Until recently, I had to manually lift the upper portion of the rack then held it up with a metal stick. It didn’t work very well, and no one would dare put their hand into take anything out. The total weight at one side of the lifting rack was 85 lbs, and you had to hold it at a strange angle. To resolve the problem, I installed two 80 lb gas springs which I luckily found for a decent price. The entire top with rack, tent, shovel, and hi-lift jack is approximately 160-180 lbs. Once a single gas spring was installed, the rack held it self up. With both installed, it automatically lifts.