Electric Hoist for SL Hardtop

[slsmag]

Just as an FYI for US SL owners looking for an inexpensive
way to add an electric hoist to your garage to handle the SL
hardtop, here's what I've come up with...



if the pics don't show, windows users right-click on pic
and select 'show picture'

880 Lb capacity electric hoist from Harbor Freight
(http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=44006)
ITEM 44006-7VGA $74.99

And...

Adjustable Hoist Sling from ************************ - $59.95
(http://www.************************/ProductPage.aspx?ProductName=Adjustable+Strap+Harness&productid=100584&producttype=20)

Most electric hoist set-ups cost between $500 and $750.
This setup will cost you $134.94 + a couple of minor hardware items.

The hoist itself will handle 440 lbs on a straight single line pull
(880 lbs with included pulley/doubled line) - more than enough
for the R129 hardtop which weighs in at only 85 lbs. (107s &
earlier do weigh more... but certainly nowhere near 400 Lbs!).

The hoist plugs in to 110v power and has a wired remote - so all
you have to do is unlatch the hardtop, attach the sling straps,
and push a button to raise the top off your SL... drive the SL out
from under it, push the down button and lower the top to your
hard top storage cart.

Even if you already have a manual hoist in place, for $74.99
(including shipping) you may just want to install the electric hoist.

Hope this info is useful to others...

- michael
'98 SL500

addendum:

If you want to STORE your hartop (up and out of the way) in it's hoisted position, instead of the strap harness (noted above at $59.95) consider getting the "cradle and harness assembly" from http://removabletops.com/.

They don't advertise it on the web site but you can email them and they will sell their cradle harness for $125. It's a nice cradle - nothing to screw up the weather seal - it "cradles" the hardtop on the outside edges:



From thier web site:
"The IMC hoist harnesses utilize lightweight aerospace 6061 T6 "drawn" aluminum tubing (not the breakable "extruded" tube) inside another two inch O.D. high-density foam tube with a half-inch wall thickness. This assembly constitutes a very lightweight and very strong upholstery-friendly Support Cradle that holds a hardtop securely from beneath - avoiding paint and weather stripping - and balances it with a connected harness fabricated from seat belt webbing."

[elau]

Great information!!!

Can you provide more on how those sling actually works on the hard top without damaging the rubber gaskets, or the information comes with the purchase of the slings from PerformanceProducts?

[slsmag]

Originally posted by elau
Can you provide more on how those sling actually works on the hard top without damaging the rubber gaskets...?

Each sling adjusts to the desired length and then has a protected clip that goes to each edge. To avoid misconfiguring the seals, I wouldn't store the top in the sling unless I used some foam rubber (or even a towel) under each clip.

- michael

[slsmag]

Do you have any reservations using this as a long term storage device?

well, yeah... as I said: To avoid misconfiguring the seals, I wouldn't store the top in the sling...

But that's only with this sling/harness type - others (such as the "Sto'Away" mentioned above) are designed for storing the top in its hoisted position (although I'm not sure how you put the cover on the top once it's been hoisted).

For me, I just wanted to be able to lift the thing off the car easily, by myself, and lower it on to the storage cart where I can toss the cover on it and roll the whole thing out of the way - & vice versa. My goal was to accomplish this in the most economical way possible with an electric hoist. DanG had the same idea - before me - and used the same hoist.

There's no reason you can't use any harness/sling set up you can get your hands on with this hoist. If there's any lesson here, I guess it's first figure out exactly what it is you want to do, and then don't just settle on what's available in 'complete kits' - get exactly what meets your needs.

- michael

[domchang]

I use the same setup, no problems...went with the 220lb straight lift version from harborfreight.com.

only gripe is that the winch has very little "fine" control going up or down....one small press of the button can move the top up to an inch up or down...so when mating the top to the car, put some towels or something between it and the car just in case.

have had no problems mind you but it pays to be safe, the PO before did not take care with this operation and the car has the scars to prove it.

[DanielG]

Prior to hoisting my top I had it on a cart. I put a cover on it (one that came with the car -- the p.o. gave the cart and cover). So, when I went to hoist the top, I laid it on the floor of the garage, with the cover on, and attached the harness onto the top with the cover on. If you are planning long term storage on the sling, you could take the top off, back the car out, then take the top down to the floor, unhook it from the sling, put the cover on, reattach the sling and then hoist it up -- reversing this process for reattaching top to car. It will take you a little longer, but your top would be better protected.

One thing I noticed in the pictures of the harness is how loose they have the straps -- I tightened the straps as much as I could so that the straps wrap around the top and the center connection point is no more than 1 or two inches off of the top -- I did this because my ceiling is probably no more than 8 or 9 feet high --so I needed the extra clearance, and I felt the snugger fit would tend to keep the "L" shaped holding points in place on the top -- giving me more assurance that the top would stay put. I still need to adjust the straps so that the top faces the direction I want (as it is it is somewhat rotated off center -- so that I will need a second pair of hands to align the top as I bring the top down), however, it remains dead still and seems very securly placed.

[DanielG]

Dom -- I found the same thing with this hoist -- very little fine control. In another thread -- titled "top storage" -- Slsmag (Michael) gave me some very good advice with respect to the use of pulleys --which by their nature, the use of multiple "arms" to take the weight of the load -- create finer movements. You could proably attach a block and tackle to your system (if you have the clearance) and create finer movements with your hoist. In fact, in the instructions that came with the hoist there is shown a way to use the extra hook and pulley (which comes with the 440 hoist -- maybe not with the 220?) to do this very thing -- you attach the primary hook to the open slot on the hoist and place the pulley with hook in the loop made thereby.

By the way, Michael -- thanks for the plug in the previous post -- while I may have done it first, I was not as convinced of the efficacy of the system as you were to go ahead and post the idea -- so all credit goes to you!.

[DanielG]

Hey -- it looks like Capitol West has found this solution too! -- but they are using a smaller hoist and charging a lot more! Much cheaper to buy the parts separately

http://www.capitolwest.com/mercedes_hardtop_management.htm

[slsmag]

...only gripe is that the winch has very little "fine"
control going up or down....one small press of the
button can move the top up to an inch up or down...

As Dan said...

That's because you're using the single line. If you change the configuration to a double line,
instead of moving at 33'/min the hoist will only move the top at 16.5'/min.

Add the 'block' pulley that comes with the unit:


and hook the end of the line to the slot in the side of the hoist or to a hook-eye in a joist.

The hoist will now need to take-in/let-out twice as much cable to get the weight (hardtop)
to move the same distance...
and the "fixed" end makes your celiling joist (or whatever) carry half the burden:



- michael

(sorry for the double posting - but I guess it's easier for folks to find things in a single thread, eh?)

[slsmag]

...it looks like Capitol West has found this solution too!
-- but they are using a smaller hoist and charging a lot more!
Much cheaper to buy the parts separately

They're using a smaller hoist motor - but they're also shipping with a double pulley set-up (same as
the double line config I've suggested above but adding a double pulley - effectively, a block & tackle) so
the control over movement is extremely fine... nice package... even if it is at twice the cost
of piecing it together yourself.

- michael

[flixbiz]

slsmag
I like the hoist setup. How do you have it attached to your ceiling?
I can't tell from the picture, but is it bolted to plywood across the joists?

[slsmag]

I like the hoist setup. How do you have it attached to your ceiling?
I can't tell from the picture, but is it bolted to plywood across the joists?


yessir... the bolts go through the plywood floor on the rafters, directly in to the hoist - no additional hardware required (although I did replace the original bolts with longer ones to accommodate the thickness of 1/2" plywood - and I added a large washer to the topside of the bolt so that I could tighten them well without chewing in to the soft wood).

- michael

[phildad]

Just Completed my Hoist setup today for my 300SL Hardtop, using much of what you've all already figured out.

Went to Harbor Freight store and bought their smallest electric hoist (400/200# rating) for $59.99, as well as a 2"X20ft Tie-down strap for $5.99, and two 2" pulleys for $2.99. Then dropped by Home Depot and found a 2" metal ring for $1.99, a 10' section of 2" Sch. 40 PVC pipe and two 45 deg. fittings for about $8 plus heavy black-foam insulation for about $12.

I cut the PVC to 46" long, then added the 45 deg. fittings at each end with a 6" stub sticking out of each one...and covered the whole piece with the foam insulation and glue. This fits perfectly under the top in front of the rear side windows just like another product, and the insulation pads the top really well.

Then I ran the long side of the 2" strap through this tube and cut it to length, with the hook on the other end. The cut end then was put through the 2" ring and lapped back over and sewn with carpet thread in a machine. The hook hooks onto the ring at a length to allow just a little slack from the top and the ring then becomes the lifting point.

With the remainder of the strap, I looped one end and sewed it together with enough space to fit over the lifting tube. I slid this to the center of the tube and the other end ran under the rear of the top and hooked it into the tie-down lever, with the other end of the tie down hooked into the 2" ring. Adjusting the tie-down lever levels the top and the whole thing is picked up from the ring. I put a pad under the tie-down lever to protect the window, and a small one at the rear where the 2" strap goes around the rear of the top, just in case.

For my installation, I mounted the hoist about head-high, bolted onto a reinforced shelf, facing up. The cable runs up to the ceiling through one pulley, over to the center of where the top sits on the car through the other pulley there, and then drops down. I chose to mount a hook next to that pulley and used the double-cable setup so the top would move slower.

Man, it's just perfect. Easy to handle and moves slow enough to fit right onto the car. And the top is gently suspended in just the right places. All for under $100. Good luck with your own ideas...and Thanks for All the Help!

[Jim Villers]

Sounds like an improvement over my rig. Could you post a picture? I am not sure exactly where the PVC pipe is used or the functions that it serves. Is it above the top to hold the straps away from the top and to spread point where the straps durn down to attach to the top?

After re-reading you post, the PVC is under the top and has the contact wit the top. How was the contact with the top handled? My 190SL top has a rubber window seal at that point.

[bhatt]

A picture would be awesome! This sounds like something I had built for my 560SL, but now with my R129 I'm trying to figure out how to adapt the existing hoist to work with my new hardtop.

One major problem is that any attachment to the top tends to crush the rubber seals at the tops of the windows. I like your idea of using 2" PVC with foam insulation around it..

Have you used this an entire winter, and how did the rubber seals on your top hold up? I'm wondering if the foam insulation compresses enough that the rubber doesn't deform.

There are some designs like yours, but they have a tube with a couple of "arms" that reach around from the top of the hardtop and actually hold it up from the bottom. Picture standing under the hardtop and holding it up in the air with your arms apart and palms face up. Where your hands are (inside the top) is where the mount sits. So it never touches the rubber seals.

But those are expensive... I like your idea MUCH better.. would love to see a pic!

Neal