SoxFan02116

I would add some pool noodles or insulation where your straps touch the top - especially at the back by the window to prevent damage to your rubber seal. Saw that suggestion mentioned many times by other members.

Rednroll

I used ratchet straps originally. They work well for their price, but you know you're leaving out half the story of how well they work if you've actually used them for any extended period of time.

1. You're going to find yourself running back and forth from side to side and corner to corner of your Jeep to be able to raise the roof, adjusting each strap individually. You can't raise too far up on one side/corner with one strap, because the roof will become unbalanced, thus the need to keep going back and forth from side to side, lifting each side a little at a time.

2. If you raise your roof off in a garage, then you likely want to raise it as high as possible so that it's up and out of the way as much as possible because you don't want to be accidentally walking through your garage with this object that you're not used to having hang from that location and find yourself accidentally smacking your head/face into it. It doesn't feel good, I know I've done it when using the ratchets and it's easy to do. Therefore to try to avoid that situation, you then adjust by raising the roof up higher with the ratchets, so that it is out of the way to keep you from walking into it. Then you realize just how bad of a decision that was when you go to put the roof back on your Jeep because then you come to the shocking realization that ratchet straps only work well moving in one direction which happened to be the upward direction. When you let the strap loose to let the top back down, it's a free fall mechanism. So then you start paying close attention when you lift your top off, to ONLY lift it barley high enough so you have just enough clearance so you can pull your Jeep out from under the roof. Then you realize when you go to back your Jeep back under the roof to put it back on, that any misallignment of you backing in, can and will result in major paint scratches.

Yeah....so other than that. Ratchet straps work well. So good luck dealing with all that. You saved yourself a few bucks, you then gave yourself a nice welt on your head and possibly a black eye after you ran into a corner edge of the roof, you let the top drop a bit too far when attempting to lower it back down using the ratchets, cracking/scrapping the edges of your $2.5K roof in doing so, and scratched alot of the paint of the rails on your Jeep that the roof normally sits on. A penny saved, a dollar foolish.

SoxFan02116

My advice on the pool noodle was to use ratchet straps (WITH) a system like Racor, Lange or Harken. I wasn't saying use ratchets and hooks. Thanks for the detailed advice below which is great advice for those looking to just (save money). I mean the systems are anywhere from $149-$199.

JerseyDevilJK

The picture was from the first test lift of the rack, when I pulled the hard top off for the summer I used 2 pieces of pipe insulation on the rear window seals. More than 6 months stored on the rack not a single problem rear window seals do not leak at all.

TxCoastie

I did the Harken Hoister 7803 install last weekend. Took half a day with my Dad. I got mine online for about $135 shipped. I highly recommend this hoist.