Any suggestions for hardtop hoist harness?

[TBird1stLuv]

Thinking of asking the hubby to install an electric hoist from Harbor Freight in our garage. Looking for a cushioned harness to secure and store the hardtop above when using the soft top. Anyone have some thoughts?

[AyPapiii]

Thinking of asking the hubby to install an electric hoist from Harbor Freight in our garage. Looking for a cushioned harness to secure and store the hardtop above when using the soft top. Anyone have some thoughts?

There was one offered for cost of shipping on this site a while back. There are some pretty good shots of homemade ones as well. You might do a search.

When on my other computer I will post a photo of one you have not located them.

[jayred1]

I've used a Harbor Freight hoist for over 10 years. I was lucky enough to find someone selling the harness/support bar from a production kit via TBN. Maybe someone here has a manual lift that they aren't using. I mounted the hoist in the attic space over the garage which allows me to lift the hardtop all the way to the ceiling - out of the way even for me (6'4")! I believe some members have made their own harness with PVC pipe. Good luck!

[AyPapiii]

Someone else posted this image of a home built attachment part. I believe this is the one that offered free.

[hippy_mailman]

I went ahead and bought the manual hoist as at the time no other people were selling theirs, then I got an electric from nortern tool or something(similar to harbor freight) put the two together and works great. got an extra 4 times pulley in the deal.(not needed with power hoist) the company would not sell just the harness and truthfully told me that's how they make profit on the deal.
I did double the pulley line so it goes up and down slower.now I can easily lower onto car alone in about 3 mins by myself . little more time to screw it back together. total cost $280 including having it shipped

[BillyL]

I have been using my own Harbor freight Electric hoist for two years. The first "must" is to mount the hoist to two wood joist in the ceiling. I used two 5/16" x 5" wood screw eye bolts to mount a 18" x 1/2" pipe extension in the garage ceiling to support the hoist. I then used 3/4" PVC pipe with 5/8" dowel wood inside the pipe to make a rigid rod support under the top as a primary support for a three part hitch. Each end of the rod support is two of the three part harness I made using 2" nylon strap material also from Harbor Freight. The third strap is also 2" nylon material with a rubber coated double hook from Lowes that hooks under the rear center of the top.
I raise and lower my top as needed and leave the top hanging in the rigging for months without issue. Total cost less than $150.00. Works Great!!

[FEsTbird]

Since I sold my Tbird, I have an electric hoist that I will sell. Used every year for 15 years. It is similar to the Thunderbird Concepts hoist. Thunderbird Specialties wants $650 for a new one; not clear about the shipping. My selling costs will be finding (and buying) a shipping box for the parts, 2-4 hours labor for taking the hoist down from garage rafters. Another expense will be shipping it, I will weigh it once it is down. Buyer may need to furnish all new pulleys.

[TBird1stLuv]

Thank you to everyone for posting a response! My husband has decided to build me one similar to one described by BillyL. Since the garage height is not spacious enough, he has decided to mount a winch on the wall instead of a hoist. My thanks to everyone for your opinion.