Here Is What THEY Say About It

The Toad Hop Metal Shop Deluxe Hood Mount for Hi-Lift Jacks

LOCKABLE Trail Jack Mount for your Jeep TJ, YJ or CJ with durable powder coat. It attaches to your hinges and is a low profile mount to put your trail jack on. One of the best things about this mount is that it is lockable with a master lock built in. It will not be easy for a thief to take off with your jack. In the photos you see a hi lift jack model 485 bolted on the mount with the isolator. It mounts low, not obstructing your view. The jack is easy on and easy off. The lock is located on the driver side of the mount for easy access on lifted jeeps. The mount comes with new hardware and gaskets to go between the mount and your hinges. This model does not interfere with your windshield washer nozzle so you can still wash your windows with the jack securely in place. It is made out of steel for durability and is shipped with a primer coating. Made in America by a Christian craftsman.



Here Is What WE Say About It

Deluxe Hood Mounted Hi-Lift Jack Mount for CJ, YJ and TJ by Toad Hop Metal Shop

What is the best place to mount a Hi-Lift Jack ? Probably anywhere where you can keep it clean and safe from theft. So where do you mount yours ?

I have mounted mine on the front bumper, front brush guard, rear bumper and on my swing out tire carrier. From experience, bumper mountings where they are down low subject them to all kinds of mud and grime. They even become a theft magnet as the usual small lock that fits thru the drilled holes in the threads of the typical mounts can easily be snapped by a heavy screwdriver. Mounting one on your tire carrier gets it up higher but its still venerable to theft due to the small locks that typically secure them.

Deluxe Hood Mounted Hi-Lift Jack Mount for CJ, YJ and TJ

One thing you can always count on when you see a line of Jeeps going down the road is the fact that nearly all of them will have a Hi-Lift jack on them and that they are mounted everywhere and anywhere.

My Hi-Lift jact was mounted on my custom rear tire carrier……that is until I got my new 60” Hi-Lift Extreme. Now it wont fit, well it will fit but if I try to open the tire carrier to get to the tailgate, the jack would probably put a new air vent in my hard top. If I fabricate something to mount it vertically, it will stick up about 8” higher than the roof and catch every tree limb and branch potentially causing something to break.

Sometimes it is not how you mount your jack but where. My friend Moondust has his mounted on the front bumper of his YJ. Sitting down low like that tends to pick up dust, mud, water, road grime but it does make for an intimidating sight for that little rice racer in front of you. Mud, dirt and dust are no friend of you Hi-Lift jack as some of you know, sometimes too late, when you need to use it and it won’t work due to the pins seizing up from mud, dirt, grime, rust and other environmental crud.

Some of our members have tried some of the other newer mounting systems that actually put the jack inside your Jeep. That works for TJs and JKs unless like me, you have the 60” model. Hood mounted systems have been around for a while and that is another option to get your jack up higher and out of the mud and muck. They are not all created equal so it pays to shop.

So shop we did and we found ToadHop Metal Shop. We liked what we saw with their 1st generation hood mount for the Hi-Lift jack and I emailed the owner, Jim, for more information. Jim told me that he was working on the 2nd gen model and would have it done by the 1st of the year so I arranged to have a YJ and a TJ model sent to us when they were ready. Knowing what I know about Jeeps, the YJ model should work with no problem on a CJ for owners of the classic model that started it all.

In January UPS delivered both of the new models to Jeep Expeditions HQ in Arizona. I opened up the boxes to inspect the new product and was very pleased with the quality of the welds and construction and the heavy duty nature of the bracket. It just so happens that they arrived just prior to our annual membership meeting so I brought along one for the membership to take a look at. The opinion seemed to be the same, very nice design and the quality of workmanship was excellent. Moondust volunteered to mount the CJ/YJ model on his rig and we planned for a “wrenching party” to do the installations on my TJ and his YJ.

It’s installation day and we line up our Jeeps. We set the mount aside and open the bag with the instructions and hardware. The instructions are short, sweet and to the point. We are ready for Jeep #1, the TJ.

"The kit spread out on the driveway"



Per the instructions we took some thick cardboard and placed it under the rear of the hood to support it when we remove the hinge bolts. Cardboard in place the hinge bolts are removed and we are moving along very good now. The ToadHop kit includes a set of cork gaskets that go between your factory hinges and the mount bracket. I thought about it for a while and realized that the cork does a couple of things. It protects the top of your factory hinge from the “metal to metal” contact of the hinge and the mount, it probably will prevent rust and it will act as a sort of a cushion to also protect the hinges.

"Place Cardboard under the hood to keep it supported when you remove the hinge bolts"



With the cork gaskets set on top of the hinges we placed the mount carefully on the hood, lining up the bolt holes. The ToadHop kit includes 6 new bolts which must be used with the mount as your old hood bolts will be too short. As the instructions stated, we started the front bolts first then the rear bolts and when all were in place we proceeded to tighten them all up.

"Lance "MoonDust" Wilson removing the hinge bolts"



"Cork gaskets and new bolts are provided with the kit"



"Lance tightening up the passenger side bolts as I tighten the drivers side ones"



The last part of the install is to place the supplied mounting bolts for the jack on the mount. For convenience there is a 3 inch slot milled into both sides of the mount that allows for plenty of adjustment. A bolt with washers is placed up through each slot then topped off with another washer and a lock nut. The lock nuts are tightened just enough so we can move the bolts across the slot.

"Left and right bolts secure the jack to the mount, note the HD lock pin welded to the mount for the MasterLock lock in the 2nd picture."





All that is left to do now is to place your Hi-Lift jack on the mount so that it looks pretty even from side to side (we actually measured ours with a tape). The jack is “dropped” over the locking pit and the bolts in the slots are adjusted left or right so that they now will go easily thru the holes in the jacks frame. Now you simply tighten the lock nuts, put a washer over the part of the bolt that protrudes thru the jack and use the supplied wing nuts to tighten everything down.

The final step is to slide the supplied MasterLock on the locking pin and installation is done!

"The end results. The MasterLock is just like the HD hitch pin locks, if you want my jack, bring a torch!"



We did the same for the YJ and ran into one problem, the supplied hood bolts were metric and the threaded nuts on the YJ are 5/16’s SAE. Knowing Jeeps, I have to wonder if some YJs are metric and some not. The project YJ was a 1995 model. I know my TJ has parts with metric bolts and SAE bolts, drives you nuts sometimes. I spoke with Jim from Toad Hop Metal Shop and future kits will be shipped with both SAE and Metric bolts.

"Lance's Jack was mounted down low and was subject to mud, water, sand and road grime"



"The YJ factory hinge bolts are removed and the cork gaskets have been set"



"The mount is placed on top of the hood and ready for bolts"



"The final touches on the YJ mount and almost finished"



Was the installation easy? You bet it was, and time wise took less than half an hour to do. Does it look good? Absolutely ! Gives you more of that “road warrior” look.

"A tale of two Jeeps, the TJ and YJ both sporting their new Hi-Lift Jack mounts by Toad Hop Metal Shop"



My next thought was how long will it take me to get used to looking at it on the hood, would it be a distraction and would my fiancée not like it on the hood. So we took it to dinner at the drive-in movies that night. I got used to it being on the hood in front of me pretty quickly when driving. It was not a distraction when driving or watching two movies thru the windshield and my fiancée gave me her approval. Mission accomplished!

PROS: HD construction, quality welds, kit has everything you need for installation, the pin type MasterLock will make thieves think twice, easy install, gets your jack up out of the mud, water and muck.

CONS: We could not think of any. Originally I thought that the jack mounted there would be a distraction to driving but it was easy to get used to and is no. The other thing was we wondered about was dropping the jack on the hood but after several take offs and put back on agains of the 60” jack on my TJ by one person we experienced no problems or difficulity. In the end we felt that no matter where you mount your jack, there is always the possibility of it slipping or dropping and hitting your Jeep. So we really could not think of any thing negative about this product.

In conclusion, the ToadHop Hi-Lift Jack mount is a heavy duty unit that shows pride in workmanship and quality construction. The integrated MasterLock locking pin which is similar to a hitch lock pin was a great idea by ToadHop and will keep your expensive jack safe from thieves. It will keep your jack up out of the mud and water which will make it last longer and work when you need it. You can buy cheaper mounts but you won’t buy a better built one that will give you a lifetime of service.

Contact Jim at the ToadHop Metal shop Contact@Toadhopshop.com and visit the website www.toadhopshop.com. Mention Jeep Expeditions and get your member discount !

Read more about this product and other quality Jeep accessories at their web site...CLICK HERE

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