whats the best way to get the top off

[pistolpete837]

what is the best way to lift the hardtop off my 76 sport? the last few times i have taken it off or but it on i have left some pretty big marks in the paint

thanks peter h

 

[Flash69]

Alot of help is the best way unless you have some way to winch it off in the top of your garage or some kind of shed. There has been some post on here showing ways of doing it. I would like to do it if my garage was bigger but i have a 8ft ceiling and it just aint big enough to do it.

 

[74BroncoCO]

If you can't get some help, you can rig up or buy a lift. Search here for top lift and you'll find something. We just made one for a friend were we took about a 4' peice of DOM and welded a 6" peice of 2" angle to each end, then drilled holes in the angle to hook our straps to. Then we welded another peice of 2" angle to about the middle of the DOM and put a few hols in it to try and balance the top. We hooked a small winch to the DOM and hoisted it up. but you could run one pulley at the top of your garage and an eye-bolt in the side with a come-along inbetween. Heck, some of those come alongs have two hooks on them and you could just hook one to the ceiling and the other to your DOM. Then your spool end so the wall. You can find a good place to hook the straps on the top, or take a couple 2x4's and run eye-bolts thru them and place one at the back and the other in the top corner where the door is.

J.D.

 

[commonlaw]

I mirror the same advice:

(1) the more help the better. We all know the integrity of the top is compromised by it being a three-sided box;
(2) pully it up if at all possible;
(3)if not, I have used the 2x4 method, just lift, slide the boards in, and remove with the help of three others.

 

[1977]

Make sure you pull in backwards. Simply lift it up enough to clear the little extensions in the back and drive out of the garage. Disregard if you have a drive-thru garage.

 

[silverbullet]

If it is the brackets in the back that are marking it up. You could remove them or cut them so you can still use the liftgate shocks/supports. I did this and it helped a bunch.

 

[meathead333]

i took out the rear posts this last time. i think that will make it alot easier to do next time.

 

[RnrdTheFox]

If it is the brackets in the back that are marking it up. You could remove them or cut them so you can still use the liftgate shocks/supports. I did this and it helped a bunch.

I decided not to remove mine. I did end up trimming them down so that two people could lift it out without fighting the top, or one persone with a lift could take it out easy.

I ended up putting a pully system in my garage. I didn't have the depth to rig up a hoist to pull it straight off. I have to get my wife to help me remove it, turn it upside down, then hoist it up. Works well for a two step process.

I sits right above my Bimmer. God help me if the day ever comes that a bolt or something fails and it come crashing down. I may have to shot the Bronco out of pure frustration.

 

[Broncorm]

I unbolt the rear posts and let them fall down behind the tail light. Then lift the top off and reach down and pull out the posts. When I put the top back on I pull out the tail lights and slide the posts back up into place.

 

[bronccar]

Take her out for dinner and a carriage ride (or EB ride), be VERY sensitive, notice the little things.

You'll be surprised how easy it is after that.

 

[jon705]

I tested out my contraption last night and am excited that it worked! ;D Now I don't need to wait for family members to visit to get the top on/off. The hardest part was breaking the seal the top had made to the weatherstrip/bedside over the winter. Man I was working at that for hours! Next year I'll need to think of something different to prevent that.

I used some of the suggestions on here. I put an eye bolt on each end of a long 2x4, and eye bolts in the ceiling of the garage. The 2x4 goes near the back of the top with ratchet straps going up to the ceiling eye bolts, and I put one ratchet strap toward the front part of the top for balancing. Worked like a charm.

Thanks to all who posted pictures and descriptions. They were a great help.

 

[mkaenel]

I backed up my Bronco to a curb and had a friend help me lift it off and walk it back.

It wasn't to bad.

 

[ugly74]

you guys are all lucky. garages, friends, etc. %)

I about gave myself a hernia when I took mine off to put in a 6 pt cage.
had it all unbolted, hopped in back, and lifted that sucker off. first with it just on my back. moved it to the rear, hopped down, and used the cross braces to He-Man it off of there. set it down on some 4x4s. got it back up the same way! I tell ya it sucked.
I didn't think I did any damage to it, but now when I go down the highway with the window down on a windy day, the sheetmetal on the top kinda "pops" when the interior changes pressure with the wind. didn't do that before. think it was from having it on my back.
just thought y'all might enjoy my story. ;D

 

[mo-bronco]

I to have scratched some paint taking them off by myself. I usually climb inside and lift with my back and walk it off. Ten years ago I could do this with no problem. Now I'm 38 and it doesn't work as well. I tried using an engine hoist, but couldn't get it to lift and balance the whole thing. So I finally hooked a rope over the tailgate (the heaviest area) and lifted it up then got inside and walked it off, sliding the top and engine hoist. Worked well.

 

[danny]

I Did It All By Myself With No Strain At All. Tied A Rope Around The Liftgate Hinges With Lift Gate Open. Then I Tied A Rope Around The Front. Cranked Up My Forklift Drove Up ,lifted And Away She Goes. Ok , So I Did Have A Little Help From My Gooood Friend The Forklift.

 

[sprdv1]

Not sure how clear this will be....

 

[deltarat]

Take her out for dinner and a carriage ride (or EB ride), be VERY sensitive, notice the little things.

You'll be surprised how easy it is after that.

That's funny. No help, but funny.