A different way to store a truck cap

[Dave B.]

Disclaimer: This may have been done before. I searched and couldn't find anything. If someone else has posted this idea, please accept my apologies!

So, I needed to remove the cap/topper from my pickup for a few weeks. I had considered rigging up a hoist, but I decided that it wasn't the best way to go. I have a half-dozen sawhorses and was thinking that I could set it on 4 of them if they were only taller. Then the light-bulb came on! It wouldn't be that difficult to make them taller by simply constructing some 2x4 'bridges'.

The more I thought about it, the better I liked the idea. If I could make the bridges so that they slid onto the saw horses, they'd be easy to use and store. I made them a couple of inches taller than the top of the truck bed sides so that there wouldn't be a problem driving out from under the cap, once it was removed. A couple of 10' 2x4s would easily act as cross-supports for the topper. And, by simply varying the height of the center uprights, I could use them on a pickup with a different bed height if necessary.

The best part is that I can probably do the operation by myself. I had planned to try it, but one of my buddies happened to be there the day I wanted to take off the cap and he helped me. So, here's what I came up with... I'm hoping it may help someone else with the same problem:

Edit: Yes, there are two 2x4s under the front of the cap. For whatever reason, one of the 10' 2x4s sagged in the middle with the weight of the cap on it. I simply inserted an 8' 2x4 to give it more capacity.

 

[devilsnight]

could put the 10 footers on edge, then they wouldn't sag.

 

[Dave B.]

could put the 10 footers on edge, then they wouldn't sag.

I thought about doing that, but I was worried that it might not be stable enough if someone (probably me...) bumped into it. Looking back, I could have rotated the sagging 2x4 and inserted one of the 8' ones close to it if need be...

 

[ATC]

That takes up A LOT of space.

Hoist it to the rafters and get your room back...

 

[Todd.Brock]

You appear to have a decent sized space. That will work for a few weeks as you mentioned. Mine was just in the way. It sat behind the house until I built a deck. Then I just sold it. My truck is a mulch and dirt hauler.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Considering it's for a short term storage, I think it's a great idea.

 

[bazzateer]

Put castors on the feet and push it into a corner.

 

[Steelhorse27]

I met a guy at a garage sale that had his topper pulled off his truck and hanging from his garage ceiling. He had a cheap HF winch mounted in the ceiling and cables run down to eye bolts in 2x4's (like yours) that supported the cap. It left him with free floor space and he said he could put it on and off quickly by himself...... Just a thought

 

[customh]

Your truck is the first I've seen with the same paint scheme as mine. 3rd door? What year? How many miles?

 

[rockchucker]

You don't even need a hoist. Just some Strong Eye Bolts in the ceiling. If you need a place to hang the Eye Bolts then just span across the Trusses right over the Rock with the same length 2x4 at the same spacing that will support the Canopy. 2-10' 2x4 across the Ceiling with Eye Bolts at each end. 4 lengths of Rope down. 2 more 10' 2x4 with the same Eye Bolt placement or just use the rope around the bottom 2x4.

Drive under using ropes as guides from the lid. Lift canopy by hand just enough to get the 2x4 under the canopy. Rope around the lower 2x4. Trucker Knot to lift each corner of the canopy to desired height just a few inches above the bed. One man show without breaking the back or hardly even straining.

I had a setup like this at my old shop it worked REALLY well. Of course there are a million ways to skin a cat and a hoist would be even better.

 

[Todd.Brock]

There is a thread on here about someone building a hoist in their garage. I thought about doing the same thing. Craig's list was a hell of lot less effort.

 

[Dave B.]

Your truck is the first I've seen with the same paint scheme as mine. 3rd door? What year? How many miles?

It's a '96 Chevy Silverado with about 96K miles. Because it's an early X-cab, it doesn't have a 3rd door.



And, as I said in my original post, I didn't want to use a hoist (several reasons...), so I decided to post this idea for others who were in the same situation.

 

[JakeKohl]

There is a thread on here about someone building a hoist in their garage. I thought about doing the same thing. Craig's list was a hell of lot less effort.

I bought and installed a Yakima roof rack on my cap (also used for my kayaks) but it provides a convenient lifting point to connect my garage ceiling hoist to in my garage. I can't really store it on the ceiling but I can hoist it off and lower it onto dolly's to move it around (short term...it stays on the truck 98% of the time).