FJ40 Hardtop Lift Storage System (1 Viewer)

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75PIG

75PIG

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Great thread with good ideas on how to store the FJ40 Hardtop:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/209709-fj40-hardtop-removal-storage.html

I liked the Racor Lift System the best ($130 on Amazon). See pictures below. I beefed up the lag bolts into my ceiling that came from the manufacturer and spanned 89" with 2 4x4 posts to hold the lag bolts. After lifted, for safety, installed straps from Harbor Freight (400 lb strength, set of 4 for $8). I have 11.5 ft ceiling in garage so this system works great!

I am sooo pleased as to how it turned out.:clap: "1911" gave me the ideas to get the brackets from Lowe's and endorsement after over a year of use!:bounce:. I think they were $7 each.
P1140411.jpg
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P1140421.jpg
 
Turned out nice!

I just used mine to take-off and store mine again last Saturday.
 
Sure... I will get a shot tomorrow morning and post. You want one of the cable, cable ties, and bracket. Correct?
 
How did you connect the cord to the hard top? Roof rack brackets? Is that too much force on the drip rail?
 
Thank "1911" for the idea. See the link to the original idea in 1st post. He found the lift (Racor on Amazon) and had the ideas for the brackets from Lowe's.

Brackets are routed through the bracket holes and by doing so prevent failure since the cable is still connected to the actual bracket; in case the three welds on the plate to bracket were to fail. I wasn't sure on the weight of the unit and found out it is ~200 pounds. The "lift" holds 250 pounds.

The bracket actually grasps the metal frame of the hardtop, not the fiberglass. 1st picture shows this on the back of the hardtop. Pictures 2 and 3 show the metal hardtop frame and the "safety" loop for the cable and the bracket. Cable ties are used to hold the cable and keep it in place.
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I also added "beefier" lag bolts than what came with the kit. Had to widen slightly the holes in the bracket for the larger lag bolts and added washers. There are a 11 lag bolts on each metal bracket holding it to the 4x4 mounted across ceiling joists for each bracket.

Also, when you crank the mechanism to raise and lower the cables/hardtop, it created some torque on the crank bar/bracket. I thought this a flimsy component to the system that was only addressed by a welded angle bracket. I added another 4x4 in the ceiling to set a lag bolt to keep this part of the unit from torquing when raising and lowering the lift using the hand operated crank. I think this resolved any torque issue that would arise in the future. See picture #1.

Lastly, I used Harbor Freight tie downs to provide an extra safety factor to keep it all from crashing down if cable ties or "claw" brackets were to fail. I think the lag bolts used do not require any further "safety" factor to ensure the ceiling metal brackets stay mounted to the ceiling.

My system is a modification to the manufacturer's lift unit which was to use I-bolts to attach to a metal pedestal to hold boxes and "stuff." I removed this but used the manufacturer's cable ties along with the "claw" brackets from Lowe's to lift the hardtop.

I think the system is "stout" enough to add a shelf inside the hardtop and use it for storage of my rear doors and side doors. There are the mounting bolts on the hardtop that I could mount a shelf to to hold the doors.

I am looking for used doors so I can build half doors for when the hardtop is off. anybody got any non-rusted doors they want to get rid of?

Thanks and good luck on your storage system.

Again, thank Lee "1911" for the GREAT idea!

Jim
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Oh, man, if I only had a garage that wasn't full of crap so I could do that :D
 
I like your lift, did you try to lift it with the rear lift hatch attached? I left mine on, and made a really primitive lift like that, but the balance was tough. Thanks for the close up pics, they are great.
 
Racor Amazon Link:

Sorry should have put the link to Amazon in the post. Thanks for posting the link. This makes it easier for people to go out and view specs and check price. I see it went back up in price to $144. I kept checking for awhile and it came down to $129. I jumped on it.

Removal of Back Lift Door:

I did not try to keep the back lift door on. To difficult to get the "claw" brackets underneath to attach to the rail.... I suspect... I did not try. It would have had to be wide open and when up would interfere with the hoist mechanism.

Orientation of Hoist:

Speaking of that. Make sure you mount the hoist crank mechanism to the back of the hardtop. Otherwise you can not operate the hoist crank mechanism due to the overhang of the fiberglass roof. I made that mistake. Good thing was the bearing just needed to be moved to the other end. They are interchangeable.

Crap in Garage:

Regarding "crap in the garage," Just build another one like I did. This is the new garage. Just finished it so I could work on my rigs. The old garage is filled. Notice, the shelving around the rim of garage is filling up. Given time, the "crap" will invade.
 
Height req.

I like the lift but don't have the high ceiling. What do you think the min. Height required would be?
 
rayjay said:
I like the lift but don't have the high ceiling. What do you think the min. Height required would be?
Click to expand...

The extra cable is just spooled onto the "reel. I don't think there is a minimum height requirement.

Take a look at my 1st post. It has a link to others who have ventured down this path. The last post uses this system with less ceiling height. Others have created their own systems with the front end of the FJ40 "nosing" under the hardtop. It all works.

Since I had the height, I thought this was great for me.
 
So once you loosen the top from the weather stripping (after all the bolts are out obviously), can the hoist actually lift the top on its own? In other words, does this render the top removal a one-man (or woman) job?

Also, it says that the 4'x4' [platform weighs 76lbs. Does this mean that the lift will actually lift 326lbs without the floor attached? My roof rack weighs nearly 100lbs, so between that and the roof I'd be at 300+lbs - I sure would love to store both together. My ceiling is nearly 9.5' (the highest I could go when I built the garage due to city ordinances), so it will be tight but should work.

I see your 55 has the rare factory swimming pool option - very nice.
 
Chamba said:
So once you loosen the top from the weather stripping (after all the bolts are out obviously), can the hoist actually lift the top on its own? In other words, does this render the top removal a one-man (or woman) job?
Click to expand...

Yes, absolutely. The main reason I installed one.


Chamba said:
Also, it says that the 4'x4' [platform weighs 76lbs. Does this mean that the lift will actually lift 326lbs without the floor attached? My roof rack weighs nearly 100lbs, so between that and the roof I'd be at 300+lbs - I sure would love to store both together.
Click to expand...

I don't know what the maximum is that it is capable of lifting, but it easily lifts my hard top without much effort so I'd guess there is a lot of excess capacity over 200 lbs.
 
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