For some time now I have been planning to fabricate a HT hoist/storage that I can operate by myself. After searching this site for inspirations I choose the one designed by Raymond. (can be found in the technical advise section ) What intrigued me was the simplicity of the "cantilever" design. ( Leonardo Da Vinci would be proud....)
Raymond was very helpfull after I contacted him and send me more pictures of his hoist and cautioned me that the "hooks" supporting the HT on his design are not suitable for long time storage. Thank's again, Ray.
Now I spend the next few days searching for a solution that would serve my purpose. I wound bore you with the details of that search, but it entailed endless trips to hardware stores, sketches and one sleepless night. (I work at the Home Depot, so I had "inside information" !)But it came to me eventually: I needed to have some kind of gizmo that would fit under the HT and support it without damaging the headliner or weatherstripping. Hopefully the enclosed pictures will illustrate "my" design. The small angle brackets are supporting the HT on the only two solid places I could think of ! It works great, may look complicated but is easy to attach, operate and remove.
Other than using square tubing, that I had on hand, I followed Ray's design for the upper portion of the hoist. If you are using closed square tubing you may get away without using the spacers for the bolts going through the open, split tubing that I used.
After pricing out my first few designs of numerous cables, pulleys and what have you, I decided to go with an electric winch for half the cost. In order to protect my new windshield header upholstery, while guiding the HT locking pins into there respective holes, I fabricated two small temporary protective tabs made out of hard rubber, pictures to follow.
Needless to say, I am very proud of "my" part of the design and am happy to answer any questions and/or supply more pictures if you care to construct that hoist yourself.
CHEERS !
WITT !
