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After a long wait I finally received my new version 2 TopLift Pro. I preordered this unit back in June and received it late September, so unfortunately I missed a summer of use. That’s fine, manufacturing is hard. Mine was part of the first shipment, so I’m sure some of the issues I mention below will be resolved in time. As they say, pioneers catch all the arrows.
The box arrived looking a bit worse for wear, but I was not surprised given the weight. There were no parts sticking out of the box nor big holes so I was optimistic.
Unfortunately it was the interior packaging itself that was the problem. All the components appeared to be tossed into the box somewhat haphazardly. While many of the pieces were wrapped in thin foam, they clearly weren’t wrapped sufficiently because cosmetic damage to the parts inside was significant:
Now some may think “It’s fine, it’s just going in the garage,” and I can appreciate that perspective. However, when I purchase a new item I typically expect it not to look like it’s had 10 years of use. Disappointing. Yeah, yeah, “Chinese manufacturing, amirite?” But all my Apple stuff is made in China and their products are top-notch. The Chinese can make - and package - stuff well if the expectations and QC are there.
The fastener package didn’t survive the trip well and many of the nuts and bolts were lying loose in the bottom of the box.
Once I had everything unpacked, I was ready for assembly. If you’ve ever assembled something from IKEA, it was…not like that. None of the components were labeled and the fastener packaging didn’t show any part numbers either. While the instructions mentioned “Bolt A, Bolt C, etc.”, the packaging itself didn’t show which parts were which. After I had finished assembly I realized a diagram was included at the bottom of the instructions showing labels for the fasteners, but I never saw it because I had the instructions open on my phone (paper instructions are not provided) and never scrolled down below the assembly steps to find the fasteners diagram. They should print this on the fastener packaging.
Assembling the unit per the instructions took FAR longer than I expected. I’m a red-blooded American male in my 50s and have assembled an untold number of items and I rarely have much problem. The instructions provided with the TopLift Pro however provided several head-scratching moments. The text and photos were small and fairly low-resolution on my phone and were not significantly better when I printed them out. I was often not exactly sure what the details of the final product should look like regarding some of the fasteners. The photo of the product on the box wasn’t any help because it shows version 1 of the product.
I suggest expanding the size/resolution of the instructions so each assembly step fills an entire page so everything can be cleanly seen and identified.
Even when legible, the instructions often don’t make much sense. One instruction directs you to insert a support tube and insert a fastener “3 holes from the top.” Well, that’s fine, but which end is the top??? You can see the holes are not symmetrical. Figuring out this part probably caused me the most problem. Whichever way I tried it I didn’t end up with holes lining up the way I expected. I’m not confident I ended up with this part assembled correctly.
The sprocket actually goes through a slot in one side of the handle tubing, but this is not clear in the illustration for Step 6. This stumped me for a bit. It shows it more clearly in the Step 7 image.
Silicone washers are provided to separate moving parts and prevent cosmetic damage (I assume), but if you tighten the bolts even to “softly snug” status, the silicone washers immediately tear when you move the parts that are supposed to move. Probably because they‘re silicone (or silicone-like) thus soft and “grippy.” And easily torn, clearly.
I have yet to figure out where this small bolt goes:
I’ll review actual operation once I’m confident that I’ve assembled it correctly. I’m wary of dropping my top on the concrete (or my Bronco’s hood) due to my inability to parse the assembly instructions correctly.
Assembly is mostly a one-person affair, but there are a couple of steps that will likely require an extra set of hands. At least they did for me.
My suggestions to TopLift Pro: a YouTube assembly demo of V2 (one is already there for V1) pronto; larger, higher-quality instruction text and images for the PDF assembly document; review and rewrite the instructions for clarity; and add the fastener labels (A, B, C) to the packaging.
And of course revamp the packaging process because you’re gonna get some upset customers pulling banged-up parts out of a brand-new box.
So after a couple of frustrating hours I now have an assembled (I hope?) TopLift Pro V2 sitting in my garage that looks a bit beat up, but I’m looking forward to a 1-person top removal scenario. My Bronco sits in the third car (single) bay and I couldn’t use a ceiling-mounted lift due to the garage door motor sitting directly above the Bronco. I previously was using a scaffold from Harbor Freight to assist with top removal/storage, but it was always a 2-person affair and always a PITA.
If any other new V2 owners have any tips and tricks to share regarding assembly, I’m sure others would appreciate it. Also feel free to point out my stupidity if assembly caused me more grief than it should have.
The box arrived looking a bit worse for wear, but I was not surprised given the weight. There were no parts sticking out of the box nor big holes so I was optimistic.
Unfortunately it was the interior packaging itself that was the problem. All the components appeared to be tossed into the box somewhat haphazardly. While many of the pieces were wrapped in thin foam, they clearly weren’t wrapped sufficiently because cosmetic damage to the parts inside was significant:
Now some may think “It’s fine, it’s just going in the garage,” and I can appreciate that perspective. However, when I purchase a new item I typically expect it not to look like it’s had 10 years of use. Disappointing. Yeah, yeah, “Chinese manufacturing, amirite?” But all my Apple stuff is made in China and their products are top-notch. The Chinese can make - and package - stuff well if the expectations and QC are there.
The fastener package didn’t survive the trip well and many of the nuts and bolts were lying loose in the bottom of the box.
Once I had everything unpacked, I was ready for assembly. If you’ve ever assembled something from IKEA, it was…not like that. None of the components were labeled and the fastener packaging didn’t show any part numbers either. While the instructions mentioned “Bolt A, Bolt C, etc.”, the packaging itself didn’t show which parts were which. After I had finished assembly I realized a diagram was included at the bottom of the instructions showing labels for the fasteners, but I never saw it because I had the instructions open on my phone (paper instructions are not provided) and never scrolled down below the assembly steps to find the fasteners diagram. They should print this on the fastener packaging.
Assembling the unit per the instructions took FAR longer than I expected. I’m a red-blooded American male in my 50s and have assembled an untold number of items and I rarely have much problem. The instructions provided with the TopLift Pro however provided several head-scratching moments. The text and photos were small and fairly low-resolution on my phone and were not significantly better when I printed them out. I was often not exactly sure what the details of the final product should look like regarding some of the fasteners. The photo of the product on the box wasn’t any help because it shows version 1 of the product.
I suggest expanding the size/resolution of the instructions so each assembly step fills an entire page so everything can be cleanly seen and identified.
Even when legible, the instructions often don’t make much sense. One instruction directs you to insert a support tube and insert a fastener “3 holes from the top.” Well, that’s fine, but which end is the top??? You can see the holes are not symmetrical. Figuring out this part probably caused me the most problem. Whichever way I tried it I didn’t end up with holes lining up the way I expected. I’m not confident I ended up with this part assembled correctly.
The sprocket actually goes through a slot in one side of the handle tubing, but this is not clear in the illustration for Step 6. This stumped me for a bit. It shows it more clearly in the Step 7 image.
Silicone washers are provided to separate moving parts and prevent cosmetic damage (I assume), but if you tighten the bolts even to “softly snug” status, the silicone washers immediately tear when you move the parts that are supposed to move. Probably because they‘re silicone (or silicone-like) thus soft and “grippy.” And easily torn, clearly.
I have yet to figure out where this small bolt goes:
I’ll review actual operation once I’m confident that I’ve assembled it correctly. I’m wary of dropping my top on the concrete (or my Bronco’s hood) due to my inability to parse the assembly instructions correctly.
Assembly is mostly a one-person affair, but there are a couple of steps that will likely require an extra set of hands. At least they did for me.
My suggestions to TopLift Pro: a YouTube assembly demo of V2 (one is already there for V1) pronto; larger, higher-quality instruction text and images for the PDF assembly document; review and rewrite the instructions for clarity; and add the fastener labels (A, B, C) to the packaging.
And of course revamp the packaging process because you’re gonna get some upset customers pulling banged-up parts out of a brand-new box.
So after a couple of frustrating hours I now have an assembled (I hope?) TopLift Pro V2 sitting in my garage that looks a bit beat up, but I’m looking forward to a 1-person top removal scenario. My Bronco sits in the third car (single) bay and I couldn’t use a ceiling-mounted lift due to the garage door motor sitting directly above the Bronco. I previously was using a scaffold from Harbor Freight to assist with top removal/storage, but it was always a 2-person affair and always a PITA.
If any other new V2 owners have any tips and tricks to share regarding assembly, I’m sure others would appreciate it. Also feel free to point out my stupidity if assembly caused me more grief than it should have.
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