Craig posted on May 31, 2009 00:05
Brushguard Hi-lift Jack Mount
Overview
Carrying a Hi-lift jack on a Discovery Series II can be problematic. There just aren't that many places to carry them. The roofrack works pretty well although it does raise the vehicles center of gravity, and both the roofrack and jack tend to get caught up on trees when running densely forested trails. Some people advocate mounting it in the footwell of the back seat where it is nice and dry, but we found that it got in the way of passengers in an already tight space. If it is a 48" jack, it is possible to remove the base and vise/winching extension and slip it between the backseat and the rear cargo area. This works quite well and is in fact my favorite location for daily use and short trips. On longer trips where I need the cargo space I prefer to get it out of the vehicle.
In selecting a location for the jack on the exterior of the vehicle, the bumpers, roofrack, and brushguard were all considered. The bumpers tend to get muddy so I didn't want to mount it that low. The roofrack was too high, raising the center of gravity, and I don't always have my roofrack on. In the end, I decided to mount the hi-lift to the brushguard.
Materials
2 2" Coleman Racing rollbar brackets
2 1/2" Headless bolts - Lowes
2 1/2" x 3/4" spacers - Lowes
2 1/2" nuts - Lowes
2 1/2" washers - Lowes
2 1/2" locking washers - Lowes
2 1/2" wing-nuts - Lowes
The Coleman Racing brackets come in different colors depending upon the size you order. The ones I ordered showed up annodized pink. Fortunately Dan Cronin helped me get them stripped and re-anodized black. Before you order yours, you might want to call Coleman and verify that they are the color you want. The 1.5" brackets which are suitabl for most brush-guards are red which doesn't look too bad since the Hi-lift is also red. I *think* the 1" brackets suitable for mounting to a roofrack are black, but I'm not 100% sure. Call in advance.
Installation
The installation was very straight forward. In fact, you probably don't need these directions, but here they are for no other reason than to layout exactly what I did.
Mount the brackets
1. Mount the Coleman racing brackets to the brushguard loosely.
2. Screw the 1/2" headless bolt into the bracket
3. Slip the 3/4" spacer over the bolt
4. Screw a 1/2" nut snug against the spacer
5. Rinse and repeat for the other bracket
Center the brackets and Hi-Lift on the brushguard
1. Align your brackets with your light tabs or something else that is spaced near the center of your vehicle.
2. Before tightening the clamps firmly, place the Hi-lift onto the two brackets. You might have to slide one of the clamps a bit to get it to align with the holes on the hi-lift.
3. Step back and see if it is centered, and balanced.
4. Adjust as necessary
Insure the Hi-Lift doesn't prevent your bonnet from opening
1. Pop your hood, and make sure you can open/close it without hitting the jack.
2. Rotate the mounts forward as necessary to insure the bonnet works. You might try to see how far back (towards the bonnet) you can get the clamps to rotate as a slight change in angle significantly decreases the amount of force on the brackets/bolts in the event of a collision.
3. Snug up the allen bolts on the bracket.
Mount the Hi-Lift
1. Add a large 1/2" washer to each bolt
2. Add a locking washer to each bolt
3. Add a wing-nut to each bolt and tighten
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