[mbehr22]

http://www.google.com/products?q=jeep+hardtop++hoist&hl=en

so i live in the city and will get a hardtop eventually - maybe even this wekeend

i would like to have a hoist as i dont want to HAVE to get assistance eveytime i want the top on/off

but i will asssume most of these hoist arent manufactured with a parking deck in mind (aka concrete)

any suggestions?

anyone come across this problem before?

[myzoo]

i cant help you but i agree its a pain to get people to help with the hard top i have had to do it only once, but if you buy this i would like to hear if it works.

[mbehr22]

so heres what im up against





side view





lastly, if you look str8 up from the very middle of the parking space, theres an old hole (actually 2) where a bracket used to be ... the hole on the L is just a hole ... the hole to the right has what looks to be a metal cuff in in. im assuming this is basically a nut/metal coupling with threads so that a screw or bolt can be fed into the hole...

[47redwillys]

You have to be careful drilling into a concrete structure in that there could be steel cables under tension there to provide reinforcement. Chances are though they would not be close enough to the surface to be damaged by drilling the depth needed for a wedge anchor the size needed for a hard top hoist, but you know about Murphy's law. For that matter there may not even be any post-tension cables in that structure. There are lots of anchors that could be used--wedge anchors, epoxy anchors, lead inserts etc. Home Depot or Lowe's will have something, but you'll need a drill and bit. You could probably epoxy a 4" x 4" steel plate to the surface of the concrete and it would be strong enough, but you'd have to test it at your risk.

[mbehr22]

in the second from last photo, the brown/black water pipe looks far enough away from the wall so that i may be able to back into the space and just throw the pulley system ( i guess the rope in this case) over the pipe and use that as my "fulcrum" instead of lagging a bolt into the ceiling ...

[gmakra]

The beams are to close to one another to assume this is a post tension structure. Also the last picture shows these slabs where cast someplace else and craned into place.

Also you are only looking at a couple hundred LBS of weight so a couple of 3 inch X 3/8 quick bolts will more than support the weight.

Use a rotohammer with a 3/8 bit to get a proper sized hole. A drill with a masonry bit will wander and create a distorted hole which could could give you problems. Plus it will take forever.

[rixcj]

Just curious...if you were to install the hoist, and had the hardtop hoisted up, could someone else possibly drive under your suspended top, lower it onto their jeep, and drive off with it?

If you were out cruising, without the top on,at the time, let's say...

Rich

[GPER]

If you have a tree handy, I use a chain hoist to lift my top off. Then I lower it on to the cart I made for it to move the top to the back yard.

It looks like there would be some sort of support bracket that you could wrap a chain around, hook a hoist to, lift the top off, then take everything down and move you top to where ever you are going to store it at.

Building the cart.

Hauling it to the back yard.

And storing it under the pine tree.

[mbehr22]

Originally Posted by rixcj

Just curious...if you were to install the hoist, and had the hardtop hoisted up, could someone else possibly drive under your suspended top, lower it onto their jeep, and drive off with it?

If you were out cruising, without the top on,at the time, let's say...

Rich

sure could

i have thought abt that actually

[xxxflhrci]

Fastening to the concrete is no problem......However, fastening to concrete in a building that you do not own may pose a problem.

http://www.ramset.com.au/public/Article/show.asp?ArticleID=1008&menuItemID=149&toplvlID=9& menuNo=0

[twobit]

You would need to ask the owner of the building if you could anchor / drill into the concrete (unless you are the owner). A couple of pieces of unistrut attached somewhere to the structure or spanning between the fire sprinkler pipes would let you use all-thread rod to mount the hoist. The owner (if not you) might not want anything hanging in the space at all (even a bicycle).

[mbehr22]

yeah. i thought of that as well

for liability purposes i would hoist it off, then lay it on the concrete in the parking space and not actually het it hang

im sure this would be the safer way to go on a few levels

now as far as getting permission to drill or anchor something, i have no clue how that would go over ...

[xxxflhrci]

I believe I'd just get a soft top or bikini for warm weather.

[GPER]

I wouldn't store a top in a parking garage What about a store and lock or someone's house???

[rixcj]

Eventually, I'm going to build a frame that inserts into the Reese hitch on my Dodge Ram 2500.

The hardtop hoist will be attached to the frame. It'll work like this:

- Insert frame into hitch.

- Back jeep under it.

- Hoist off hardtop.

- Lower hardtop onto a dolly.

- Remove frame from hitch.

Rich