CK5
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Top Removal and Storage
- Thread starter Kota4bye
- Start date
I haven't removed my top yet, planning to this spring. With this style storage is the top setting on the rubber seals on the 4x4s. May be dumb? Not sure how the seals go on the top. Do they stay on the bed side or the top.
Chief where in Bama are you? I'm in Athens
Chief where in Bama are you? I'm in Athens
They're heavy, but what is the point of owning a Blazer if you don't take the top off?
Martin
between Huntsville and Decatur
Sorry for defribulating an old post - I like Kota4bye's method but I don't have the space and need to store the top vertically after removal. I also don't have a tall enough garage and my friends run off whenever i ask them to help pull it. Being super cheap, I also decided to use things I already had lying around...
I started with this - engine hoist (non-folding with extendable boom and legs) and a ball hitch. Its interesting that after removing the bolt and chain it fits in the boom perfectly.
I had some scrap steel mostly 1x1 and 2x2 so I made this "H" frame that bolts on the inside of my top since it was drilled at the dealership for a factory rack that has long vanished. I built it in a way that the center of it lines up centered on the top (front to back and side to side). The round collar in the middle is a scrap piece of 2-1/2" exhaust pipe. Forgot to mention, you can't use this method if you have a full roll cage. I also wouldn't recommend this if your top is not drilled since it's imperative the frame does not shift.
Raise the boom of the hoist so it can go through the rear window (with tailgate up)and the ball contacts the frame. Start lifting...
Due to the construction of the top, the tail end is heavier. To get it to rise up, I attached a cheap ratcheting strap through a couple of bolt holes and looped it on top of the boom and ratcheted it tight until it lifted up.
lift the boom a few more inches and drive the truck out from under it...(PS: don't try this if it's too windy).
the top will naturally center itself (side to side, like a horseshoe on a nail). It's front to back that you need to worry about so make sure the boom always stays centered in the rear window area of the top. Putting it back is reverse - the conical "studs" in the rear help line the top back up. (Note: my blazer has a 4" lift and 35" tires so I think this would work up to 6" of lift).
I started with this - engine hoist (non-folding with extendable boom and legs) and a ball hitch. Its interesting that after removing the bolt and chain it fits in the boom perfectly.
I had some scrap steel mostly 1x1 and 2x2 so I made this "H" frame that bolts on the inside of my top since it was drilled at the dealership for a factory rack that has long vanished. I built it in a way that the center of it lines up centered on the top (front to back and side to side). The round collar in the middle is a scrap piece of 2-1/2" exhaust pipe. Forgot to mention, you can't use this method if you have a full roll cage. I also wouldn't recommend this if your top is not drilled since it's imperative the frame does not shift.
Raise the boom of the hoist so it can go through the rear window (with tailgate up)and the ball contacts the frame. Start lifting...
Due to the construction of the top, the tail end is heavier. To get it to rise up, I attached a cheap ratcheting strap through a couple of bolt holes and looped it on top of the boom and ratcheted it tight until it lifted up.
lift the boom a few more inches and drive the truck out from under it...(PS: don't try this if it's too windy).
the top will naturally center itself (side to side, like a horseshoe on a nail). It's front to back that you need to worry about so make sure the boom always stays centered in the rear window area of the top. Putting it back is reverse - the conical "studs" in the rear help line the top back up. (Note: my blazer has a 4" lift and 35" tires so I think this would work up to 6" of lift).
Thanks BEEBOB! I primarily did it b/c none of my "friends" wanted to help me take off the top after doing it once. They were always "one and done" so I had to figure out a way to do it by myself (bad back and all) and not take up too much space. Plus I can have the top on the ground in less than 10 mins (not counting the time it takes to unbolt).
yeah, that's a good one.
Motorcharge
Newbie
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2016
- Posts
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Sorry to necro an old thread but any chance you still have pictures of this setup or can take some? Took me forever to find this thread again but the links are dead thanks to Photobuckets BS.
