Ideas for Mounting a 48" High Lift on a Wrangler

By James Hasler

 

Not everyone can afford a winch and not everyone's bottle jack can reach the axle once you're running big tires. The solution? Get a Hi-Lift Jack!! They are a great multipurpose tool that can lift around 7000 lbs and can lift that weight WAY up in the air! In addition, you can hook some chain up to it and use it as a hand winch!

Sold? Well, Andrew and I sure were. The question, however, is where to put it on your truck? I've seen it thrown in the bed of a pickup, bolted under the hood, lashed to the rocker panel, mounted to the rear spare tire, bolted behind the front seats in a Jeep and bolted to the front bumber. Andrew decided the last idea was what he wanted to do and I thought I'd mount it to the roll bar/tub right in front of the tailgate.

First up, the bumper mount. Andrew bought some brackets from "Think Jeep" which he bolted to the top of his front bumper instead of their intended position in front of the bumper. I thought he'd prefer the bumper getting cozy with a tree rather than his Hi-Lift...

However, the jack still makes for a nice battering ram if need be...

The jack is then bolted to the bracket via a top plate and a wing nut. This makes for a rattle free system that is still easily removeable. The bolts for the wingnuts also have a hole drilled through them so that a small padlock can be used if you're always going to keep the Hi-Lift mounted.

Finally, as you can see, the base plate of the jack has to be mounted elsewhere. Andrew found that the baseplate fit nicely in the end of his front bumper as shown below by using another wingnut/bolt and an existing hole.

Now you're ready to hit the trail knowing you can pull your friend's sorry butt out of the predicament he just got himself into...

In my case, I wanted my Hi-Lift inside my YJ without it getting in the way. Since I had removed my rear seatbelt equipment from the roll-bar, I had some nice threaded holes to use. I then bought two "L" brackets, two nuts and two bolts and went to work. You first need to drill a hole in the center of one side of the bracket such that the existing seatbelt torx bolt (with plastic cap) will fit through. Below is a pciture of what the bracket looks like bolted to the rollbar using the existing torx bolt. (Ignore the silver bolt. I'll explain it later...)

After doing this for both "L" brackets and bolting them to the roll bar, lay the Hi-Lift behind the brackets as shown below. (The tailgate is at the top of the picture) With the Hi-Lift in place, you can then mark the holes in the other sides of the brackets so that a bolt will pass through the bracket and through a hole in the hi-lift. You then drill and slip the purchased bolts through the holes and tighten. That's it! You might need some large washers for the bolt, but I didn't.

For the baseplate, I used another seatbelt mounting hole. This time in the side of the tub. I simply used the torx bolt that was originally there and slipped it through the hole in the baseplate. Here it is mounted to the tub...

And here is the picture of the overall setup. The Hi-Lift sits about 2-3 inches away from the tailgate and is completely out of the way unless you're trying to move heavy objects in and out via the tailgate. It is also easy to get at when your buddy thinks that mud pit looks shallower than it really is!!!