Four stainless eye bolts through the roof with rubber washers. A $100 warn winch and a cheap 12v battery to run it. A $30 smart charger to keep it charged. Four $8 carabiners to clip to the eye bolts. I swear it takes me 7 minutes to get my top on and off and there's no way it could ever fall. Eye bolts have not leaked and I go through the power carwash every single week.




I can get it on and off so fast that I didn't even put my soft top on this Fall and I took the roof off every weekend.

 

I'm afraid you may want some stabilization in the between the two aluminum suspended from the chains. How about adding a brace to keep their distance constant? Or else some motion in the same direction the vehicle travels in could cause them to separate and slide forward / backward.

UPDATE: never mind, just saw the wingnuts

 

You drilled through the hardtop? Where exactly? And how do you know the fiberglass is reinforced there and able to withstand the stress of picking the top up?
I'd worry about structural failure more than leaks. Also, if you ever roll/ flip the jeep, you could have bigger problems if the bolts cause a fracture and the roof fragments.

 

I will take some pics in a little bit, but I simply chose four spots to drill. The holes are 1/4". The 1/4" stainless eye bolts I got were rated for like 250 lbs each (1000 lbs total). I used 1" or 1.5" washers on the inside and outside, with matching rubber washers the same size. I'm no engineer, but I knew the fiberglass was strong enough to hold the weight of the roof. It has worked perfectly. I even store the freedom panels on top of the roof before I winch it up. I have young kids and I wanted to be 100% positive that if they hit it with a soccer ball or a rake or something (or I hit it with a ladder) that there was no chance in hell that it would fall. Unless my garage roof comes down, my roof isn't coming down. I bought a Warn 1700 winch from amazon for like $120 and then replaced the steel cable with synthetic for like $60 (just because synthetic winds better and is easier to handle). I used four aluminum carabiners and rock climbing webbing to attach the carabiners to my main carabiner (locking) at the end of the winch line. The two front lengths of webbing are shorter than the back two and the roof sits perfectly level as a result. I used eye bolts and pulleys to route the rope, and bolted the winch into a stud on the front of my garage wall. The remote for the winch is removable, so I keep it in the back of the jeep when the roof is off so the kids can never play with it while I'm gone. The last thing to do is to put a loop in the winch line just above the winch spool when the roof is up, and then I'll screw another eye bolt into the stud, and use another carabiner to attach that loop to the wall when the roof is up. That way, if the brake ever gives out on the winch, that loop connected to the wall would prevent the roof from falling (another reason to have synthetic line, to quickly put a loop in it for this safety feature).

So I back into my garage (don't have to be exactly lined up to anything, which is nice), take the freedom panels off, set them on the roof upside down, lower my winch rope, click the carabiners on while standing on the back bumper, then use a Black and Decker cordless screwdriver and a torx socket to quickly remove the eight bolts. I store the socket and the quick release adapter to slide into my screwdriver in the back of the jeep. Then I slowly winch the roof up, holding it with my hand so it doesn't rub on anything if I didn't pull in far enough, for instance. I winch it up, pull the remote off, and I'm done. I swear I'm not exaggerating when I say the whole process takes about 8 minutes. And there is absolutely no fear of it falling. When I back in to put it back on, if I'm not perfectly lined up, I just push the roof to align it and slowly lower it into place.

I'm also not lying when I say I go through a power car wash every single week and have never had a single drop of water come through my holes. After I gently snugged the eye bolts (don't over tighten), I put a dab of marine goop on them to ensure no leaking. I'm not sure if that was necessary, but it made me feel better.

Yakima (and Quadratec) sells a Yakima track system that screws through the roof. That rack setup is strong enough to hold bikes and gear and the wind resistance. I've been rigging stuff like this for years; I wouldn't have done it if I though there was any chance in damaging my $1600 color matched roof. I'm telling you, I don't know any other setup can be easier or quicker, the the ease of a one person job. My wife could do this alone without any chance of screwing anything up. You just have to have the nerve to drill that first hole!! (I'll admit it was a little nerve wracking)

 

I look forward to seeing your photos - sounds like a neat setup

 

Winch on the wall and battery to run it. Battery Tender keeps it topped off ( this battery is overkill for this job; I just had it laying around)



First pulley above winch



Second pulley above Jeep



I think I got both pulleys in this shot



Locking carabiner on winch line; four standards to hook to roof. Each piece of webbing marked.



Front eye bolt, kind of above passenger head (but I think far enough back where they wouldn't hit their head on it)



Rear eyebolt location



Close up of eye bolt on roof; they are 1.5" washers and matching rubber washers, from Ace Hardware



Inline shot of the two



Action shot from the Fall

 

Love my Racor lift !!!!!

 

Built my hoist today





Might put foam or something around the eyes so it doesn't scratch up my top at all





I just used a hand crank winch, If I ever get tired of cranking I will attach my drill, unless I find a cheep electric winch somewhere










Not to sure about these pulleys, they look a little flimsy I won't lift it to high the first time I try it and inspect them before to much use

 

Warn winch is $120 on amazon. Trying to crank that thing down and line it up at the same time will not be fun. With power winch, you guide the roof on perfectly every time while slowing letting it out with your thumb on the remote. You'll know what I mean after a couple of tries. Looks good though.

 

Thanks, I never really thought about putting it back on haha I was just worried about getting it off I may just get an electric winch after all. Still have a long time yet till I can even think of taking the top off again :(