auslander

I'm looking at this thing:

Rugged Ridge tailgate jack mount:




It looks much beefier than the very similar one from Rampage Products.

Anybody have experience with it? Looks pretty solid to me.

Ericker

No experience with this either but I too am interested in this, i liked the idea of the rampage one but everyone gave it such crap reviews i stayed far away. Also the fact that this works w/ the XHD bumper series is cool as that is the type of bumper that is at the very top of my want list.

Subscribed to this thread.

auslander

Well, no takers I guess. Ended up ordering this thing, it just arrived - didn't know Amazon sold this sort of stuff.

Anyway, it's raining now but I'll post a writeup of the bracket when I get it installed. It does seem beefy, and the top clasp also has a convenient hole for a lock.

HotFrosty

Cool! Let us know how it turns out.

auslander

I installed the bracket yesterday. No too terrible, however here's a few tips:

1) The template for drilling holes in the tailgate hinge covers is way off, so if you want to put the covers back on, mark it by eye and don't use the template.

2) I think the main bracket was manufactured wrong. There's a T-shaped bracket that has some nuts welded on one side. In the diagram, they are on the back (next to the vehicle) and on mine they were on the opposite side. There's only one way that bracket can go on, so I'm sure I don't have it backwards. Because of this, the bracket stands off about 1/4" farther than it should, and I had to use an extra nut to keep from bending the bracket when tightening things up.

3) You need to be real careful installing this, especially if you leave the spare tire on (which I did) because you need to do things in a very specific order to keep the tailgate from falling off while you're installing it.

4) It's a huge pain in the ass to try and get the hinge covers back on, so I ended up not doing that. I can't imagine they were really doing much, so I assume the hinges will be fine.


That being said, the bracket seems very sturdy. The gate can open fully and the jack doesn't hit the brake lights, etc. Here's some pics.


Here's a closeup of the bracket with the welded nuts, they should be on the side closest to the Jeep:

McPuck86

Is your jack a 48"?

auslander

Yes, 48". The bottom of the bracket just barely clears the stock bumper.

Rugged_Ridge

1) The template for drilling holes in the tailgate hinge covers is way off, so if you want to put the covers back on, mark it by eye and don't use the template.

Sorry.. this has been corrected on new instructions... Printing size was off so it was not a true 1:1 ratio... If you print the instruction from our web-site it will be correct.
2) I think the main bracket was manufactured wrong. There's a T-shaped bracket that has some nuts welded on one side. In the diagram, they are on the back (next to the vehicle) and on mine they were on the opposite side. There's only one way that bracket can go on, so I'm sure I don't have it backwards. Because of this, the bracket stands off about 1/4" farther than it should, and I had to use an extra nut to keep from bending the bracket when tightening things up.

PM us and we will get you a new bracket. 100% correct, that bracket was welded up backwards.. We will inspect current stock to insure that this was a random "F"up.

auslander

Cool, thanks -- I'll PM you.

COZDONO

Will it work as well on a 2011 JK?