BigJ
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I've had my truck for almost 2 years and I've had my HiLift for just as long. But all during that time, I have never been happy with how or where to mount it on the Raptor. That is... untill now. Check it out 
What you're looking at there is 3/16" x 2" 308 stainless bar stock cut down to 7" each. Two 5/16" holes were popped up top to hold the mounts to the bedrail. Corresponding holes in the underside rail of the bed had to be drilled.
I had a clamp solution all worked out to avoid drilling any holes (using these), but I didn't realize until after I ordered and got 'em in that our rails are straight edged; there is no lip that faces back in toward the bed inner wall for the clamp to rest on (sort of like a capital "L" shape?). Instead the clamps would have had to grip 100% of the weight exactly inline with gravity (sort of like a lower case "l" shape). I figured it would take all of maybe 1/4mile down some washboard road before they let go. So drilling holes it is.
At the bottom of the mount is welded a 1/2" bolt which acts as the stud the jack mounts too when coupled with wing nuts (or in this case, repurposed nuts from this kit).
The bottom hole holds a 3" rubber 1/2" studded stop and jamb nut. When the weight of the jack is on the mount (32lbs on my scale) the system flexes a bit, and those rubber stoppers adjusted out (so the stud is flush with the barstock) rest against the inside wall of the bed, to stop the flex in that direction. Here it is (the super duty 60" version of the HiLift) all tucked up nice and neat.
One thing... see that there hole?
I didn't check first (duh) but for some crazy ass reason there's a cut out in the metal of the rail right-freaking-there. Its only about 1" long, and of course my hole fell dead center. So I had to move everything up one notch to get back into the medal. Doh!
Remember how I said the system flexes? Those rubber stoppers do a great job of stopping the swing into the bed wall, but the whole thing still does kinda bounce maybe 1-2" out and back (perpendicular to the bedrail) when bumped. And even with the dust jacket on, it rattles; you can hear the metal flex a bit, but the real rattles are coming from the jack itself. I hate rattles. No doubt in my mind you'll hear me coming from a mile away over the rough stuff with this thing mounted up.
So to fix both the minor flexing and major PITA rattles, I was all set to rig up a turnbuckle solution that would hook to the bottom jaw of the jack, and to the tie down point in the bed to kill 'em both. Something like this:
(I gots the mad photoshop skilz!)
But then I started putting stuff away for a trip to the hardware store, and well hell would ya look at that! No turnbuckle needed. With the bed extender folded in, it not only locks the jack down but there's even room in there for the metal base AND the optional larger footprint.
Here's the clearance with the bed extender open, but I usually run with it folded in (and will now especially to help keep the thing solid and rattle free.)
Job done! That thing doesn't move when captured in there, no flexing, no rattling and no parallel movement what so ever. Almost like I planned it
I hope to never need the HiLift. But its one of those things that I'll be very glad to have if the need ever does come up. Now I can carry it and basically forget about it since its securely and safely up and out of the way. I'm going to make two more of these mounts for the other side, but switch it up a bit so I can tie a full sized shovel to 'em and maybe add a couple hooks for who knows what else.
This isn't a new or groundbreaking idea. I've seen lots of similar mounts made for and by the Tundra guys and those efforts were definitely the inspiration behind this one. But unfortunately none of the solutions I saw would have worked exactly right for our beds and needs. I'm glad I finally took some time to make this happen. If you carry a HiLift but have struggled on where to keep it, I hope this maybe gives ya some ideas too!
What you're looking at there is 3/16" x 2" 308 stainless bar stock cut down to 7" each. Two 5/16" holes were popped up top to hold the mounts to the bedrail. Corresponding holes in the underside rail of the bed had to be drilled.
I had a clamp solution all worked out to avoid drilling any holes (using these), but I didn't realize until after I ordered and got 'em in that our rails are straight edged; there is no lip that faces back in toward the bed inner wall for the clamp to rest on (sort of like a capital "L" shape?). Instead the clamps would have had to grip 100% of the weight exactly inline with gravity (sort of like a lower case "l" shape). I figured it would take all of maybe 1/4mile down some washboard road before they let go. So drilling holes it is.
At the bottom of the mount is welded a 1/2" bolt which acts as the stud the jack mounts too when coupled with wing nuts (or in this case, repurposed nuts from this kit).
The bottom hole holds a 3" rubber 1/2" studded stop and jamb nut. When the weight of the jack is on the mount (32lbs on my scale) the system flexes a bit, and those rubber stoppers adjusted out (so the stud is flush with the barstock) rest against the inside wall of the bed, to stop the flex in that direction. Here it is (the super duty 60" version of the HiLift) all tucked up nice and neat.
One thing... see that there hole?
I didn't check first (duh) but for some crazy ass reason there's a cut out in the metal of the rail right-freaking-there. Its only about 1" long, and of course my hole fell dead center. So I had to move everything up one notch to get back into the medal. Doh!
Remember how I said the system flexes? Those rubber stoppers do a great job of stopping the swing into the bed wall, but the whole thing still does kinda bounce maybe 1-2" out and back (perpendicular to the bedrail) when bumped. And even with the dust jacket on, it rattles; you can hear the metal flex a bit, but the real rattles are coming from the jack itself. I hate rattles. No doubt in my mind you'll hear me coming from a mile away over the rough stuff with this thing mounted up.
So to fix both the minor flexing and major PITA rattles, I was all set to rig up a turnbuckle solution that would hook to the bottom jaw of the jack, and to the tie down point in the bed to kill 'em both. Something like this:
(I gots the mad photoshop skilz!)
But then I started putting stuff away for a trip to the hardware store, and well hell would ya look at that! No turnbuckle needed. With the bed extender folded in, it not only locks the jack down but there's even room in there for the metal base AND the optional larger footprint.
Here's the clearance with the bed extender open, but I usually run with it folded in (and will now especially to help keep the thing solid and rattle free.)
Job done! That thing doesn't move when captured in there, no flexing, no rattling and no parallel movement what so ever. Almost like I planned it
I hope to never need the HiLift. But its one of those things that I'll be very glad to have if the need ever does come up. Now I can carry it and basically forget about it since its securely and safely up and out of the way. I'm going to make two more of these mounts for the other side, but switch it up a bit so I can tie a full sized shovel to 'em and maybe add a couple hooks for who knows what else.
This isn't a new or groundbreaking idea. I've seen lots of similar mounts made for and by the Tundra guys and those efforts were definitely the inspiration behind this one. But unfortunately none of the solutions I saw would have worked exactly right for our beds and needs. I'm glad I finally took some time to make this happen. If you carry a HiLift but have struggled on where to keep it, I hope this maybe gives ya some ideas too!
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