JonFund, Inc. :: Education, exploration and recreation for the 4 wheel drive and off road community

At JonFund's Oktoberfest there were two new 48" Hi-Lift jacks up for raffle. The raffle jar would go around and somebody would first pick a name, and then pick the item to be won. Sure enough the jar came to me, and I managed to let somebody else get the jack.

Well, the next day a friend mentioned he had an old 48" Hi-Lift jack for sale for $25. The base was slightly rusted and a nut was missing, but as a whole, the jack was in great condition. After restoring the rusted parts, painting the handle the same red color as the Jeep, and greasing up the joints it was good as new. Time to throw it on my jeep!

This was not so easy, as there were currently only a few options available. There were several options. Of those options there were three different items that could be purchased, namely the Hi-Lift Loc-Rac, Hi-Lift Bumper Lift Attachment, and Hi-Lift 4xRac Bumper Mount. All of these go for around $20 without shipping. The problem was that these options are mainly used for mounting the Hi-Lift outside the vehicle. I did not like this as the jack would become rusted very quickly and dirt would rapidly wear out the joints.

The other option was to separate the base and the ratchet from the main shaft and store the parts in various places in the Jeep. This was also unacceptable as it would take about 2-3 minutes to remove and reassemble the Jack just to use it, then another 2-3 minutes to disassemble and store the components again. Not to mention inserting the difficult to use split hair pins that join the base and ratchet to the bar.

Then I saw somebody using muffler hangar brackets to mount extinguishers to the roll bar, and the idea sprung to use the same device to mount the Hi-Lift. It would be placed high-enough on the rear roll bars to allow the soft top to fully collapse. It would also be lower than the top of the rear seat to not obstruct the rear view. And finally, it would be inside the vehicle so it would remain well greased and secure.

Tools:

Assorted Wrenches
2 Muffler Brackets
Drill
1/16" Steel L Bracket
Welder
Teflon Tape
5/16" Bolt
Wing Nuts

The first step was to find the best fit hangar brackets.With the help of the great guys at the local NAPA and a bit of trial and error, the best fit bracket was found. It turned out to be a basic 2.5 bracket without any hanger already on them. I purchased two of the brackets for a total of $2 and change.

It turned out, by chance, that the base of the Hi-Lift has three holes in the shape of a triangle, and if positioned correctly, would leave two holes at the bottom that perfectly fit the width between the two bolts on the U-bolt. After tightening the nuts to secure the bracket, there was plenty of thread exposed to let the jack sit on the bolt and also fit a nut on top to secure the base against the bracket. So one side is easily taken care of by sticking the base flat against the roll bar, as seen below.

The right side was not so easy, and needed a little more planning than the left. The jack was just long enough to stick out past the clamp (not U-Bolt) part of the bracket. With this the top of the jack could rest on the top right side of the bracket, which can easily support the weight. An L-Bracket was made quickly to secure the bracket from sliding of the top of the clamp.

1/16" Steel was used, as it could easily be welded to the brackets. However, aluminum can also be a good substitution, as long as bolts affix the L-Bracket to the clamp, as its difficult to weld aluminum and steel together. I would suggest a thicker piece of aluminum as it tears very easy when bending, unlike steel. When the bracket is complete, weld it to the clamp portion of the bracket. The schematics for the cutout are as follows.

The final product appears as seen below.

I added Teflon tape to the top and bottom face to reduce friction between the plate and the jack, and added foam on the bottom to minimize vibration.

Note: the hole has to be done later to align the Hi-Lift jack holes with the hole that will be drilled.

Go ahead and mount the brackets to each side, and mount the Hi-Lift, holding the Hi-Lift firm against the right hand side. Mark the profile of one of the holes on the jack that matches up best with the plate.

Remove the right bracket and drill a hole in the center of the marked profile. The hole should be able to accommodate a 5/16 bolt. Go ahead and remount the bracket to the passengers side roll bar. Feed in a 5/16-18 x 2 bolt from the rear of the bracket and through the hole in the jack. Place a washer on the bolt and tighten a wing nut on the thread. This will finally secure the jack.

I used Velcro to stop the ratchet arm from vibrating. I will switch to a black Velcro soon for aesthetic purposes.

Note: You may wish to use wing nuts on the drivers side bracket as well. This will secure the base of the jack to the left hand side. The jack will NOT fall off or move horizontally if there are no nuts, but when hitting big bumps on the trail it may cause unwanted vibration from moving vertically. Be sure to use a washer for this as well.

The jack could be mounted higher if needed, and I still need to powder-coat the brackets black.

Here is the final product below:
Total cost: less than $5.00
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