Racor - PHL-1R, Garage Ceiling Storage Rack Lift

This is a great product. I highly recommend it for its intended use, as well as for its use in my "modified" fashion (that I will explain below). First of all, if you have the space in your garage to install one, you should, because we all know how full a garage gets with extraneous items. This way, you can store the off-season items you don't need, and rotate it out for things you do. That's what most people do. For me, I wanted a place to store my jeep soft top parts when I had the hard top on. These parts are fragile and expensive, so I wanted them safe and out of the way. As a bonus, I also found a way to hang the hard top, but I'll get to that later. First, the installation. You "could" conceivably do this alone, but it would be a challenge. Better to get a friend (or two) to help. I had my father in law and a buddy, and it went up in a snap. Assembling the shelf is a snap. Where it gets tricky is installing the mounts into the ceiling joists. Make sure you've got a stud finder. The mounts need to go into the studs with 10 screws per mount, evenly spaced. So if you want to install it in a particular orientation and the joists run the other way, you'll have to put up 2x4s first, on the ceiling, and then install the mounts. Luckily for me, the joists ran the correct way for me to install my Racor, which had to be oriented with the winch mechanism on the side (so that I could pull my jeep in and still access it). Think about that orientation before you start installing. Anyway, having a friend help you by holding the mount as you drill pilot holes and insert the screws is very helpful. Went up quick that way. Make sure you do drill pilot holes first, else it will be a lot more work. Also, make sure you measure correctly when installing the second mount, so that it lines up properly. Once the mounts are installed, snaking the cables and attaching to the shelf is no problem. The winch mechanism can be used by hand, but you'll get a real workout, particularly with a load. A drill works great to automate that task, and I highly recommend it. So, for me, I did some mods. I wrapped the edges of the Racor in pipe insulation to provide padding and weight distribution. Then I wove some cam buckle straps through the flooring, leaving the hooks hanging down the sides. So with these hooks, I can "grab" the Jeep hardtop when I back up my jeep right underneath the Racor. One person can then undo the roof bolts, lift each corner, and hook up the Cam strap. Once all 4 are hooked up, I raise the Racor a few inches, and drive the Jeep out. Then I lower the Racor again, adjust and tighten up the straps, and raise it to the ceiling, giving me Hardtop storage without sacrificing valuable square footage in the garage. Bonus that I can store my Jeep soft top parts on the shelf, out of the way, in the winter when the hardtop is on. You can spend more to buy a "custom" jeep roof system that gives you no other storage, or use this with some mods and have a dual purpose system. The roof only weighs ~125 lbs, so plenty of margin for safety. Highly recommend this versatile product.

I had bought 2 of these nearly 4 years ago and installed them in my garage to save space. I recently purchased another 2 of them. I now have 4 total units spread out across a 2 car garage. They fit perfectly the width of my garage and the high ceiling allows for ample clearance for storage. I use them to store 2 car luggage boxes, 5 rolls of astro-turf that I plan to install later, 3 inflatable kayaks, oars, life jackets and other accessories. I use some tie down strap to keep the objects secured on top so they don't shift and fall down. I have the attachment to use a power drill but I currently use the manual hand crank. The hand crank works well and is smooth operation. The units feel well constructed and sturdy. On one of the units I had a missing part. I emailed support and the customer service lady was exceptional. She sent me the parts manual to me, got the part number from me and immediately placed an order in her system. The process was quick and painless and I had the part delivered to me within a week. Installation was fairly straightforward but I added wood cross beams from Home Depot to make my installation extra secure for load bearing. These are great value for the build and quality. I would get these again.

Pros: Installation is very straightforward. I love that it lifts at all 4 corners evenly. Effective use of overhead space. Raises and lowers easily with a cordless drill. Cons: The drive unit was a little banged up during shipping, and the ball detent for the safety latch was damaged a little bit. It didn't impede operation (or I would have returned it). It was obvious that that part broke through the box because another piece of cardboard was taped in place over it. I bought this to hoist the hardtop on my Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. It's *perfect* for the job. I use it in conjunction with my Teraflex Nebo roof rack. The width of the hoist tray is perfect to span the rails of the roof rack. I use ratchet straps to secure the rails to the tray, and I put the "Freedom Panels" on top of the tray. It hoists the whole kit up with no problems. I chose this solution over other hoists that were made specifically for hoisting Jeep hardtops because this one lifts at all 4 corners rather than at a single point in the center. Those other racks are unbalanced, and you have to hang a half-full gallon water jug from one end to get them to not wobble. This lift lets me lower my top safely and conveniently, and store my extra offroad gear like recovery gear. (No point in carrying chains, tow straps, etc. when you're not offroading!) I also like that I didn't have to hook up a motor that only gets used every now and then. This hoist lets me use my cordless drill - easy solution. Bottom line: Great purchase. Worth every penny. I would buy it again in a heartbeat. I'm recommending it to all of my Jeep buddies. I would have given it 5 stars if it was packed better.

Packaging was horrible second hand bags used for screws and washers etc which led to trhem spilling out as they had been teared and reused the box was ripped in several places leading to parts all over the delivery van least amount of foam was used so parts were scratched (only paint though) there was no clear packing order parts were just dumped in. the product works fine though so a massive down for the packaging and hassle.

Shipping was very fast and was surprised to see the package 2 days later. Installation is easy unless you have to mount it across joists. Overall it is a great product and works well.

Great little lift. I used it to make an adjustable bed for a camper and it works great. With a little tweaking, it raises and lowers a queen size bed from the floor to the roof in a toy hauler at a fraction of the cost of the fancy electric ones.

Installed this for my 2004 TJ hard top. Easy install. Took my friend and I 30 mins to install. Super happy with this product as it allows me to remove jeep hard top solo in a minute. Added bonus is that you can store the doors and additional equipment on the rack. Love it.

Assembly instructions are easy to follow, lots of pictures to assist, only a couple of basic tools are required. The only thing I would suggest is to lay a 4' x 4' sheet of 1/4 or 3/8 plywood on top of the metal platform to maintain the rigidity of the metal rod platform and spread the weight. If you place any heavier items in the center without it, the platform tends to bow down a bit. Better safe than sorry. Otherwise a good product and would recommend buying it.