Doug B - well, now what am I going to do with the 2 Ford drive line bolts that been laying in my garage for the last 7 years. They were only used 1 time on that '90 F-150 (1 time = installed for 17 years).
Based on your very accomplished artistic sub-frame work, and your lift rod design work, I'm betting your U-bolt design will be a custom fit. Can't wait for the pics.
Ooh, almost forgot - in your pic showing the lift rod, you have it installed in the lower hole of the lift bracket. I never used that hole before. The Op manual mentions using lower hole for easier lifting, and the upper hole for increased lift range (very interesting what you find in Operator Manuals once you read them over and over again). Once you get the U-bolt dilemma resolved you might try each hole and see what works best for you. The blade never seemed hard to lift to me and I wanted the most "up" range I could get.