Pictures of where you've mounted your recovery gear on your IDI

[mankypro]

I'm about to fully outfit the IDI for self-recovery - Hi-Lift, spare come alongs, chains, straps, shovel, etc.

Just wondering if anyone has an trick ideas on where to mount these.

I was thinking of just drilling through the front bumper and mounting the hi-lift there. I don't have thousands of dollars for fancy custom bumpers with all the doohickeys to attach this stuff on them.

Was thinking of getting a rooftop basket and maybe mounting stuff on or in it. Anyone?

Or if I could find a suitable footlocker that was lockable to toss all this stuff in the bed and chain it there to avoid theft, that way I could move it between trucks.

Was also thinking of having some custom 2" receiver winch platforms made to mount a winch to. And put in a front class 3 hitch to be able to swap back and forth between 'em.

Anyway I was bored, let's see some pickatures!

 

[Chicken_Fried]

I was thinking of just drilling through the front bumper and mounting the hi-lift there. I don't have thousands of dollars for fancy custom bumpers with all the doohickeys to attach this stuff on them.

Dont mount it to the front bumper. Chances of it hitting something and being damaged are much higher plus its going to get dirty and rusty there. (you dont want a Hi-Lift getting dirty and rusty)

Also what makes you think its thousands of dollars for a set of bumpers? Buy a crap load of steel and start welding or find a friend that can weld them for you.

Was thinking of getting a rooftop basket and maybe mounting stuff on or in it. Anyone?

I wouldnt do that as it would look like those ford exploder pickup things. besides you have a bed for that kind of stuff.

Or if I could find a suitable footlocker that was lockable to toss all this stuff in the bed and chain it there to avoid theft, that way I could move it between trucks.

Make sure its metal and make sure you cant bend the lid up on the outsides or someone will steal things. Also why not get a truck tool box?

Was also thinking of having some custom 2" receiver winch platforms made to mount a winch to. And put in a front class 3 hitch to be able to swap back and forth between 'em.

They sell these already, But I have seen people make decent looking ones.

 

[7bicks]

Made my won bumper and my locking toolbox holds pretty much everything i need for self recovery. Only drawback is the loss of 2' of bed no biggy if you have an 8 footer.

 

[Fullsize4life]

Save some coin and buy a nice tool box for the bed. A nice deep one. Make some shelves and put everything in there. Dont waste your time mounting stuff on bumpers or roofs. Please.

 

[mankypro]

Yeah the issue with a bed toolbox is that I'm very jealous of my 8' bed real estate. I use this truck to cart around large bulky items. I'll need to look at some truck boxes on CL...

 

[jperecko]

I like my bed real estate as well and the long term plan is to basically build a very unique service-style bed that will have enough storage for enough fluids to flush everything on the truck, lotsa spares from axle shafts to starter/alternator... not to mention straps and chains and such. Hydraulic winch up front and an electric backup that can be on one of those receiver cradles... with receivers on all 4 sides. A little out of your concept I think though. Maybe look into one of those bed boxes that is only on the side and goes over the wheel well? Less lost real estate... worst case scenario just dismount the box and strap it on top of whatever you are hauling or the roof...

 

[mankypro]

there are some cool boxes that fit over the wheel wells, but the prices are silly. There are some toolboxes that mount above the lip of the bed, like a service body's outside boxes would. Anyway, I'll most likely just go with the narrowest toolbox I can find.

 

[Andylad13]

I wanted to build weather tight boxes to fill the space above the wheel wells in the bed and run the length of the bed. It would give me plenty of space to put all the crap that crowds my back seat. Only problem is I want this truck to have a dump bed, so all the crap would slide to the rear of the truck...unless there were dividers or something.