storing aluminum topper

[john112deere]

I've got an aluminum topper on my Ranger (flareside), that I bought used in November.

I'll probably be taking it off for most of the summer when the semester ends in a week and a half nana: ), but putting it on for the occasional camping trip, then back on next fall for the winter. What's the best way to store this thing outside? It's so light I'm not too worried, but I'd hate to put it up on blocks in such a way that it warped or something...

Thanks!
Ian

 

[lenny1carl]

i used to keep my cap(topper) on saw horses. kept it from twisting, killing grass, drawing bugs(though bees will nest), and didn't have to lift it so far when i wanted it back on. i did ratchet stap it to the horses so the wind didn't make it the house in the wizzard of oz. good luck

 

[O'Rattlecan]

yeah, wind and bugs are the main concern. If you want to keep it lower, get 4 cinder blocks and set them up as needed.

Ryan

 

[slmann]

my cousin had a jeep with a hard top a few years back and he rigged up a hoist in his garage that he could pull the top of with and leave it hanging until he wanted to put it back on.

Don't know if that helps any but I thought it was a pretty good idea.

 

[john112deere]

Hanging it in the garage is a good idea, but I don't think my father would let me. I'll probably go with the blocks, as I have a pile of them out back. Glad you guys mentioned wind, as that hadn't occurred to me.

An aluminum topper for a flareside Ranger is so small and light I'm pretty sure I can remove and install it by myself without any trouble anyway.

 

[Blue Goose]

Ian, could you build a light duty gantry to pickand store it?

 

[john112deere]

I probably could (actually, I know I could), but it's so light, and I'll probably be able to get help moving it, that I'd rather spend my time and money on other projects.

 

[6L PWR]

http://www.mypickup.com/

http://www.topcaplift.com/index.htm

I use the second one, but my cap is a full size short bed Fiberglass with glass all around. It's about 300 pounds.

 

[mrfixit]

I used to have a space where I kept my pickup with four posts in the ground, two posts on each side, and at 10 foot wide, easy enough to back between. These posts were just slightly above bed height, and I'd get inside the bed of the truck, raise one end of the topper and slide a 2x6x12' under the topper, and do the same at the front. Outside the truck, they were easy enough to manipulate to the tops of those posts. the 2x6s and tops of the posts had holes that I would line up and drop a bolt in to act as a "pin" so they wouldnt slide off. I held the topper to the 2x6s with C clamps and drove away.