I know there are many ways to make one but I was looking at the ones at quadratec and was wondering what some opinions are on them. I work to much to have time to get all the material and make one just FYI just want to order it and be done.

 

The Harken is a really good unit. You'd be hard pressed to gather all the parts for a whole lot less than just buying the finished product and hang it. Qtec's shipping sucks on that though, they go by price of the sale rather than size/weight, so you pay $25 to ship a box the size and weight of a paperback book.

 

If you call them they will ship for free to forum members.

 

Alright. Thanks for the help guys.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

i like my lange hoist-a-top with winch

 

Have had the harkens for 2 years now. It's has been fantastic. Very nice for removing the hardtop alone, takes no time. The only thing to purchase is a 2x4. Very happy with harkens.

 

Just ordered the harkens today. It's out of stock but I did get it with free shipping and no tax that's to the forum and thanks quadratec. Can't wait to get it up and stop doing the hardtop thing by myself

 

I purchased the Lange Hard Top Hoist. It's alright....it works, but the quality of the thing kind of scares me. I couldn't go with the Harken because you need space in your garage for 5 mounting points. 4 up top and 1 on the back wall. I have open rafters in my garage and my rafters just weren't in the right locations for the Harken without doing some additional construction and the back wall mount I couldn't do because I have shelving storage on my back wall.

Before I got the Lange Hoist, I used the ratchet strap method shown in the video below. It's probably the cheapest and easiest home made kit. Cost me $25. Since I had open rafters, I just wrapped the ratchet straps over the rafters. So if you want to take your top off and your Harken hasn't come in yet....give this method a shot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI19Tqyhkhg

Everybody seems to elaborate on the good points of their lift solutions, but hardly anyone ever mentions the drawbacks of these lifts. So for the above ratchet strap method. Remember, those ratchet straps only work in a 1 way manor. So you can ratchet the top up pretty easily....but you can't ratchet the top back down nice and slow. Notice the woman in the video doesn't show herself putting that top back on by herself. So if you use this method, remember to not raise the top up too far, because you have to essentially hold onto each corner and lower each of those corners down 1 at a time and try to not drop it down too hard/far.

 

this is what I used with my Jeep hardtop.... I think it is called the Rancor Heavy duty Hoist...

it isnt meant for a hard top but it worked beautifully to remove and install my hardtop.









my jeep had 35's and it fit under it just fine. it cost only around $100... i would spend that on one again in a heartbeat!!!