Solo canopy removal?

[Skyvalhunter]

Anyone rig up something so you can remove a canopy off their truck by their self?

[Born2late]

I bought 4 stainless brackets with eyes and put one in each corner. have a little piece of line tied into a 4way lifting bridal.I have a picking boom with a hook on my forklift and i lift it off with that. you could have a block under a carport and do the same thing where you back up under it centered and lift straight up and drive out.

[Skyvalhunter]

So you drilled holes thru your canopy to mount the brackets?

[Rob]

Was looking for ideas to store a kayak in the rafters and came across this:

https://www.amazon.com/HARKEN-Hardtop-Garage-Storage-Ceiling/dp/B01KH4CTRK/ref=sr_1_11?keywords=overhead+kayak+hoist+4%3A1&qid=1566394589&s=gateway&sr=8-11

might be able to use that as a template to build something that could handle a truck canopy.

[Sandberm]

Probably not applicable but...

My brother just gets underneath it in the bed of his truck, lifts up with his back and slides it out onto a flat bed grain truck that he is backed up to that is roughly the same height as the side rails of his pickup.

Dad used to have a pulley system in the shop hooked to the rafters. Each corner of the canopy had an eye that a rope hooked to the pulley system would help lift it off...till one day one of the ropes broke and it swung forward into the cab above the rear window.

[Rob]

same system with a canopy
https://www.amazon.com/Harken-Hoister-7806-200lb-12ft/dp/B005AUH8OG/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=truck+canopy+lift&qid=1566395032&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Says 200lb max on the label but you could build something more robust if you need it (the one on my full size pickup weighs in at around 270 lbs).  8:1 would be pretty key as it that should take you to 40-50 pounds of pull for a full size canopy after factoring in friction.

[sagerat]

I have a set of old camper jacks, the kind that are not attached to the camper. I slide a 2x4 frame under the canopy that extends 10” away from the sides of the truck then simply jack it up. I then drive away from it and jack it down onto sawhorses. It works great but would guess it’s hard to find those old jacks these days.

[trophyhunt]

same system with a canopy
https://www.amazon.com/Harken-Hoister-7806-200lb-12ft/dp/B005AUH8OG/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=truck+canopy+lift&qid=1566395032&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Says 200lb max on the label but you could build something more robust if you need it (the one on my full size pickup weighs in at around 270 lbs).  8:1 would be pretty key as it that should take you to 40-50 pounds of pull for a full size canopy after factoring in friction.

This seems like a good solution, I hate leaving mine outside on buckets. Takes 3 grown men to move it and it gets full of spiders.

[Fl0und3rz]

same system with a canopy
https://www.amazon.com/Harken-Hoister-7806-200lb-12ft/dp/B005AUH8OG/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=truck+canopy+lift&qid=1566395032&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Says 200lb max on the label but you could build something more robust if you need it (the one on my full size pickup weighs in at around 270 lbs).  8:1 would be pretty key as it that should take you to 40-50 pounds of pull for a full size canopy after factoring in friction.

I made basically the same thing with some Ace HW pulleys and rope to make a 2:1 block and tackle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_and_tackle

You can make a 4:1 pretty easily and cheaply with double sheave pulleys.


If I remember right, it was not nearly as expensive as the Harken setups, but you got to do some noodling out of your configuration. 

[whacker1]

I bought a harbor- freight winch and mounted it on the ceiling, and then lift from the Thule rack system on the top, but can easily be done with eyebolts on a 2x4 under the canopy.  I took it a step further and mounted the harbor freight winch on barn door style tracks, so that it will move 14 feet.  This allows me to lift off the canopy, set it down and move over and lift the 5th wheel hitch and put it in the bed of the truck by myself.

[Buckmark]

I use 2 pieces of 2x4 24inches long, c-clamp them to my tractor bucket and slide under one side and run a strap over it from the bucket to the other side, easy peasy

[DOUBLELUNG]

When I was younger I would unclamp it, get under it, lift and turn 90 degrees so the length was crosswise on the bed rails, crawl out, get under the front end of the canopy and walk it back until I hit the balance point on the bed rail, walk my hands toward the truck until they were at the balance point, lift it off the bed rails and walk it to the 4x4s or cinder blocks I previously laid out.  Easier with two but definitely doable with one.

I like whacker1's solution.

[Skyvalhunter]

 Thanks for the suggestions. My back can no longer take the lifting and sliding method.   I had a pulley system where I would hoist it into the rafters loc the hand winch then slide 2 2x6's under it and lower The canopy on them . But I don't want to drill holes in a new canopy.

[jackelope]

I used to lift and slide mine off by myself but it wasn’t a particularly nice truck or a nice canopy. It slid one time and scratched my truck up a little bit. I put it back on and never took it off again after that.

[Buckmark]

Thanks for the suggestions. My back can no longer take the lifting and sliding method.   I had a pulley system where I would hoist it into the rafters loc the hand winch then slide 2 2x6's under it and lower The canopy on them . But I don't want to drill holes in a new canopy.

Do the same thing, only use 2 2x6 with eye bolts in them, slide under the canopy, hook up rope setup and winch up to the rafters?

[Yelper Guy]

I did the exact same thing when I had my El Camino, no holes in the canopy required.

[Born2late]

So you drilled holes thru your canopy to mount the brackets?

Yes, They aren't eyebolts though, they are stainless brackets i bought down at the marina, they look nice. Two stainless screws through each one, and has a eye that comes off the bracket. They are nice if you want to tie a tarp off the side of the truck to cover something also.

[KFhunter]

I do it the hard way solo


stand up front end on flat ground
prop it up with a 2x4
back up the truck until I bump the 2x4
set canopy on the bed rail
lift up the back end of canopy with back window open
slide forward on bed rails ripping more rubber gasket off
bolt in
Its quick
not super easy
but do it myself. 


8 foot bed, carpeted, fiberglass canopy kinda heavy

[blackpowderhunter]

i had a soft topper on my last truck..
loved it. i know it might not be an option for everyone, but talk about easy solo removal 

[ctwiggs1]

My dad set up some rollers in a lean-to so he can back his truck up, loosen the canopy, and one-man slide it onto the rollers and out of the way.  I'll get a pic next time I'm out there.  Pretty slick setup and didn't take long to rig it up.

[Skyvalhunter]

Sounds like a good setup

[JakeLand]

Unclamp canopy put truck in reverse go as fast as you can then lock em up
Easy and fast

[KFhunter]

Unclamp canopy put truck in reverse go as fast as you can then lock em up
Easy and fast

Evidently that works on old campers too, some jackwad dumped this on NF and peeled a rut fleeing the scene



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[JakeLand]

  seeing more and more of that going on and tarps filled with landscaping debris

[Skyvalhunter]

Well there's not much law enforcement for people dumping garbage these days. I luckily have a USFS contact where I can put it in their dumpster but I still have to pick it up. Unfortunately target shooters are as bad

[KFhunter]

Ya, I was thinking about what to do about that old camper as its going to piss me off every time I drive by it.   Maybe I'll call the office in Kettle Falls and ask about it, maybe they'll scoop it up and dump it with that new RV disposal tax we all gotta pay now. 

[Gobble Doc]

I put some clamp on pallet forks on my tractor bucket. Can put the canopy on by myself now.


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