Hard top removal

[85Blazernga]

Gotta question for y'all. I have a 85 K5 and I love to go topless (dont' we all). Here is my problem. I live in a townhouse so I don' t have a garage or lots of yard. I know that taking the top off is a 2 man job. Has anyone designed any contraptions to aid in taking it off. As it is....I have to get half the neighborhood over to help take it off. Any help is appreciated....!

GSB
Forever #3!!

 

[ZfromNJ]

Get some 4x4 posts that are about 2 incehs taller then the body of the blazer and place them in the corners of the hard top then just lift the top a little. Then when you have all four corners propped up you can just simply drive forward. As for storage you will need at least one other guy to carry it to where you want.

 

[Blue85]

My plan, although I haven't tested it yet, is to put 4 "eyelets" in my garage ceiling. Then I will run 4 ropes down with hooks on the ends. The truck will back into the garage and have all of the hardtop bolts removed. Then 4 more eyelets will be placed in 4 bolt-holes in each corner of the hardtop. They will be mounted with big washers or maybe even strips of angle iron to prevent localizing too much stress. Then each corner of the top will be lifted, one at a time, and placed on a piece of 2x4 or 4x4. As the top sits there on the wood, the hooks will go into the eyelets. Then the wood can be removed and the top will hang there just an inch or two above the bed and the truck can be driven out.

Now a pulley (or pulley system) and tie-off point can be added to each rope and then the whole thing can be lifted right up to the ceiling, a little bit on each corner at a time. Just make sure it's secure before parking another vehicle under it (or walking under it)

<font color=green>"MAN THOUGHT HURT BUT SLIGHTLY DEAD" --Providence (R.I.) Journal</font color=green>

 

[Confederate9]

yeah im gonna do the garage idea. but also i think w/ a town huse i might be easy to rent a self storage space, and make a contraption in there on the cieling.
my.02

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://confederate9.coloradok5.com/>http://confederate9.coloradok5.com/</A>
<font color=red>K5: Because size DOES matter</font color=red>

 

[85Blazernga]

How do you get the 4x4's under the top so that you can drive out from under it?


GSB
Forever #3!!

 

[tRustyK5]

that was going to be my question...

Steve Fox has/had an article on top removal and storage on the main page. I used to get one friend to help remove the top and I would just stand it up on end at the front of my carport (I live in a townhouse also...) Then i got my soft top so now the hard top rest in the backyard where my neighbors don't have to look at it.

Rene

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://jules.coloradok5.com>http://jules.coloradok5.com</A>

 

[OFFRDK5]

Here ya go....in the Technical section of some message board on some webpage called ColoradoK5....

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.coloradok5.com/topstorage.shtml>http://www.coloradok5.com/topstorage.shtml</A>

SK-15
J**P...it's whats for dinner!
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://SK-15.coloradok5.com>http://SK-15.coloradok5.com</A>
Roads? Where we're going, we don't need any roads!

 

[85Blazernga]

I am trying to find a way to make the REMOVAL a one man operation. I don't know if it is possible but I am gonna try.!!

GSB
Forever #3!!

 

[wayne]

I got lucky with mine. I backed up to my front porch, dropped the gate, flipped up the back seat, took out the bolts, Stood on the gate and slid it back far enough to get between the roof and the top. With Donna on one end and me on the other we just lifted it off and set it on the porch on some 3/4 inch plywood pieces. When I put it back on I left the very back two bolts out, the ones that you have to remove the interior panel to get to because they go in from the bottom.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://jamonline.homestead.com/fromthegroundupK54x4/89Jimmy.html>http://jamonline.homestead.com/fromthegroundupK54x4/89Jimmy.html</A>
<font color=blue>Happy Trails<font color=blue>
<font color=blue>Wayne<font color=blue>

 

[tRustyK5]

Taking it off with one guy is no problem, I've done it. Putting it back on is a bit more of a challenge (also done that and don't recommend it...

).

I think the 4 eyelets in the carport ceiling would be the best...

Rene...dropped my top a few times

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://jules.coloradok5.com>http://jules.coloradok5.com</A>

 

[CK5]

Unless I sell the house or the Blazer it is never comming down!!!

Steve

Mall-Running poseur 4x4 with curb-feelers

 

[CAPTAINK5-CT]

My idea was to make some kind of 4 point harness that meets at one center ring. Hang a pully from the ceiling and use a come along achored at one of the walls. Lift the top, pull the truck out and lower the top onto one ot those home made dollys to move it around. Haven't tried it yet as I ruptured a ligament in my thumb and have been out of commision.

 

[OFFRDK5]

Steve? Sell the Blazer? HUH??!?!? Do we need to do an admin check here?!?!?
&lt;goes and parks the DIESEL infront of Steve's house for a bit!&gt;
&lt;hears Steve inside coughing!!!&gt;

Now ya gonna sell that Blazer?!?!?

SK-15
J**P...it's whats for dinner!
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://SK-15.coloradok5.com>http://SK-15.coloradok5.com</A>
Roads? Where we're going, we don't need any roads!

 

[BlazerGuy]

I know this wouldn't work in a townhouse but I thought I would share the pics. Sorry but I cant remember the user I downloaded these pics from(I think it was Bone85K5??)

Murphy's Laws on Life :
"It is a mistake to allow any mechanical object to realize you are in a hurry."

 

[Brian 89KBlazer]

Since mine's off, I'll give you the been there, done that repsonse!

My idea was a cross between what Steve Fox did in his technical article & what Blue85 suggested. I mounted 4 pulleys to the rafters of my garage & made a frame like Steve's out of 2x4 with eye-bolts in the ends that came out from under the cap at the corners. The cap is now off & hung from the rafters while I rebuild my Blazer but what I have built will NOT work for a one-man operation in future. What I realized after is that in order to be able to back in, hook up the roof, & raise it up, the cradle needs to pick up the cap by the top of the roof, not the bottom as I have done now!

What I'll be doing is making a "T" shape out of the 2x4 frame & passing it through the side windows of the cap & the base of the T will come out the rear window. Then, by using my come-along, I'll be able to hoist the cap up to the rafters and drive away.
FYI, the pulleys are a waste of money for raising the cap off by yourself unless your built like Hulk Hogan or something. That cap is freakin heavy & my hands couldn't pull it up with a rope & pulley!!

Brian
89KBlazer

 

[85Blazernga]

I think that I mgiht have an idea on how I can do it. I am going to make two sections that are like a rail fence. The rails will be diagonal members. The posts will be 4x4 members with a u-shaped piece made from 2x4's on top. This way I can slide a 2x4 through that u-shaped member. I can put the two fence-like sections on both sides of the truck and then two more diagonal cross members across the back for support. Then I can get in the truck, lift up the back and slide a 2x4 in. then do the same in the front. Then I can drive out from under it. I would design it to have about 5 inches clear while on the 'contraption'. Then, I can park it under it at night to keep stuff out of it. I am going to draw this up and try to construct it this weekend. If you have built something similar let me know. Wish me luck, I will need it.....LOL!

GSB
Forever #3!!

 

[zach78k5]

i used the garage idea in my parking shelter at my apartment. i put eye bolts in the ceiling with rope coming down and big loops tied in the rope. that way i could just lift the top a little and slide 2X4s through the loops and under the top. it worked well untill the landlord told me i couldnt have it in there. really pissed me off. so no hard top removal while i live here i guess.

 

[bandit]

just puch it off the back it sucks but can be done then stand it on its end to put it on jsut tip it over nad slide it up on BUT!!! be carfully or it will slide to there side and there goes your paint

AJ
(Your right i dont understand the jeep thing)

 

[85Blazernga]

I tied that and now I have some battle scars on the driver side....plus I have the little rods sticking out into the top for stability. Can't pull it straight back very easy.

GSB
Forever #3!!

 

[Razorback]

I have been working on the same issue since I bought my K5 this past winter. I found a frame and pulley system designed to lift a hard top off a Jeep by using a hand winch. I just finished painting it and plan on rigging it up in my garage tomorrow. It involves a little more work...welding...nothing major, but not as simple as 2 bys or 4X4s. I will see if all that work pays off tomorrow. Then rhino line the inside and who cares if the top ever gets back on.