Hey everyone,
Well I finally rigged up a hoist / storage system for my hardtop... Was wanting to do this for about a month now as it is the first step in my resto project so I can still use the gargage as space is tight...
I found a lot of hoists and systems commercially however, they were in hundreds of dollars and most made to fit jeeps (which would work).
I found the hoist system to work better than expected... I wanted to be able to remove and re-install my hardtop myself so that is the reason for the block and tackle, it has a 7 to 1 leverage factor and with 3 of them used only about 25lbs of force is required to lift each pulley, so you can easily do it yourself... I just simply kept rotating from pulley to pulley raising about 6" per cycle and the hardtop kept very well balanced... The ropes attach to the wall using a rope cleat and it is very secure... I added a secondary restriant to the rear (as that is the heaviest), here I used a rachet tie down that i had kicking around (is the same connection used for the front sling)... It goes from the carabiners through the glass openings, tieing both the rear pulley systems together and will act as a secondary restraint should one of the rear hooks slip off, which honestly is not very likely... with the secondary restraint I rocked the hardtop back and forth and there was no movement on the hooks...
Anyway, the following are some pictures of what I rigged up and here is a list of the components if you are intrested in putting the system together... Let me know if you want any more information...
1. Eye Screws 2 1/4" x 3/8" (Qty - 3) - From home depot - $1.50ea
2. Rope Hoist (Qty - 3) - from Canadian tire - $15.00 ea - includes 2 triple pulleys and 65ft of rope giving 7 to 1 leverage
3. Speed clips or caribiners (Qty - 6) - one on either end of the rope pulley to connect to eye screw and other end to hooks - from home depot - $0.50ea
4. Hooks with 3/8" eyelet (Qty - 2) - Used on both rear pulleys and connect to rear glass edge - from home depot - $2.00ea.
5. Rope cleats (Qty - 3) - Used to anchor rope to wall - from home depot - $1.50ea.
6. Rachet or cambuckle (Qty - 1) - used to sling up the front, I used a rachet tie down but cambuckle ties or even will tied webbing / rope would work well - from Home depot - $8.00
Total cost - approximately - $65
to lower the cost you could probably get away with just a front and rear pulley set using a sling on the rear as with 3 it wasn't hard to lift, however, the rear will take more brut force to raise on only 1 pulley, probably in the 50 to 60 lbs force, and I was concerned about twisting with only using pullieys...
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View attachment 226227
View attachment 226226
Well I finally rigged up a hoist / storage system for my hardtop... Was wanting to do this for about a month now as it is the first step in my resto project so I can still use the gargage as space is tight...
I found a lot of hoists and systems commercially however, they were in hundreds of dollars and most made to fit jeeps (which would work).
I found the hoist system to work better than expected... I wanted to be able to remove and re-install my hardtop myself so that is the reason for the block and tackle, it has a 7 to 1 leverage factor and with 3 of them used only about 25lbs of force is required to lift each pulley, so you can easily do it yourself... I just simply kept rotating from pulley to pulley raising about 6" per cycle and the hardtop kept very well balanced... The ropes attach to the wall using a rope cleat and it is very secure... I added a secondary restriant to the rear (as that is the heaviest), here I used a rachet tie down that i had kicking around (is the same connection used for the front sling)... It goes from the carabiners through the glass openings, tieing both the rear pulley systems together and will act as a secondary restraint should one of the rear hooks slip off, which honestly is not very likely... with the secondary restraint I rocked the hardtop back and forth and there was no movement on the hooks...
Anyway, the following are some pictures of what I rigged up and here is a list of the components if you are intrested in putting the system together... Let me know if you want any more information...
1. Eye Screws 2 1/4" x 3/8" (Qty - 3) - From home depot - $1.50ea
2. Rope Hoist (Qty - 3) - from Canadian tire - $15.00 ea - includes 2 triple pulleys and 65ft of rope giving 7 to 1 leverage
3. Speed clips or caribiners (Qty - 6) - one on either end of the rope pulley to connect to eye screw and other end to hooks - from home depot - $0.50ea
4. Hooks with 3/8" eyelet (Qty - 2) - Used on both rear pulleys and connect to rear glass edge - from home depot - $2.00ea.
5. Rope cleats (Qty - 3) - Used to anchor rope to wall - from home depot - $1.50ea.
6. Rachet or cambuckle (Qty - 1) - used to sling up the front, I used a rachet tie down but cambuckle ties or even will tied webbing / rope would work well - from Home depot - $8.00
Total cost - approximately - $65
to lower the cost you could probably get away with just a front and rear pulley set using a sling on the rear as with 3 it wasn't hard to lift, however, the rear will take more brut force to raise on only 1 pulley, probably in the 50 to 60 lbs force, and I was concerned about twisting with only using pullieys...
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View attachment 226226
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