Post Pics or stories of having to use your Hi Lift Jack

Ive used mine to:

Replace spares on trailers.

Winch logs onto flatbed to take to sawmill

Jack up truck to get off of a high center.

Jack up truck to get out of a slick spot.

Tipicotaco I love your suggestion about the LiftMATe. I dunno that I'll get one but its a great idea to try running a rachet strap around the wheel spokes and to the highlift to get lifted.

 

Heck yeah man! They're such a versatile tool!!
And that was me who did the ratchet strap around the tire. Didn't know if it was gonna work haha but I got lucky!!

 

Using ours to clamp warped wood together when redoing the front porch



I've also used it to pull fence posts out of the the ground, and as a winch.

 

Awesome!! Another person to prove that the Hi lift is a very versatile tool!

 

What a story! Dang I'd never go wheelin alone crazy man. I would never leave my truck in a trail alone haha

 

Bump? Cool stories/pictures?

 

Bump

 

Okay. I got another I can share.

Everybody knows, or should know that Hi-lifts are, and can be extremely dangerous. Just like a firearm.

Even with that knowledge it still happened to me. I had my Hi-lift foot slip out and the jack dropped. The truck only dropped 1" because of jack stands. When the Hi-Lift foot jettisoned out, the clamp clevis as pictured put a mean dent on door sill. It serves as a constant reminder to me about safety. When the slip occurred the hi-lift foot was on a piece of wood which had a laminate covering and the jack was angled in slightly. (Had the jack not been angled, it probably would not have happened) Anyways, the wood covering delaminated under pressure and caused the foot to slip! Since then, I don't put anything under the foot which would reduce friction for the hi-lift foot. I also made a foot base which has a bolt which passes through the foot for situations where additional surface area and stability are required. Proper placement of the foot is obviously very important!



Here endith my story about foot slippage.

 

Thanks, good addition to this thread, could definitely help someone learn some precautionary measures for using a hi lift

 

I almost dropped my truck once. I was just testing out the jack on the street in front of my house. I'd just installed a rear plate bumper with hi lift cutouts. So I commenced lifting the rear driver side and shortly after the tire was off the ground the vehicle rolled forward a few inches! Luckily the lifting arm of the jack sort of wedged in the cutout not allowing the truck to drop completely, but the jack was now leaning in toward the tailgate at something like a 20° angle! After my heart started beating again I started to very slowly lower the truck while pulling on the top of the jack rearward.

Lesson learned, chock the front wheels when lifting the rear. Use the parking brake when lifting the front.

Also, always be aware of the handle! If you push the handle down to raise the truck but you do not hear an audible click, DO NOT let go of the handle, it will very energetically return to the vertical position! And make certain the handle is in the vertical position BEFORE you flip the lever to lower a load. Again the handle will quickly swing to vertical if the lever is thrown with the handle in any position other than vertical.

 

Great addition to this thread. Thanks for sharing your experience. You really have to be careful with these things. They can be a huge help but can seriously cause issues if precautionary measures are not taken.

 

I don't know if anyone has one of these, but it looks like it would provide some much needed stability to the jacks. Anyone?

http://www.relentlessfabrication.us/online-store.php#!/High-floatation-steel-Hi-lift-base/p/17295943

 

That has got to add a bit of weight.. Probably would help a lot though

 

Beats the old, "carry a piece of 2x4" in the truck. I like that it's reversible and has teeth for added grip on softer surfaces.

 

That looks like a good piece but I bought the "Hi Lift" brand off road base. Haven't used it yet but it seems like it will work well.

 

Good article on using the High Lift jack: http://expeditionportal.com/jack-of-all-trades/

 

I've used my highlift on numerous occasions. Considering I think I only paid $20 for my "Jackall" on craigslist several years ago I'd say I got my money's worth.

The first time I remember using it was on my way back from a week long wheeling trip down in Moab. It's kind of funny that I never used it while actually in Moab but as soon as we got back in to Washington state my driver side wheel bearing exploded. I had to jack up the side of my truck from the sliders to commence the pain in the ass process of replacing the wheel bearing and hub while on the side of the highway. I'll save those details for another day. All in all, the combo of the highlift and actually having a jacking point on my truck really saved me an even bigger headache.

The second time my jack came in handy was while I was towing an enclosed cargo trailer full of about 2000lbs of hardwood flooring and the trailer somehow came unhitched from the ball on my truck. On a very busy street I might add. I was able to jack up the front of the trailer and back my truck under the tongue and get everything hooked up again.

I have also used my jack while on a snow wheeling trip up by Mt. Baker when my truck started sliding sideways and dangerously close to a steep embankment. It took a while but I was able to rig up a winching system off a tree and actually pull by rear end sideways up the slope so I could safely get out of there. I understand that Hilift sells a winching package that makes the whole process a lot easier, I might consider purchasing this in the future.

 

Awesome contribution to the thread. Crazy that the trailer fell off your hitch!!! Luckily it sounds like nobody was hit or ran into it or anything.

 

Amazing I found this thread today. I just bought 2 of these jacks this afternoon. I've known how handy they were since I was kid.

One for me and one for the wife's Tacoma as well.

 

Yeah when the trailer came off I about had a heart attack. That was super scary. I blame it on the piece of junk harbor freight hitch that I welded on to the trailer.