<snip>I have a quick question. I have a shell on the back of
>my truck that I want to remove. But I am only one man
>and I can not move it with out doing any damage to it.
>I know that I have seen something that would clamp on
>to a Jeep hardtop and hang from the ceiling. It was a
>one man operation to do this. Does anyone recall who
>made this product???
Matt,
I used to have a shell on the back of my old truck. To do what you
are talking about requires a little ingenuity, some inexpensive hardware,
and about a hours worth of time. You will need a garage that has the
ceiling joists exposed, 2 pieces of rope, and 4 eye bolts with large
washers and nuts. Back the truck into the garage and drop a plum bob from
the ceiling joist till it aligns with the edge of the camper shell at the
left front corner. Mark this location in the center of the joist. Repeat
for all 4 corners. Next, drill a hole through the joist at each location
you marked, and install the eyebolts. Attach one end of the rope securely
to the eyebolt on the drivers side of the truck. Back the truck back into
place, remove all attaching hardware and loop the rope under the camper
shell. With the shell sitting on the rope, mark the free end for the length
to the eye bolt. Remove the rope from under the shell and tie the rope
securely to the eyebolt making sure you are about 4-6 inches past your
mark. Drop the front loop of rope between the shell and the cab and the
rear loop over the tailgate of the truck. Get in the camper shell and using
your back, lift the shell until you can grab the rope and slide it under
the front edge of the shell. Repeat for the rear of the truck. Get in and
drive off sans shell. Granted I did this with an aluminum shell that
didn't weigh a whole lot. If you are doing this with a fiberglass shell,
I'd recommend that after you get the truck free and clear of the shell, you
build a support of some sort to place under the shell. An oversize sawhorse
would do to relieve the tension on the rope and the ceiling joists and at
the same time stabilize the shell so it won't swing on the ropes. If you
decide to do this, let us know how it works out.
HTH,
Ray Irons,
Dover, DE
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