Hard Top hoist
08-12-2013, 05:31 PM
#1
JK Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Hard Top hoist
So as I am sure everyone with a hard top has wanted is an easy way to remove the hard top alone. Watched a ton of YouTube videos and such and thinking of trying the 4 ratchets from the ceiling of the garage method. Any pro's con's or suggestions for this method? My biggest concern is lowering the top back down. All the videos I found are just taking the top off, not putting it back on.
FYI I only have a 2 door JK
Thanks
FYI I only have a 2 door JK
Thanks
08-12-2013, 09:04 PM
#2
JK Enthusiast
I have a 4 door and did the 4 ratchets from the ceiling thing. Worked great, I loved it (unfortunately I had to move and can't do that now). I had no problem putting it back on, I would back the Jeep up under the top, then take the weight off the corner I was putting back on, and release the tension from the ratchet, then lower the top down. One corner at a time was light enough to hold with one hand, and I had the 4 door hardtop remember. Do it! 
08-12-2013, 09:41 PM
#3
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I used 2 on my 2 door, now use 3 (one for the rear window) on my 4 door to compensate for more weight towards the rear.
Have had my top off for almost a month before with zero ill effects.
What I do is lift it up about 2" higher than stock, then just drive out.
To put it back on, i just back it in under the harddtop, then let a little slack out on each strap, and it falls right back into place.
Have had my top off for almost a month before with zero ill effects.
What I do is lift it up about 2" higher than stock, then just drive out.
To put it back on, i just back it in under the harddtop, then let a little slack out on each strap, and it falls right back into place.
Last edited by Namtaru; 08-12-2013 at 09:45 PM.
08-13-2013, 05:31 AM
#5
Super Moderator
I started off with the rachets, it worked well for a cheap solution. It is a pain in the rear though. Remember, if you have 4 ratchets, then you need to run around your Jeep and rachet one up a bit, move to the next, ratchet the next, so and and so forth and then repeat.
The important thing to remember with the rachets is don't raise it up any higher than it needs to be, because like you mentioned, ratcheting back down is not an option. So imagine if you raised it 1 foot higher than where it sits on the Jeep, that means you're going to have to drop 1 corner down 1 foot while the others remain dangling your roof off balance. Raising it no more than 2 inches is your best bet.
The ratchets worked for me, for a short time. Then I started to consider this is my $30K+ vehicle where I'm risking scratching it, or having the roof come crashing down, breaking into pieces as it hits the floor, as well as scratching your $30K+ investment all to hell. The ratchets were a pain having to keep doing circles around the car when lifting it off and lowering it down was not the easiest thing to do by yourself either.
I decided it was better to stop being a cheap ass and spend $250, where I bought a Lange hard top hoist which comes with everything you need including a hand crank. So now I just lower the lift on my top, put the 3 hooks in place, and crank it up and then slowly lower it back down. It didn't make a lot of sense to me to spend $25 on a ratchet set and keep risking damage to my $30K+ investment.
I was originally disappointed with the robustness of the Lange lift, but overall it works, and has worked well for me.
The Harken hoist looks ok to me, but every time I look at it, I see where I have to 1st feed the straps through the inside of my Jeep, and that doesn't seem like a pleasant experience either. Plus, you needed to have 4 roof rafter mounting points. The Lange you need 1.
The important thing to remember with the rachets is don't raise it up any higher than it needs to be, because like you mentioned, ratcheting back down is not an option. So imagine if you raised it 1 foot higher than where it sits on the Jeep, that means you're going to have to drop 1 corner down 1 foot while the others remain dangling your roof off balance. Raising it no more than 2 inches is your best bet.
The ratchets worked for me, for a short time. Then I started to consider this is my $30K+ vehicle where I'm risking scratching it, or having the roof come crashing down, breaking into pieces as it hits the floor, as well as scratching your $30K+ investment all to hell. The ratchets were a pain having to keep doing circles around the car when lifting it off and lowering it down was not the easiest thing to do by yourself either.
I decided it was better to stop being a cheap ass and spend $250, where I bought a Lange hard top hoist which comes with everything you need including a hand crank. So now I just lower the lift on my top, put the 3 hooks in place, and crank it up and then slowly lower it back down. It didn't make a lot of sense to me to spend $25 on a ratchet set and keep risking damage to my $30K+ investment.
I was originally disappointed with the robustness of the Lange lift, but overall it works, and has worked well for me.
The Harken hoist looks ok to me, but every time I look at it, I see where I have to 1st feed the straps through the inside of my Jeep, and that doesn't seem like a pleasant experience either. Plus, you needed to have 4 roof rafter mounting points. The Lange you need 1.
Last edited by Rednroll; 08-13-2013 at 06:03 AM.
08-13-2013, 09:30 AM
#7
JK Freak
I started off with the rachets, it worked well for a cheap solution. It is a pain in the rear though. Remember, if you have 4 ratchets, then you need to run around your Jeep and rachet one up a bit, move to the next, ratchet the next, so and and so forth and then repeat.
The important thing to remember with the rachets is don't raise it up any higher than it needs to be, because like you mentioned, ratcheting back down is not an option. So imagine if you raised it 1 foot higher than where it sits on the Jeep, that means you're going to have to drop 1 corner down 1 foot while the others remain dangling your roof off balance. Raising it no more than 2 inches is your best bet.
The ratchets worked for me, for a short time. Then I started to consider this is my $30K+ vehicle where I'm risking scratching it, or having the roof come crashing down, breaking into pieces as it hits the floor, as well as scratching your $30K+ investment all to hell. The ratchets were a pain having to keep doing circles around the car when lifting it off and lowering it down was not the easiest thing to do by yourself either.
I decided it was better to stop being a cheap ass and spend $250, where I bought a Lange hard top hoist which comes with everything you need including a hand crank. So now I just lower the lift on my top, put the 3 hooks in place, and crank it up and then slowly lower it back down. It didn't make a lot of sense to me to spend $25 on a ratchet set and keep risking damage to my $30K+ investment.
I was originally disappointed with the robustness of the Lange lift, but overall it works, and has worked well for me.
The Harken hoist looks ok to me, but every time I look at it, I see where I have to 1st feed the straps through the inside of my Jeep, and that doesn't seem like a pleasant experience either. Plus, you needed to have 4 roof rafter mounting points. The Lange you need 1.
The important thing to remember with the rachets is don't raise it up any higher than it needs to be, because like you mentioned, ratcheting back down is not an option. So imagine if you raised it 1 foot higher than where it sits on the Jeep, that means you're going to have to drop 1 corner down 1 foot while the others remain dangling your roof off balance. Raising it no more than 2 inches is your best bet.
The ratchets worked for me, for a short time. Then I started to consider this is my $30K+ vehicle where I'm risking scratching it, or having the roof come crashing down, breaking into pieces as it hits the floor, as well as scratching your $30K+ investment all to hell. The ratchets were a pain having to keep doing circles around the car when lifting it off and lowering it down was not the easiest thing to do by yourself either.
I decided it was better to stop being a cheap ass and spend $250, where I bought a Lange hard top hoist which comes with everything you need including a hand crank. So now I just lower the lift on my top, put the 3 hooks in place, and crank it up and then slowly lower it back down. It didn't make a lot of sense to me to spend $25 on a ratchet set and keep risking damage to my $30K+ investment.
I was originally disappointed with the robustness of the Lange lift, but overall it works, and has worked well for me.
The Harken hoist looks ok to me, but every time I look at it, I see where I have to 1st feed the straps through the inside of my Jeep, and that doesn't seem like a pleasant experience either. Plus, you needed to have 4 roof rafter mounting points. The Lange you need 1.
The lange frame pieces are heavy duty, the problem with them is the unthreaded holes and small screws use to attach the frame pieces strip the threads easily. For what it costs they should do better and use real threads and larger screws. The other things are their instructions which say insert the side arms with the j-hooks until they meet in the center which makes the distance between the j-hooks over the doors too short and they need to be moved out from center to work. They also leave it to trial and error on where to locate the eyebolt for the hoist cable. They sell these specifically for JK 's and they should give a specific dimensional locations for the side arms and the eyebolt. But it's a great hoist in my opinion.
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08-13-2013, 09:32 AM
#8
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And, I would rather have 4 mounting points in the ceiling than just one for safety reasons. Plus, there's much less chance of the top rotating around as it's being raised or lowered.
08-13-2013, 10:01 AM
#9
JK Freak
Running the Harken strap from the door area through the tailgate is an unpleasant experience? It takes less than a minute!
And, I would rather have 4 mounting points in the ceiling than just one for safety reasons. Plus, there's much less chance of the top rotating around as it's being raised or lowered.
And, I would rather have 4 mounting points in the ceiling than just one for safety reasons. Plus, there's much less chance of the top rotating around as it's being raised or lowered.
08-13-2013, 12:15 PM
#10
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So as I am sure everyone with a hard top has wanted is an easy way to remove the hard top alone. Watched a ton of YouTube videos and such and thinking of trying the 4 ratchets from the ceiling of the garage method. Any pro's con's or suggestions for this method? My biggest concern is lowering the top back down. All the videos I found are just taking the top off, not putting it back on.
FYI I only have a 2 door JK
Thanks
FYI I only have a 2 door JK
Thanks
