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This chain-driven tailgate lift assist makes it easy to raise and lower the tailgate on your open utility trailer. Compact unit mounts on just one side of your trailer, leaving more rail space available for racks, accessories, and trailer loading.
Features:
Specs:
With the Rack'Em tailgate lift assist, you can raise and lower your utility trailer's tailgate with a single finger. The double-barrel assist will make a 134-lb gate feel like it weighs only 5 lbs, making it easy for practically anybody to lift or lower.
Installation
The double-barrel unit mounts on one of the side rails of your trailer using 2 of the included bolts. The adjustable mounting bracket then mounts onto the side of your tailgate with the other 2 bolts. Once both pieces are mounted, just choose the adjustment hole you would like to use based the size of your tailgate and clip the chain onto it. The top 3 holes are designed for taller, heavier tailgates, while the bottom 3 holes are for shorter, lighter tailgates. This adjustable design makes the Rack'Em Double Barrel lift assist perfect for any application.
How It Works
The chain that attaches to your tailgate connects to an internal sprocket chain that is in turn hooked to a spring inside the unit. This chain-and-spring combination is what takes on the weight of your tailgate. The first spring connects to a second spring inside the other barrel of the assist using an additional sprocket chain. If extra lifting power is needed, this second spring will automatically engage to help with the load.
Because this chain-and-spring setup only activates when under load, the system will never be too rigid to manage. As a result, you will always have smooth, consistent, and jerk-free motion regardless of your application.
Average Customer Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars (199 Customer Reviews)
This chain-driven tailgate lift assist makes it easy to raise and lower the tailgate on your open utility trailer. Compact unit mounts on just one side of your trailer, leaving more rail space available for racks, accessories, and trailer loading.Received the product. Thanks for the speedy shipping.
I have installed the product and am very pleased with it's operation. It was very easy to install . Since it was placed on my trailer's side gate, I only had to make one small change. I drilled two mounting holes into the gate bracket and mounted it with the adjustment holes on the outside in order to keep the lift chain straight on it's sprockets. (shown in picture). I had to purchase nothing extra for the double barrel lifter and it works great. Friends are already commenting on it and getting the order info from me. More will come when the snow and ice clears.
Art C.
12/9/2014
Product works great as advertised.. Still happy that I purchased it!
This is just what I needed, it makes lifting the tail gate so easy with no effort.
Al
3/19/2024
Grate
I am very pleased with this product. I have installed this on my split tailgate and it works flawlessly. I have another trailer with the gorilla tailgate assists on both sides. I would pick the RA-27C double barrel over the gorilla springs, hands down. I have included some pics to help anyone else with a split tailgate. This is what I came up with and it works great!
Randy W.
8/9/2018
I have had this product for a year now and it still is working very well. I am very pleased and would still recommend this to anyone.
I had a 2’ extension added to the gate to prevent mower deck spindles from catching and it made the gate too heavy for some to pick up. After adding the double barrel assist, the gate can be lifted with one hand!!
I got my Rack'em double barrel gate assist a few days ago and installed it. My trailer has 16 inch side rails which I was told is too high for it to work properly so I ended up welding a piece of angle iron to the outside of my trailer rails at 13 inches high to solve that problem. This actually worked out better anyway as it puts the doublebarrel down out of harms way and left my top rail unobstructed for my hedge trimmer mount.
I had a garage door spring mounted in this location and it worked well for 20 years but the double barrel works much better. It can be adjusted so that the gate requires zero effort to lift and it also does not slam the gate closed if I don't hold onto it past the halfway point or let the gate slam to the ground if I let go of it below the halfway point...it just works perfect!
It makes no annoying noises like the competing trailer gate assist units on the market do and is quite a bit shorter overall...Surprisingly, it's actually among the cheaper options in this category too.
Build quality seems good...The only concern I have is with the size of roller chain they used, I'm sure they've tested it extensively and determined that what they used is strong enough but I would feel more comfortable with a little larger size roller chain. Just a suggestion to the manufacturer if they happen to see this.
Can't say how it will hold up long term but initial impressions are great.
First time I lowered it half way down it went slamming on the ground. A ring attaching the spring to the chain gave way it was not welded. I took a pair of channel locks and squeezed it closed and was going to have it welded being someone forgot to weld it but I thought it's under warranty and wasn't going to put the money out to fix it. The ring is a smaller diameter than the others one installed. Waiting on Rack' Em to send me parts under warranty. Someone should me crediting me some money back being I was put out and have to fix it.
Katrina B.
8/5/2022
I see that our customer service department is assisting you with your options.
Perfect addition to my trailer. I don't care how many times I have to put the ramp up and down now. Nice paint finish, well built and easily installed. Prompt shipping and follow-up e-mails. Will continue to buy from E-Trailer.
Simple installation. The gate handle was in the way to mount the attachment plate as specified in the instructions, but I just flipped it and mounted it another way. It actually made the attachment points more in line with the sprocket. Works as advertised and looks good too!
This is a very good product. I choose this product because of ease of installation and cost. I had read other reviews and liked what I saw. I thought about the gorilla lift but didn’t want to go thru the hassle of installation. The Double Barrel system works flawless. Installation only took about 45 mins at the most. This really helped me out a lot because, my trailer gate is very heavy and a pain to pick up. I run a small Lawncare company so I’m always letting the gate up and down. So this was a must in my eyes. I decided to do what I saw another person did and that was u a eye bolt instead of the plate and it worked great. I’m very happy with my purchase and know it is going to last along time.
Jonathan S.
10/23/2018
Great no problems
I INSTALLED THIS UNIT ON A 34IN- H-72IN-W- GATE I HADE TO ADD 25 LB AT TOP CENTER OF GATE WORKS REAL GOOD WILL SEND PICTURES TRAILER IS 6 X10 HASE 24IN DUOVE TAIL AT END OF BED
Pictures of the Rackem trailer gate assist (RA-27). I was told to take pictures and send them to this e-mail after install
a great product. would not think of havving a similar stype trailer without hlaving one installed.
The Rack-em lift is excellent.
Really like this tailgate lift assist. Prefer the roller chain system over cables
Easy install on round tube trailer rails. Much simpler than the two side lift setup.
Took a little try & see to adjust for tension.
Price, ordering & shipping was good.
Will recommend this item to friends
I purchased the Double Barrel for our landscape trailer. The tailgate has a two foot extension welded onto it making it 6" long. One guy could lift it but it was an accident waiting to happen. I made a phone call to Customer Service and Katie helped me out. She put me in touch with the manufacturing facility. After they confirmed that it would "help" with the weight I decided to purchase one with the thought that I might need two. The installation is simple but I did have to add two half inch spacers to align the chain on the sprocket but every trailer is different. Although the tailgate is not one finger light, it is more than acceptable and can now easily be lifted by one man. Great product and great customer service.
I just finished installing the system on my trailer. And I love it. I would like to give a shout out to carol in customer service. I did have a minor problem with shipping. I called customer service and talked to Carol and she had it fixed in a few minutes.
Due to the design of my trailer and the 6 foot gate. The trailer is of my design and I built it. The gate weighs more than the average gate so I opted to install two lift supports. At 54 with two bad shoulders the gat was extremely heavy to lift at just over 250 lbs. I highly recommend etrailer.
After one year of continuous use, this is still performing like the day I installed it. Great product.
Works great on 5’ heavy duty gate
Vanessa,
You were very professional– knowledgeable, easy to understand, and polite. The product was at a good price with free shipping, and I received it in 4 days. All a plus.
The etrailer video showed a simple installation with one finger lifting, and also the gate staying in a holding position between all the way up and all the way down.
My installation was simple, but I have an angle-iron constructed gate and it was easier to use an eye-bolt in place of the provided bracket to better line-up the chain. To take up the chain slack and preload the springs I moved the chain clip to a different link, but the lifting takes more than a finger and it will fall.
The Rack’em Double Barrel Trailer Tailgate Assist does help to lift the gate but doesn’t do it with the ease of one finger as shown in the video. If you have any suggestions they are welcome. Thanks.
The double barrel tailgate lift is a life saver. It has made lifting my tailgate much easier and also helps when lowering it because it slows it down. My gate was a beast to lift but not anymore. It is definitely a great item that is well worth the price.
Great product and great response from support. Glen thanks.
Trailer has 3" dove tail ,mounted rail 15" above tailgate hinge point
eye at 46" took up 3 links, lift with two fingers.
I chose this lift assist because it only required drilling two holes in the steel side rail of the trailer. This was a year ago and it has worked very well. Perfect for my needs.
I'm using this for a commercial lawn company. I do believe the springs have lost some of there strength but overall this is a great system. I will say though were opening and closing this gate up to 25 times a day. I was using the gorilla lift before and was constantly having to replace cables and the rollers that the cables were supposed to run on. That cannot happen on this system because of the chain and sprocket.
Fairly easy install. eTrailer videos were very helpful. Decided to use 3/8" Eye Bolt for gate instead of the gate bracket. Worked much better on angle iron built trailer.
This was ordered for my dad. he & stepmom they were having a hard time lifting the rear gate. after installing it they said it was the best thing. Dad is 87 and he loves it.
Thanks again
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Bob F.
6/28/2014
Very quick delivery, with 1 modification, I had it installed and it works GREAT. Recommend it highly..