do you think 1/2" is enough? Did you thread your pipe, or just work with short enough sections of pre-threaded pipe?
 
Carve said:
Do you think 1/2" is enough? Did you thread your pipe, or just work with short enough sections of pre-threaded pipe?
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I used prethreaded pipe from Lowe’s in the already precut lengths. But I think it’s bigger than 1/2”. Not saying that 1/2” won’t work but just not sure.
 
Here's what I rigged up after work. I just need a lower-profile / less janky way to secure the hook to the bar without it slipping, but also without it sliding down the center pole. Any ideas?

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Carve said:
Here's what I rigged up after work. I just need a lower-profile / less janky way to secure the hook to the bar without it slipping, but also without it sliding down the center pole. Any ideas?

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Can you drill a hole through the bottom of the center T fitting and put an eye bolt through it (see example in pic). I also put some pipe insulation on my pipe and over the bottom of the eye bolt so I could let it rest in the top while hooking it up and not scratch up the top.

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