A block and tackle hoist with a web sling to raise the hard top from the car and store it above, suspended from the ceiling.
I ordered the hoist from Moss, and it came with all the necessary mounting hardware and simple instructions.
The most important thing to do before trying to use the hoist and sling is to position the car beneath the block and tackle in the exact spot that the manufacturer suggests. The center of gravity of the top must be where the hook-up occurs, otherwise, as the top is raised it will either swing or tilt and possibly come into contact with the car. It is a good idea to keep this in mind before locating where to place the hook in the ceiling. I found it very helpful to make marks on the floor of the correct position of my tires, length and width-wise, in a way that I could easily drive my car into the right spot. I used tape at the front, rear and outside of my driver side tires. Now I just back the car into position, watching with the door open that I get the tires right inside the three strips of tape. Even when the car is in the correct position, there is enough swing and tilt of the roof that you want to pull on the rope which raises it as fast as you can at first. This quickly gets the top away from any part of the car that it could knock into. Once it is raised and tied off, the top is out of your way, saving floor space. It takes me about 10 minutes to remove and store my top with this hoist. Long enough that I only do it when I know that I won't be using the hard top for a week or so.
Putting it back on the car is easy as long as I line up my tires with the tape. It takes 3-5 minutes to drop it, remove the sling and re-attach the roof.
It is nice to be able to remove the roof by myself, without danger of scratching the car or wrecking my back. Storing it out of my way is another plus. The only downside is that it takes 10 minutes to use the hoist instead of the 30 seconds it would take to lift the roof off with a friend. For me, it is worth the time. I recommend it.
| Back to Product Reviews | 19 April, 1998 |