JL JOURNAL : DIY Homemade Hardtop Hoist on a BUDGET

LauraRose

New member
Hardtop Storage Shelf (Over Stairway in Garage)

When I designed our home, I took a cue from my husband's brothers who had built their homes a few years earlier and included a stairwell inside their attached garage leading down into the basement of the houses. The only negative to this setup was the floor space that we lost inside the back corner of our garage.

Last April I turned a 7'x7' area of that wasted space into a convenient storage area for my JL hardtop. My husband is 6'2" and can easily walk down the stairs without having to duck his head as he passes the shelf.

Hardtop_shelf_1.jpg

Hardtop_Shelf_2.jpg

Hardtop_on_shelf_2.jpg

Hardtop_on_shelf_.jpg


After my sons move my hardtop for me today, I'm going to to cover the shelf with a piece of carpeting to prevent scratching anything I store on the shelf.

Soft Top cleaned and stored for winter, just need to cover it all with a piece of plastic to keep the dust off.

shelf_w_carpet.jpg

This platform is just a simple 7'x7' design, made of 2"x4s" with plywood sheeting over it...nothing fancy, but it does the trick. I hope this info can help someone with designing their own hardtop storage solution.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
When I designed our home, I took a cue from my husband's brothers who had built their homes a few years earlier and included a stairwell inside their attached garage leading down into the basement of the houses. The only negative to this setup was the floor space that we lost inside the back corner of our garage.

Last April I turned a 7'x7' area of that wasted space into a convenient storage area for my JL hardtop. My husband is 6'2" and can easily walk down the stairs without having to duck his head as he passes the shelf.

After my sons move my hardtop for me today, I'm going to to cover the shelf with a piece of carpeting to prevent scratching anything I store on the shelf.

Soft Top cleaned and stored for winter, just need to cover it all with a piece of plastic to keep the dust off.

This platform is just a simple 7'x7' design, made of 2"x4s" with plywood sheeting over it...nothing fancy, but it does the trick. I hope this info can help someone with designing their own hardtop storage solution.

Awesome - nicely done :thumb:
 

kimmonia

New member
Inspiring. I plan to do this but maybe add something like the adding the hinge hook hoist you can install on hinges of the hard top in place of the 2x4 ... this adds about $25 to the total cost though so may defeat the purpose. My bigger question ... how does the system work for putting the top back on? addendum video? =) I might be nervous to press the release on the tie down straps. Thanks for the journal vids!
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Inspiring. I plan to do this but maybe add something like the adding the hinge hook hoist you can install on hinges of the hard top in place of the 2x4 ... this adds about $25 to the total cost though so may defeat the purpose. My bigger question ... how does the system work for putting the top back on? addendum video? =) I might be nervous to press the release on the tie down straps. Thanks for the journal vids!

It's just as easy. You gotta remember that the hardtop only weighs about 100 lbs. In other words, that's only about 25 lbs per corner that your dealing with - really, not that much. You just back your Jeep in and let one side down at a time. If it's possible, maybe easier getting it back on then getting it off.
 

kimmonia

New member
You guys were right, easy to do. And easy to put back on, just did it for the first time!
 

Attachments

  • DFE91337-52BC-4A69-A5A8-C55B794CAD2E.jpg
    DFE91337-52BC-4A69-A5A8-C55B794CAD2E.jpg
    134.5 KB · Views: 134

Toycrusher

New member
I just did the same basic thing on the cheap. Some J-hooks and ratchet straps. It's light enough I'm going to use lighter duty strips next time. Yes, the J-hooks are crooked... but I screwed them in crooked cause I was in a hurry and not paying much attention :icon_crazy:

2019-04-05 18.34.29.jpg
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I have a cart that I been putting my hardtop on. Wanted to give this a try since I always scratch the hardtop or the Jeep to take it off and lay it on the cart. This is way better. Thanks Eddy!

Awesome, so glad that we could be of help to you :)
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Awesome! I've been looking at those and wondered if it would make something like this easier. Thanks for posting up :thumb:
 

CalSgt

Member
Awesome! I've been looking at those and wondered if it would make something like this easier. Thanks for posting up :thumb:

After seeing them the brackets are pretty simple, I'm sure anyone with some basic tool skills and sheet metal could make their own. They do make hooking straps to the top easy.

Hoisting the top all the way up to the ceiling (13 feet) was a lot more time consuming than I thought it would be, mainly from having to re position the ladder ten times as I worked my way up.

I'm tempted to spend a little time and money to mount a boat trailer winch with some pulleys or something on the ceiling to be able to crank it all the way up a little easier
 

JustLookingMimi

New member
Inspiration for our hardtop garage lift

This video was the inspiration for us to install a lift in our garage for Mimi's hardtop. We wanted something that I could potentially do myself with little to no help when my hubby is not around. We didn't want to spend a fortune on an half-assed pulley system or tons of money on electric lifts, so we found this in between. With the help of several hardware stores, we created this lift system. With the help of a 72" of pipe (that's what she said), a 2X4, some extra wood lying around the house, two pulleys, a couple of sets of ratcheting straps, and a hand-cranked winch, we got her done! After two weeks of planning, prepping, testing, failing, and re-testing, we got the project to work with just lil' ole me doing all the work. Total cost for materials: $85.50. Now, I'm ready for a topless summer!

Hand-crank winch: Haul Master 1-ton Winch with hand crank = $30.00 @ Harbor Freight
Ratcheting Straps: Husky 12ft Ratchet straps (set of 4) = $10.00 @ Home Depot
Pulleys: Everbilt 1-1/2 in wall/ceiling mount pulleys = $9.00 for 2 @ Home Depot
Eye Hooks: large screw-in eye hooks = $7.50 for 3 @ Home Depot
1/2" steel pipe = 10 feet (cut to 6 feet) = $16.00 @ Home Depot
One 96" 2x4 = $3.00
6ft of pipe insulation (self-sticking) = $3.00 @ Home Depot
Pipe insulation (elbows) = $7.00 for 4 @ Home Depot
One 24" wooden slats (cut into 3 pieces at 24") = free
3 tennis balls = free

IMG_2777.jpg
 

Attachments

  • 264F7FF4-528C-42AF-9D05-6F445652C843_1_201_a copy.jpg
    264F7FF4-528C-42AF-9D05-6F445652C843_1_201_a copy.jpg
    24.9 KB · Views: 83
Last edited:

JeepNYak

New member
I'm looking to do this under my carport. Watched Eddie's video & looked at everyone's pics/posts.

Any tips for things you wish you would've done to make things easier/faster? Gonna get everything this weekend & hope to have top off next week.

o|||||||o
 

Top