HOW TO INSTALL AN ELECTRIC HOIST IN YOUR GARAGE // EASY HARDTOP REMOVAL!! 

This is a fantastic install. I have been checking out many videos and all were mounting the hoist to the ceiling. The way you have it it gives you several more inches of height. Great idea, best for my needs yet. Thanks much.

Thank you so much we did this using your video! One add is to use roofing flanges to dress up the holes in the ceiling.

My hoist arrives tomorrow. Excited to duplicate this. Thanks man!

Thanks for uploading this. I just did the same set up after seeing the video. Cheers

Thanks for this follow up!

Many thanks for this video. What a great Idea! I finished installing mine yesterday. I made a few modifications that I wanted to share for those installing this: (1) I stacked four 2 x 4's instead of three so that the top of the larger PVC coupling wouldn't trigger the safety on the hoist (note: alternatively, you could cut the PVC coupling down on the attic facing side. (2) I used lag screws instead of conduit straps to secure the unistrut to the wooden frame. (3) I used an actual "U-shaped" unistrut. You can get these at Lowe's or Home Depot in 2' and 10' sections. I ended up getting a 10' unistrut and cutting it down because I needed 28" because of the way the attic trusses connected. Note as I was finishing, I realized I could have used a 2' unistrut IF I would have used the bottom two 2 x 4's to span the distance then cut down the subsequent 2 x 4's to slide further under the trusses (because you have adequate strength for load, you're just gaining height for clearance). My total installed cost of materials was $283, but learning from trial and error, I could have dropped the cost down to ~$230.

great vidz bro, i got my electric hoist and will just have to put 2 big screws because i have a cement ceiling. hope it works for me. keep up the good work with vidz!

I'm about to do this because the floor style holder I bought is taking up too much space. My questions is a little off topic. but how do you keep bugs from heading up into the attic with a 4" opening? I'm thinking of using some kind of brush cover, but not sure that will help much. Thanks for the inspiration. This approach will make life much easier.

Great set up. Thanks for sharing. Only one comment. You may want to shorten the safety cable so the top doesn’t drop (even a few inches) if the hoist fails. This will reduce the load on the eye bolts and limit any chance of them pulling out of the ceiling during a failure.

This looks like a fantastic way to conceal the hoist with a nice clean install. For anyone that has installed this exact setup on a JL 4 door Wrangler using the same 10’ straps, what is the distance from the ceiling to the bottom of the hardtop when completely raised? Need to figure out if it will raise the hardtop high enough to walk under without having to duck. Thx

How much weight do you think this can support? I’m hoping for hardtop, roof rack and rooftop tent

I mounted my hoist to the roof trusses.This way the hoist is five foot above the garage ceiling. Also have a 4ft x2ft opening so i can send christmas stuff upstairs via the hoist. Also added a 10 ft extension to the controller so it is out of the way.

You can carriage bolt and glue a 2x4 on each corner on the bottom cord beam next to your hoist riser, and carriage bolt and glue it vertically to the roof rafter. You will be able to pick up a lot without worrying about your ceiling crashing down on you.

Great Setup, I appreciate the follow up video with the attic view. I am curious to know If there would be any reason to reinforce the ceiling floor joists? I have a full attic above the Garage so it is a perfect setup. I feel that I could mount this on top of the existing floor - going into the floor joists which are 1x6s. Do you think it would be best to reinforce the two floor joists?

Apologies for unrelated question but - I love those rims on your jeep. Can you tell me what they are? I feel like they'd look great on my Bronco as well!

My son in law spent all day yesterday trying to figure out the attic install. I had watched the first video a while ago, but we couldn't figure out the attic side. Thanks for the update. What size carabiners do you use? Amazon has 5".

Thank you for sharing! How thick is the piece of metal that you got from Home Depot to hang the hoist?

Hey great video! What is the name of that safety line you have? Also what are the sizes of the screws and nuts used in the metal bar?

Now that it has been a few years since your AZ install, anything you would change about how you did it? We are also in AZ and recently got a Jeep. Looking to duplicate something like this.

So what if you have no attic over your garage. My bedroom is over my garage. What do you recommend? I have the rail system and the hoist but no room to mount above the ceiling that I'm aware of? Please help! I want to remove my top!

Just did this set up. How do you stop it from swaying back and forth. And is it just trial and error on backing in?

How much weight will the ceiling rafters hold before it pulls down the ceiling?

where did you get the ring and carabiners at?

Any tips to keep the top level while it’s hanging? Mine seems to be dipping forward. Checked hoist in the attic and everything is perfectly level.

I have been everywhere looking for 10’ straps. I found 6’ and 8’ - thinking they will be too short. Everything else is 20’ to 30’ - way too long. Any help on where

Will this work with the top for the gladiator?

What is the weight do you think this lift system would hold ?

4XTRAIL thank you for sharing a great way to hoist the hardtop with a simple solution to keep the hoist out of sight while ending with a professional appearance. The PVC adapters really give a nice look vs just holes cut in the sheetrock. I installed this over the last few days with my son and we couldn’t be happier to no longer need 2 people to remove the top and it preserved my garage floor space where the top used to sit during the summer months. So glad we went this route and for only ~$200 total, so much cheaper than many of the alternative hoists or ways to store the top. A few modifications I made due to my situation and sharing with others in case it is helps: • Built a frame with 2x4s to secure on the rafters in the attic vs just stacking 2x4’s to give a bit more clearance for the hoist. I wanted 11” above my rafters due to some of the insulations in my garage ceiling. Frame should be stronger, and it also required less lumber vs just staking 2x4s for the height I needed. • Used 9 foot sling straps to gain more clearance in my 10’3” garage ceilings. I wanted to ensure I could walk under the top when lifted to the ceiling. I saw a few others and myself asked some questions regarding clearance and with this set up using a 2” ring on the hoist hook, 5.5” carabiners and 9’ sling straps the top raised to leave ~2 foot gap from ceiling to top of hardtop and ~4 feet from the ceiling to the bottom of the hardtop when fully raised off the Jeep. In my garage with 10’3” ceilings I have 6’3” from the garage floor to the bottom of the hardtop when lifted, enough to walk under. • Since already up in the attic I ran the electric power cord up there and just drilled a small 1” hole right next to my garage door opener outlet in the ceiling and dropped the power cord there, this kept the cord out of sight, and no one can see it running to the outlet. • Winch I bought had a 6’6” corded remote control cord so I was able to drill the hole for this far enough to the side from the hoist opening to allow the cord to hang directly down and still gives 9” of clearance from touching the side of the hardtop so the remote control cord will never touch the hardtop during the process or while the top is lifted up for the season. Also this kept the remote control within reach without needing a ladder or step.

A little pricey but if you can afford an unlimited jeep you should be able to get this system. It's the best and cleanest I've ever seen. Thanks for sharing, now to get up in my attic... 👍

Any chance at making a short to show how you get your straps balanced when lifting the hardtop, or will that be different for everyone? Thanks.

The “U clamps” are actually called “2 hole straps”

Gonna have a lot more reason to have that roof off, now!

Great idea and concept to use electric hoist. You will find lumber is stronger when stacked on the edge, like a rafter or joist. The grain is stronger. That's why lumber is cut this way. Should still hold 150 lbs the way you made it. Just might flex a little.

Yikes seen so many people do it like this. All that weight on just those two small points, no ty. I put my hoist on it's side and used pulleys (8 total) to redirect the wires so each side had it's own wire. A little more work made it much safer and the hoist is lifting a fraction of the weight due to the pulleys