EZ Lift Installed

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Tabjo

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Just installed Rich Lunder's EZ Lift 4x4 kit today, and boy I'm glad to have it. I previously had the older Leverlift system installed up until about a two months ago when one of the levers finally broke off after three years of heavy use and abuse.



The older Leverlift system was pretty innovative, with the new EZ Lift, Rich has greatly imroved the beauty of his design by eliminating any moving parts (with the exception of gas springs of course). Less things to break off in my case.



If you have a hard Ford tonneau and have struggled with getting things in and out of your bed while holding up the cover, you'll really appreciate this product. Not having the lift assist for two months really reminded me of how spoiled I've become.



Front Cover

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and Rear Cover

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Rich,



If you happen to read this just a couple of questions:



1) Are you looking into any modification to the EZ Lift to allow the rear cover to open a full 90 degrees like the old leverlift flip mount allowed us to do? It was nice not to have to disconnect the cover just to flip out/in the bed extender.



[Broken External Image]:



2) I'd be interested in the optional hinge support bracke that allows for both sides to be up at the same time. DO you have any pics of the bracket? Will installing the hinge support bracket prevent me from quickly removing the tonneau cover?
 
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I started installing mine today but I had too many interuptions.:angry: Hopefully I can finish it tomorrow after I get back from work.
 
Tabjo,

Glad you like the system, I have seen the system and do like it, Unfortunately I tend to leave my cover completely flat most of its life..



Rich does make a bracket that allows you to easily remove the piston pumps to use the extender..

Todd Z
 
Todd,



I did still have the metal ball end fittings I had installed on the old leverlift which does allow for quick removal/install of the gas springs. Those went right on the new gas springs so I'm glad for that.



[Broken External Image]:



Rich Lunder had mentioned to me in a previous email that he had purposely discontinued the flip mounts in the interest of safety. Apparently some customers would leave their back covers in the open 90 degree position and a gust of wind would come and rip the mountings off. This is the flip mount I mentioned:



[Broken External Image]:



I'm wondering if perhaps longer springs on the back and moving the spring mounts further up would allow me to open the back cover just enough to flip out the bed extender.
 
Finished my install today. Mine opens up far enough so that the bed extender just clears, well it rubs just slightly when I try to swing it out. I'll try to post a pic tomorrow.

Rich's instructions used a 10 1/4" distance to mount the bracket on the cover. I ended up using 11". I also used my own self tapping/threading screws to "pin" the hold down pin bracket.

I'd like to say that the parts are high quality and that Rich L. did an excellent job on this design.:)
 
Good job Greg! I'd deffinetely like to see some pics of your install. Maybe all I need to do is raise the mount a little more then so I can clear my extender.
 
Thanks guys.

I'm glad you are pleased with the new EZLift design.



As prevously stated, the FlipMount was eliminated because of safety issues. In the vertical position, the FlipMount created a condition where the cover had an enormous leverage advantage and the slightest breeze could force the cover over and do a lot of damage.



Greg,

The cover must be lifted to nearly the vertical position for the cargo cage to swing in or out. by moving the mount to 11 inches from the hinge instead of 10-1/4 inches only reduces the maximum angle the cover can open. That would probably reduce the opening angle from 70-degrees to only about 50 or 55 degrees?



The problem with using longer gas springs is there must be sufficient room for the totally compressed gas springs. So if you put longer gas springs on, they could lift the cover higher however there would not be enough room between the upper and lower mounts for the fully compressed gas spring, so the cover would not close all the way. If you move the mounts further apart, the cover will not lift as high and you have defeated the purpose of the longer gas springs.



You also need to watch the angle of the gas spring. The closer to the hinge the gas spring mounts, the more gas spring pressure it requires to lift the cover.



There are some fairly complex formulas used to calculate the angles and lift pressure required to lift the cover to a specific angle. While a gas spring system could be designed to open the cover to 90-degrees, the lower mounting locations would much further from the center and require drilling into the sides of the bed and possibly requiring some kind of backing plate to reinforce the sides of the bed.



That's what makes the LeverLift and EZLift unique. The lower gas spring mounts use the existng screws and theaded holes in the side of the bed and do not require drilling into the truck's thin plastic bed.



...Rich
 
Rich,



I had a question above you might have missed:

I'd be interested in the optional hinge support bracke that allows for both sides to be up at the same time. DO you have any pics of the bracket? Will installing the hinge support bracket prevent me from quickly removing the tonneau cover?
Click to expand...
 
Tabjo,

I will try to find some photos of the hinge support bracket.



The Hinge Support Bracked does not prevent you from removing the cover however you would need to remove to nuts and bolts that attach to the hold-pin bracket and keeps it from flopping forward and backwards knocking the cover off-center. That would add about 10 minutes to the time it takes tor remove your cover, and you would need two half inch wrenches.



I have stopped selling the Hinge Support Bracket since I only sold about 6-8 kits in 2 years. It works great if you need to have both covers open on a regular basis, but it's a real PITA if you remove your cover very often.



Also, you can always open both covers with the EZLift even without the Hinge Support Bracket, it's getting the cover aligned to close it. It can be done without too much difficulty, it just takes a little practice and you must close the rear cover first.



...Rich







...
 
Rich,



If you have one left I'll take it off your hands, otherwise I can live without the hinge bracket. It would come in handy about every other week when I take my wife to Cosco for a grocery run. Having both sides open for loading/unloading would be ideal.



Thanks again,

Tabjo
 
Rich, for whatever reason I had to use the longer distance becuase I could not close the cover before the gas strut was completely compressed. I didn't want to damage anything so 11" gave me 1/8-3/16" of breathing room.

I can swing out the bed extender but it rubs just slightly. We've been in a wind storm today so I'll post a picture tomorrow.

Again thanks for the great price!:D



Greg
 
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Rich, how about something like this. You would be able to use the same size shock. May require more pressure due to the leverage difference. It would allow the cover to open further and still mount with no swinging hinges or pivot hardware other than the pivot points themselves.



What do you think????



[Broken External Image]:
 
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By no means is it drawn to scale or anything like that. Just did a quick free hand sketch of what I was thinking.



I'll sell the rights to you dirt cheap.



Seriously, just wondering if something like this would do what both you as the seller and the buyer are after.



Let me know your thoughts....
 
Kevin,

I have actually made a similar system using the knee action lever as you have shown in your drawing and there are several drawbacks.



1. The folded lever can be used to lift the cover higher, but it does nothing to prevent the cover from going over center and damaging the cover and parts. That's the problem with any arrangement that can lift to the vertical position.



2. The gas spring must be excessively short which limits the length of strock and lift height . Also, the length of the folding lever is limited by the latch strikers mounting on the sides of the bed.



3. Excessive cost and labor making the folding lever and mounting parts.



I even made a manual version requires no gas springs and locks in the upright position like a prop-rod. Unfortuanely the cost of the levers and labor to make these units are not practical for my shop and equipment. I still have the parts in my shop



...Rich
 
O,

You will have to check with the manufacturer of yourbig cover. You canot just buy gas springs. There are several critical specifications that you have to know like the extended length, compressed length, and the P1 and P2 pressures.



Kevin,

I agree. I liked your drawing too! :D



...Rich
 
Finally got pics.

[Broken External Image]:



[Broken External Image]:

The bed extender actually does clear without rubbing.



[Broken External Image]:

You can see the test holes from the trial and error fit. The rest were much faster after that.

:cool:
 
Greg,



I see that you mounted the mounting plate that attaches to the side of the truck bed upside down, that's how you got the extra height. I might end up doing the same if it gets me just enough height to clear the extender of the tonneau cover. Thanks for the pics!





 
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Greg, and Tabjo,

I don't recommend mounting the plate upside down to get the extra lift. You have greated a dangerous situation if the cover is that wide open and a gust of wind hits the cove. It will push it all the way over. That will likely bend the gas spring and rip the upper mount out while damaging the cover.



The other difficulty when the cover is opened to the vertical position is that it cannot be reached by shorter people, meaning you have to walk around to the side to pull it down so you can reach it to slam it shut.



The simplest solution is to use a gas spring with a lower mount attached to the side of the bed closer to the latch stricker and angled forward towards the cover. That would allow the cover to open to the vertical position and the gas spring would hold the cover from toing all the way over. The reason I did not mount the gas spring that way is to avoid blocking side access with the gas spring. That's especially important for the front cover where there is no other access except from the sides.



...Rich

 

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