Got the wife a new JKU.
Took top off with her help, once.
Sat down a designed a hoist.
Here it is:
basically made a TBar with materials i was able to scrounge up at Home depot:
some box channel 2" and 1" .. bolted together with some heave steel plate for added strength.
*could have used simpler materials like 2 inch box tubing and welded it..but dont have a welder.
1) Measured hardtop from back of rear window to rear of top.
thats the bottom of the T.
2) then measured from side to side at same point ..thats the top of the T.
3) made a guesstimate of the hoist anchor point as to where the balance should be and drilled 4 holes in that general area for adjustability.
4) bought a $100 hoist at harborfreight..
5) measured and found the right spot in the garage cieling where the hardtop would fit and clear garage door/attic access and still allow the jeep to be parked in garage.
6) Drilled a hole in cieling for the hoist line..then went up to attic (yes i checked the attic space before hand to make sure i wasnt hitting any lines/hotwater heater, etc) and found hole.
7) made plan for how to mount the hoist.
Was pretty simple ..just made some cross beams across the 2x8 rafters already there.. stacked them high enough the bottom of the hoist (where the auto-cutoff bar is) was above the sheet rock by about 5 inches, to allow the hoist bumper washer (thats what im calling it- the orange disc thing on the line above the hook) to suck up into the hole.
8) Cut a hole to match the inside grommet of a can light halo ring i had.. mounted halo ring in the hole..folding over tabs on the sheetrock.
9) mounted the hoist to piece of heavy water line pipe using a spare piece of box channel to give it a square fit to the hoist.
10) mounted the hoist on the rafter blocks , over the hole..dropping the hook and line down the hole and centering it.
10) Screwed the pipe to the rafter with brackets.
11) setup eyehole bolts for the anchor points.. wrapped T in foam tubing...
12) used 200lb carabiner clips for the top T connections where a cinch strap will wrap under the top by back of rear window and connect to.
13) Used a rubber coated bicycle hook (with a flat wall mount plat welded to it ..comes this way) for the rear hook point -- using two carabiners to allow it some drop down to clear the rear of the top and slip down between open rear window and the top
14) tested the lift...adjusted anchor point... repeated this about 5 time till i drilled a hole between my 1st and 2nd anchor point and found it was perfect.
I will be moving the hoist switch..as soon as I can take it apart and figure out how to move it to a wall mounted switch.
When the top is on the jeep.. the T can come off the hoist and be stored..but i can make it go up flat when empty by moving the hoist to an anchor point at the top of the T.
Took top off with her help, once.
Sat down a designed a hoist.
Here it is:
basically made a TBar with materials i was able to scrounge up at Home depot:
some box channel 2" and 1" .. bolted together with some heave steel plate for added strength.
*could have used simpler materials like 2 inch box tubing and welded it..but dont have a welder.
1) Measured hardtop from back of rear window to rear of top.
thats the bottom of the T.
2) then measured from side to side at same point ..thats the top of the T.
3) made a guesstimate of the hoist anchor point as to where the balance should be and drilled 4 holes in that general area for adjustability.
4) bought a $100 hoist at harborfreight..
5) measured and found the right spot in the garage cieling where the hardtop would fit and clear garage door/attic access and still allow the jeep to be parked in garage.
6) Drilled a hole in cieling for the hoist line..then went up to attic (yes i checked the attic space before hand to make sure i wasnt hitting any lines/hotwater heater, etc) and found hole.
7) made plan for how to mount the hoist.
Was pretty simple ..just made some cross beams across the 2x8 rafters already there.. stacked them high enough the bottom of the hoist (where the auto-cutoff bar is) was above the sheet rock by about 5 inches, to allow the hoist bumper washer (thats what im calling it- the orange disc thing on the line above the hook) to suck up into the hole.
8) Cut a hole to match the inside grommet of a can light halo ring i had.. mounted halo ring in the hole..folding over tabs on the sheetrock.
9) mounted the hoist to piece of heavy water line pipe using a spare piece of box channel to give it a square fit to the hoist.
10) mounted the hoist on the rafter blocks , over the hole..dropping the hook and line down the hole and centering it.
10) Screwed the pipe to the rafter with brackets.
11) setup eyehole bolts for the anchor points.. wrapped T in foam tubing...
12) used 200lb carabiner clips for the top T connections where a cinch strap will wrap under the top by back of rear window and connect to.
13) Used a rubber coated bicycle hook (with a flat wall mount plat welded to it ..comes this way) for the rear hook point -- using two carabiners to allow it some drop down to clear the rear of the top and slip down between open rear window and the top
14) tested the lift...adjusted anchor point... repeated this about 5 time till i drilled a hole between my 1st and 2nd anchor point and found it was perfect.
I will be moving the hoist switch..as soon as I can take it apart and figure out how to move it to a wall mounted switch.
When the top is on the jeep.. the T can come off the hoist and be stored..but i can make it go up flat when empty by moving the hoist to an anchor point at the top of the T.
Comment