Hard Top lift review

[Dartboy]

Initial thoughts, review to follow up if it ever gets warm enough to actually take my HT off and put it to use.

The layout of my garage prevents me from installing a ceiling mounted hoist where I can remove the HT directly from my truck. Up to now, I've been removing it with assistance, balancing it on my trash wheelie bin to hook up to a homemade hoist from Amazon and a variety of Home Depot parts. It worked well enough, but a bit of a PITA to wrangle the top up and down with a pulley system designed for something else. The Hothead liners I installed seemed to throw off the balance a bit, so the top hung at a precarious angle last Summer.

The EZ4x4 lift arrived in three fairly heavy boxes, packed well and undamaged. Assembly took about 2 1/2 hours, nothing particularly difficult, but there's a lot of nuts, bolts and washers to deal with. It's well built, probably overkill for the weight of the top. The gear ratio of the winch makes for a lot of cranking to raise and lower, already thinking of ways I can adapt a drill driver to it I opted for the larger wheel upgrade, after bouncing the empty lift in and out of my garage, I think I made the right choice-still waiting for them to arrive

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[JAsh1967]

I quite literally finished assembling mine today. I did manage a few "oops" during the assembly (used the wrong length bolts to hold the base together, longer than the correct ones) so I had a bit of "partial disassembly" to swap the bolts out.

Overall, while I've not lifted my top off yet (Jeep's in the shop, STILL) it feels solid. I think I'm going to like it, and I think it's going to make it a LOT easier to go topless this summer.

 

[loganjeeps]

watching, i also have a low garage and thinking this is my only option

 

[JAsh1967]

watching, i also have a low garage and thinking this is my only option

So my garage has a kinda weird ceiling, the end with the door is lower than the end at the house. Which is part of the reason I opted against getting a ceiling hoist. BUT with the garage door open, I can't entirely unfold the EZ4x4 lift, I have to roll it out into the driveway (ran into this putting it together)

I think I'll have enough room to open it up if I do it under the higher section of the ceiling, but haven't tried it yet. Maybe later today, just to give it a try.

 

[loganjeeps]

Interested to see if you can still park in your garage with top held over the front of the jeep on the lift in the front of the garage. Not sure if that's your intent but that's what I would have to do.

 

[JAsh1967]

Interested to see if you can still park in your garage with top held over the front of the jeep on the lift in the front of the garage. Not sure if that's your intent but that's what I would have to do.

Well, they do show doing that on their site, but I won't be able to, my garage is JUST deep enough to squeeze my Gladiator in without putting the bumper up against the wall.

So the wife and I have already decided, at least for the summer, only parking one of our Jeeps in the garage, mine if the tops are off, hers if the weather's going to be "sketchy."

 

[loganjeeps]

Well, they do show doing that on their site, but I won't be able to, my garage is JUST deep enough to squeeze my Gladiator in without putting the bumper up against the wall.

So the wife and I have already decided, at least for the summer, only parking one of our Jeeps in the garage, mine if the tops are off, hers if the weather's going to be "sketchy."

Got it. I've got about 4 feet of extra length in the garage which is unclear if I can really pull it off. Parking wife's Mercedes in the driveway isn't an option I have been given. So if the lif won't fit in front of the jeep I'm right back to carrying the top around the house to our closed patio and don't need the lift.

Hoping someone on the forum posts with my scenario eventually. Really nice looking and we'll designed Lift either way.

 

[JAsh1967]

@loganjeeps if you've got 4ft of extra length in the garage, I'd say you're golden, even if the hoist won't fit between the front tires (which I think it will) The overall length isn't much more than the length of the hardtop.

 

[Dartboy]

Interested to see if you can still park in your garage with top held over the front of the jeep on the lift in the front of the garage. Not sure if that's your intent but that's what I would have to do.

That's my intent, the website shows it's possible. I may have to lower it a bit to get through the garage door, then up again to clear the hood. I may have to clear a bit of crap to fit everything in, I have some built in shelves at the back of the garage, so I can gain ~3' if I need it, but I'd rather not tear things down.

 

[EZ4X4]

Initial thoughts, review to follow up if it ever gets warm enough to actually take my HT off and put it to use.

The layout of my garage prevents me from installing a ceiling mounted hoist where I can remove the HT directly from my truck. Up to now, I've been removing it with assistance, balancing it on my trash wheelie bin to hook up to a homemade hoist from Amazon and a variety of Home Depot parts. It worked well enough, but a bit of a PITA to wrangle the top up and down with a pulley system designed for something else. The Hothead liners I installed seemed to throw off the balance a bit, so the top hung at a precarious angle last Summer.

The EZ4x4 lift arrived in three fairly heavy boxes, packed well and undamaged. Assembly took about 2 1/2 hours, nothing particularly difficult, but there's a lot of nuts, bolts and washers to deal with. It's well built, probably overkill for the weight of the top. The gear ratio of the winch makes for a lot of cranking to raise and lower, already thinking of ways I can adapt a drill driver to it I opted for the larger wheel upgrade, after bouncing the empty lift in and out of my garage, I think I made the right choice-still waiting for them to arrive

Awesome! I hope you enjoy your lift, thanks for sharing!

 

[Dartboy]

It's UP and it's IN!

Had a warm day and a little motivation, so I popped the top off. Took about 15 minutes, total only a couple minutes to hook up the hoist. Pro tip for those with more beauty than brains (like me) if you push on the ends of the pins for the rain gutter clamps, the little locking ball on the tip will release. Struggled with that a little more than I'd like to admit to . Other than that, very straightforward. I did follow through with my plan to put a drill onto the winch instead of the handle-20V DeWalt made short work. Had to drop it down to get into the garage, then raised to full height to park the truck under it. At full lift, you can walk under the high part of the top- I'm 6' and it's a few inches above my head. Freedom panels can sit on top of the HT the hoist, the top is very stable and level.

On the ceiling, you can see my previous attempt at a hoist, this is much easier to deal with.

 

[loganjeeps]

@Dartboy what is the total length of your garage when the door is closed? i would need to do what you have done and park under it. even though i can approximate with measurements prefer to have confirmation from a real user.

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

Yall park cars in your garage??!!
THATS INSANE!!!!! I can’t even fit a smart car in my garage right now!!!

 

[loganjeeps]

Yall park cars in your garage??!!
THATS INSANE!!!!! I can’t even fit a smart car in my garage right now!!!

just the ones that actually run and aren't on cinder blocks

 

[Dartboy]

@Dartboy what is the total length of your garage when the door is closed? i would need to do what you have done and park under it. even though i can approximate with measurements prefer to have confirmation from a real user.

No problem. The garage is about 21' from the wood shelves to the door. The lift post sticks out about a foot from the shelves. I thought I was closer, but I'm actually parked about 10" away from the lift post. The Gladiator is a little over 18' long. I still had enough room to get around the back of the truck with the door closed.

The base is 40" wide and the Jeep is ~55" between the tires, so just eyeballing the post to the center of the hood you've got no worries about hitting the lift.

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