Thoughts- GMB Mount- Security bonnet hinges (for hi Lift jack)

[Toxic_Avenger]

http://www.devon4x4.com/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/__GMB_Mount_Defe_5289ed6c3c105.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2015/03/124.jpg

Looking for a spot to mount a Hi Lift Jack, and have come across the GMB units which allow you to carry a hi Lift jack across the bonnet using a mount off their security hinge system. It's bling, but pricey. And I am hoping to find out if form follows function...


Is the bonnet and firewall strong enough to take the 20-odd Kg of Hi Lift jack bouncing around up there?
Has anyone had experience with this product in particular?

Plan B might be some sort of cradle arrangement on the front bullbar (behind the posts). Saw a nice idea on a perentie at the Grey fergie / land rover show last weekend.

[Dopey]

I have the GMB hinges and hi lift mounts on one of my 90's.
They work well with no problems so far.

The vehicle gets used very frequently on out back roads for work, so they really get shaken around a fair bit, they hold a 48" Hilift extreme on them.

I have had quite a few comments by the police about where it is mounted,
But none yet have told me that I cannot have it there and neither have they infringed me for it..... As of yet.....

Very happy with the product so far and will be getting another set for my 2013 model 90 when it is out of factory warranty.

One issue that I found with it is, if you have vent flaps, make sure that you close them before opening the bonnet.....

And yes, it does cut the airflow a bit through the flaps..

Regards,
Mike.

[Dopey]

GMB hinges with hi lift jack.

[Dopey]

Hopefully a better picture..

[Dopey]

This picture shows the width of the 48" hi lift jack on the Land rover.
I was doing some work on the vehicle and the bonnet is being held up on one side, nothing to do with the jack/bonnet mounts.

[lump_a_charcoal]

Would they work on a Puma, with the extra bulgey bonnet?

[Toxic_Avenger]

The puma bulge tapers back at the rear of the bonnet. I don't see why it wouldn't.

[Dopey]

Would they work on a Puma, with the extra bulgey bonnet?

Yes, the second picture posted by Toxic_Avenger is a picture of them mounted on a "Puma" Defender bonnet.

Regards,
Mike.

[lump_a_charcoal]

Yes, the second picture posted by Toxic_Avenger is a picture of them mounted on a "Puma" Defender bonnet.

Regards,
Mike.

:blush:

[Toxic_Avenger]

For those that want to play by the rules, I've found some guidance in VSB 14: National Code of Practice for Light Vehicle Construction and Modification

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2015/03/35.jpg

ADR 42 would be a concern for post July 1988 built vehicles. Getting questioned but not defected might be more to do with luck (or lack of knowledge on the officer's behalf) than being 100% legal.

As with anything there is legal, illegal, and a grey zone open to challenge. Where you fit in this continuum comes down to how risk averse you are, or how well you know your rights, and how far you want to exercise them.

Wondering how often people with the gardening tools on the bonnet get picked up for illegal bonnet projections? Or does the law go soft on you if you have khaki paint/camo? :p

[frantic]

Technically in a frontal impact the pedestrian would need to be about 9 feet tall to hit the jack mounted there. In an offset impact they would get caught on the tyre before they hit the base plate.
Those rules are more for normal cars as the door doof crew used to fit pointless scoops to Hyundai exels.

[Jode]

I don't use these - our hi-lift is mounted on the back of our roof rack - and I don't want to pee on anyone's party. But I'd be nervous that I'd either smack the windscreen or the bodywork when taking the hi-lift off or putting in on. Guess I'm a woos.

[gusthedog]

Nah Jode I think it's a bad spot too ;). I'd be concerned with damaging paint as well. It also looks terrible IMHO. But each to their own :)

[Dopey]

Yep, it does look pretty terrible mounted where it is,
However, it's out of the way, it is securely mounted (I think that this is what the Highway Patrol/police were looking at when inspecting the mounts), I don't use a roof rack on this vehicle so cannot mount it on them.

I don't want a hi lift carrier that mounts on the rear chassis crossmember, I have seen plenty of hi lifts mounted on them, but they all seem to have the jack hanging pretty low down, and with some of the places that I go would get dragged and ripped off pretty quickly.

I used to have the jack mounted securely inside the vehicle, however now carry to much stuff inside to easily access it quickly if needed.

The last few times that it has been used was to assist emergency services in an accident where there was limited support available to them and it was required to gain access to a severely damaged vehicle to allow them to treat and remove the passengers.

I looked into a mount holding the jack vertical at the rear of the vehicle (on the right side rear) but there is not enough room for it with the rear door swinging open and the spare tyre being a 35".
I don't want a mount coming off the spare tyre for weight and clearance issue reasons.

...paintwork, not really worried about that..... It is a 31 year old bush basher......
Originally it was a 1984 model, 2.25 litre petrol 90. Now updated with a 300TDI and R380, newer doors with wind up windows and other stuff... But damaging the paint is of no concern to me when fitting or removing the jack.

So at the moment, it works for me.

With the tyre combination and the suspension setup on the vehicle the jack is nearly five feet above the ground, so unless someone is practising high jumps or is on a pogo stick in front of me, they are unlikely to come into contact with the hi lift jack in the event of an accident.

Regards,
Mike.

[DiscoMick]

I was wondering if it would be possible to fit a rear ladder on the passenger side and then mount the hi lift jack to the ladder? The ladder and mounts would have to be strong enough of course, but then a ladder is supposed to be able to hold the weight of a person, which is more than a jack. Just a thought...

Sent from my GT-P5210 using AULRO mobile app

[lump_a_charcoal]

I was wondering if it would be possible to fit a rear ladder on the passenger side and then mount the hi lift jack to the ladder? The ladder and mounts would have to be strong enough of course, but then a ladder is supposed to be able to hold the weight of a person, which is more than a jack. Just a thought...

Sent from my GT-P5210 using AULRO mobile app


I am just about to fit a ladder to mine, so I will see how it could fit and report back.

[DEPENDER]

Ok I'll keep it short(ish)
1) I cant think of a worse place to mount this..every kilo above the center of gravity changes handling markedly..thats why I hat seeing them on the roof, as its even worse...


2) landys flex quite a lot, and having something really heavy higher up, will flex the cab (top half) and will start the horrid water leaking firewall corrosion ect ect..depends how long you plan on having her..


3) the thing is half useless anyhow, the best thing ive used mine for is lifting the car out of ruts, on the towbar mount, raising it really high, then pushing it over and "walking" it out of the ruts..not fun...these jacks have a long history of damaging paintwork..the plan of using it as a winch is great , until you try it, believe me, unless your using a chain, the rope will stretch and you might get a few clicks out of it, but its not fun.


4) you hardly ever use one..did I mention they weigh a bit?..that means your dragging about a heavy thing for not real reason, just to look cool..i reckon ive had mine out in anger about a 12 times in as many years..


if you are going to mount one, I reckon the best place is as low as you can go, and handy, so I put mine on the rear bar, just above the tow ball, acrossways..yeah you have to take off the bottoms plate, but it bounces about like hell anyhow.( mine lives with all the other jacks undedr the drivers seat) .and you should have a large plate to mount it on too, really handy in the mud, (400x 400 checker plate) and SWL bow shackles to poke through the eyes on the beam of the jack..and a chain..


I will try n take a pic..its a heaps better place IMHO and all you need is a shifter to undo the nuts (they go though the large round holes in the bumper..


oh the bonus is that the heavy steel acts like a "Japanese car impact absorber" so you car remains unscathed...PERFECT

[Dopey]

G'day, DEPENDER,
You make a few good comments there in your post....
I'll give a response to some of them.


[/B]
Ok I'll keep it short(ish)
1) I cant think of a worse place to mount this..every kilo above the center of gravity changes handling markedly..thats why I hat seeing them on the roof, as its even worse...

fair enough, I don't want the extra weight higher up, that's why I mounted it on the firewall/bonnet (rather than mount it on roof racks) as I don't have much room inside due to work tools and equipment.
The original bonnet had a spare tyre on it that was a lot heavier than the jack.


2) landys flex quite a lot, and having something really heavy higher up, will flex the cab (top half) and will start the horrid water leaking firewall corrosion ect ect..depends how long you plan on having her..
Yep, agree with you on this, but as noted above the spare tyre/wheel as fitted originally was a lot heavier, and also would have caused more flex than the jack....

3) the thing is half useless anyhow, the best thing ive used mine for is lifting the car out of ruts, on the towbar mount, raising it really high, then pushing it over and "walking" it out of the ruts..not fun...these jacks have a long history of damaging paintwork..the plan of using it as a winch is great , until you try it, believe me, unless your using a chain, the rope will stretch and you might get a few clicks out of it, but its not fun.
Half useless.... Maybe, but without it a fella would have died from blood loss due to being trapped in his vehicle unless the jack was used to allow access to his severely mangled vehicle and get him out and staunch the blood flow until the ambulance got there. They sometimes have their uses.
Paintwork, as noted previously is the least of my worries.
I also carry two bottle jacks, spare winch rope, a few (properly) rated drag chains, ground anchors, and other assorted recovery gear, I don't rely on the hi lift as a "does everything emergency aid".

4) you hardly ever use one..did I mention they weigh a bit?..that means your dragging about a heavy thing for not real reason, just to look cool..i reckon ive had mine out in anger about a 12 times in as many years..
Fair point about hardly ever used, however it's part of the gear that I'm happy carrying around. It's not there to look cool, but is just a piece of equipment that suits a purpose for which it sometimes gets used for.

if you are going to mount one, I reckon the best place is as low as you can go, and handy, so I put mine on the rear bar, just above the tow ball, acrossways..yeah you have to take off the bottoms plate, but it bounces about like hell anyhow.( mine lives with all the other jacks undedr the drivers seat) .and you should have a large plate to mount it on too, really handy in the mud, (400x 400 checker plate) and SWL bow shackles to poke through the eyes on the beam of the jack..and a chain..

Yep, agree with you on this about mounting as low as possible, however until I see a better place fit for my purposes (or Mr Plod tells me it cannot be mounted there) it will stay.

I will try n take a pic..its a heaps better place IMHO and all you need is a shifter to undo the nuts (they go though the large round holes in the bumper..

Interested in seeing your mountings, always like having a look at what other people come up with (and a lot of the time pinching/borrowing their ideas too).

oh the bonus is that the heavy steel acts like a "Japanese car impact absorber" so you car remains unscathed...PERFECT

fair enough, good point!
However with the long travel suspension and monster truck tyres, if I have an accident with another vehicle, I hope to just go airborne over the top of them....(just come home from the movies, watched Fast and Furious 7.....):angel::angel:

Regards,
Mike.

[AndyG]

This has given me an idea where to put my Mantex sand tracks, start with the GMB hinges, & a custom bracket to mount the Mantex

What do you think?

[Dopey]

This has given me an idea where to put my Mantex sand tracks, start with the GMB hinges, & a custom bracket to mount the Mantex

What do you think?

G'day AndyG,
Are your sand tracks the shiny metal ones?
Might get a fair amount of sun light reflected off them unless painted or covered.

Mike.

[AndyG]

No the plastic ones, and they come in black if so desired. I like the look of the metal ones but can't work out how to mount them without drilling holes, plus they could be considered dangerous if a sharp edge was exposed.

[dan2090]

This picture shows the width of the 48" hi lift jack on the Land rover.
I was doing some work on the vehicle and the bonnet is being held up on one side, nothing to do with the jack/bonnet mounts.

Looks pretty awesome... what about opening the bonnet? Does it hit the window or do you need to take it off? Does it hit vents if open, etc?

Cheers

[Shoogs]

Sand tracks on the side of roof rack, high lift on the front roll cage cross bar...


Would have to agree on use, maybe 4 times in as many years, mainly putting rear springs back in and other vehicles.


Tim

[Crocodile Dundee]

Ok I'll keep it short(ish)
1) I cant think of a worse place to mount this..every kilo above the center of gravity changes handling markedly..thats why I hat seeing them on the roof, as its even worse...


2) landys flex quite a lot, and having something really heavy higher up, will flex the cab (top half) and will start the horrid water leaking firewall corrosion ect ect..depends how long you plan on having her..


3) the thing is half useless anyhow, the best thing ive used mine for is lifting the car out of ruts, on the towbar mount, raising it really high, then pushing it over and "walking" it out of the ruts..not fun...these jacks have a long history of damaging paintwork..the plan of using it as a winch is great , until you try it, believe me, unless your using a chain, the rope will stretch and you might get a few clicks out of it, but its not fun.


4) you hardly ever use one..did I mention they weigh a bit?..that means your dragging about a heavy thing for not real reason, just to look cool..i reckon ive had mine out in anger about a 12 times in as many years..


if you are going to mount one, I reckon the best place is as low as you can go, and handy, so I put mine on the rear bar, just above the tow ball, acrossways..yeah you have to take off the bottoms plate, but it bounces about like hell anyhow.( mine lives with all the other jacks undedr the drivers seat) .and you should have a large plate to mount it on too, really handy in the mud, (400x 400 checker plate) and SWL bow shackles to poke through the eyes on the beam of the jack..and a chain..


I will try n take a pic..its a heaps better place IMHO and all you need is a shifter to undo the nuts (they go though the large round holes in the bumper..


oh the bonus is that the heavy steel acts like a "Japanese car impact absorber" so you car remains unscathed...PERFECT

Photos PLEASEEEEEE

[Dopey]

Looks pretty awesome... what about opening the bonnet? Does it hit the window or do you need to take it off? Does it hit vents if open, etc?

Cheers

G'day Dan,
The jack has plenty of clearance from the windscreen when the bonnet is open, however the vents need to be shut (or only on the first two notches) when opening the bonnet or otherwise with the leverage from the length of the bonnet you end up bending the vent flaps a bit.

One potential downside to the GMB hinges is that it is not easy to remove the bonnet quickly if you wish to work in the engine bay with it off...
But it does prevent anyone pinching the bonnet quickly.

I've done over 100,000 miles (not Klms) now with the bonnet hinges and hi-lift jack mounted there, no issues so far with them.

I also have one of the GMB fender safe/box things, they are both very well made if pricey bits of equipment.

Mike.

[Dopey]

Photos PLEASEEEEEE

The fella hasn't logged on to aulro for just over a year....
Maybe not much chance of getting photos of his setup, I would've liked to have seen pics of it too.
Mike.

[frantic]

There was also another place in the uk that made the bonnet bolts/ highlift jack holder but with a horizontal bar that linked the two and it had mounting points for x-eng spots. That web site shut over 12 months ago.
I wonder if anyone had considered making a batch here to save $ on freight etc?
It seems there's a bit of interest ,myself included :D

[Dopey]

There was also another place in the uk that made the bonnet bolts/ highlift jack holder but with a horizontal bar that linked the two and it had mounting points for x-eng spots. That web site shut over 12 months ago.
I wonder if anyone had considered making a batch here to save $ on freight etc?
It seems there's a bit of interest ,myself included :D

G'day frantic,
Is this the product that you are talking about?

Hi-Lift Bonnet mount for Land Rover Defender | Far Corners (http://farcorners.co.uk/product/hi-lift-bonnet-mount-for-land-rover-defender/)

Mike.

[frantic]

Yup that's the one, thanks Mike,some may hate ,but I like the look.:D

[cuppabillytea]

Unfortunately that one is not suitable for a Puma.
Personally I don't like the idea of mounting anything heavy where, or in such a way, that could allow it to become a missile. The best I've seen yet was mounted across the back chassis member of an extreme. I'll go and take a Photo tomorrow.