Camper hoist storage?

Took my camper off. Man was it a ***** with two people (had a weak 15 yr old help lol). It’s now just sitting on the floor of my garage.

was wondering if anyone has any ideas on hoist overhead storage? I am sure this thing weighs +200lb w/ the prinsu rack; so the harken brand probably wouldn’t work.

 

There are some products out there for this kind of thing but years ago my family just used a homemade wooden frame to sit the shell on and either used a set of pulleys to take out some of the weight or get a cheap Harbor Freight winch to mount to the garage rafters.

 

This worked for me. My topper has the built in rails. I can ratchet it down more to store it higher. Best part is I can take it off and on by myself.

 

I purchased mine from JC Whitney more that 25 years ago and it's still working great. A simple design that consists 2 - 2" webbing straps maybe 20' in lenght. Each strap has 2 camlock type buckle on each end that is used to sinch the cap up and then to lower. Each camlock buckle has a "tail" with 2 loops used for attachment points. One short, one longer so you have a choice on how much ceiling clearance you want. I use the short loop to lift the cap until it barely touches the ceiling in my garage. I'm not a big fan of camlock style straps so I tie a safety knot that will prevent the webbing from slipping through the cam. I've searched for the same system several times, but cannot find anything that even comes close.

BTW- I'm 66 and able to take off and put the cap back on without too much trouble. I use my legs to lift the cap (one end at a time) and place a 2x4 (4) to hold the cap off the bedrails. I then slip the webbing under the cap on each end and slowly lift the cap going from one side to the other and from one end to the other. The process is then reversed to lower the cap back onto the 2x4, remove the straps, use my legs to lift the cap to remove the 4-2x4 blocks and final adjustment or placement of the cap on the bedrails.

 

Buddy of mine uses one of these. I'm going to get one myself once I have a bigger garage.

http://www.racorstoragesolutions.com/p/detail/phl-1r?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

 

Couldn’t open the link

 

You think that could support a camper+prinsu? I guess I could always take the prinsu rack off before storing it up.

 

I bought a cheap electric hoist from harbor freight and attached it the ceiling to help unload my bedrack. I use it to load/unload any heavy load in the truck bed. Handles up to 440lbs.

 

I installed a boat winch on the garage wall. Ran two nylon lines around the spool. The lines run up the garage wall to a double pulley, secured to a wall stud by an eye bolt. The lines then run to pulleys in the ceiling attached to studs by eye bolts. The setup easily supported the hard top on my Jeep and allowed me to R&R by myself. I used ratchet straps to lift the top routed through the spring clips on the end of the winch lines.

 

I don't have a box rack, but have a Thule system with bars on my truck and it lifts without any problem. I have removed the bars a couple of times to get a little closer to the ceiling.

 

Damn, now neither can I lol. It's a Racor lift system. Can hold 250lbs and can be used with a hand crank or electric drill

 

Harken Truck Cap Hoisters - Overhead removal and storage for truck canopies and tops (hoisterdirect.com)

 

Yeah I was looking into the harken but I’m pretty sure my cap weighs pretty close to 250 with the prinsu rack. Alternatively, I could just remove the prinsu or at least shed some weight by taking some of the bars off.

 

I've seen where my Leer can weigh between 180 to 200. With mine being lined, I thinking closer to 200. The system I use, each strap states 125 lbs max. With two straps I figure I'm good.

Checking the Hoister, it also has two straps so the weight is split and IMO would handle your. The motor may be what limits the weight. If I had more ceiling height, I'd be looking at one myself.

 

Came in here wondering how/why you would want to lift a camper

 

Cap




Camper



Travel Trailer

 

At least you didn't call anything except a VW van a campervan