Low profile winch bumper? Wtf

No, I'll change my flat using a bottle jack. Why? Because if you have an off-road capable rig then you hopefully have a butt load of droop on your rear suspension. Using a high lift to change that rear tire is a stupid idea because you will have to jack way the hell up using either your slider or your rear receiver hitch before the wheel ever leaves the ground. This results in a precarious and dangerous condition with the high lift near its maximum working height over a tiny foot print (even with an accessory high lift pad) all on a low traction surface. Worse people underestimate the amount the jack will pivot when lifting that high on a slider which increase the risk of the base sliding.

With a bottle jack (or scissor jack for that matter) you lift from the axle and the wheel starts coming off the ground almost immediately because in this case you are compressing the leaf spring to lift the wheel rather than lifting from the frame and extending the springs like you do when you use the high lift. You barely have to jack the vehicle up at all. This is because you are using the correct tool with correct technique. (EDIT: And for a bottle or scissor jack off road you definitely want a proper enlarged base for it!)

Safe recovery means thinking through what you are doing and using the correct tool and technique to do it safely. The oft shown picture of a clueless user replacing their rear tire by using a high lift on a slider is just more evidence that if you hand people a miracle "it does everything tool" they will typically turn off their brain and do things the wrong way instead of thinking through what the correct way to do something is.

And despite you claiming to know how to use a high lift it is clear you haven't really thought through this pretty basic part of it. The high lift is the worst way to change a tire - it fails at the very first job of a jack - tire replacement.

Yes you can use them for a lot of things. But in general they are poor for jacking your vehicle compared to bottle jacks. They are also very poor stand in winches and a come-a-long with amsteel blue is a more effective and safe solution for that.

My larger point is for most of the things people end up using them for they are not effective tools when limited to "requiring care". People tend to use them in stupid ways. Of course someone can decide to use them carefully, but in general I've found that by the time I've limited it to those use cases I have better tools on hand to get the job done more effectively and more safely.

People drive without seat belts and survive to tell the tale. Doesn't make it a smart thing to do.

In most cases come-a-long is safer for moving an obstacle, but indeed the high lift can be used safely in certain obstacle moving situations.

come-a-long is more effective and safer. And to my original point you'd never try to right a rig solo.

I've seen that, clever solution I agree.

I'd say bring the handle then and leave the jack at home replacing the weight and volume it occupies with more useful tools.

Anyway - people can carry what they want and use it how they want of course. My larger point is when you are solo you need to be even more careful than with a group or even another passenger in the same vehicle. In a solo situation the safe use cases for a high lift become very small and you'd usually be better off using a proper tool for the job at hand (proper preparation) or recognize that the situation you are in is too high risk to tackle solo and call for help (proper comms).

 

I have one of these. Makes the jack much more stable

https://safejacks.com/collections/h...ucts/universal-hi-lift-stabilizer-for-48-jack

 

Looks like the forum broke your link. Correct link

And yes, definitely a good addition for a hi-lift!

Same company makes larger pads for bottle jacks too as well as some very useful bottle jack accessories. Be aware their bottle jack ram accessories don't fit the stock Tacoma bottle jack though.

 

Fixed it

Their jack stands look nice too.

 

I once broke a leaf spring and the Hi-Lift was the only way to lift the truck off the suspension to repair it. That was in Rubicon Springs during the TLCA Rubithon in 2008. I was lucky Marlin and James were there and James was able to weld the spring back together and I got out driving on my own.

Since the spring was broken I had to figure out a different way to get the truck raised and onto the jack stand of tires. Hi-Lift under the slider. In this case I could have used the bumper but my jack is only 48" tall and I couldn't get the truck high enough to completely lower the axle, so had to move it in front of the axle and used the slider which was lower and didn't need as much of an angle. The bottle jack worked great to lower the axle slowly, though.

BTW, I agree, I prefer to use a bottle jack whenever possible. But the Hi-Lift works for several things so I don't also need a come-along, between the front winch and Hi-Lift I can solve most problems. I do carry an extra 25' extension of winch rope, that is very handy, too.





Here's some extra shots of the work by a very talented welder. Lots of passes, lots of grinding, lots more passes. This was with a Ready Welder in the field.

 

I was wiped out after that marathon wrenching. LOL.

 

Nice! See that looks like a well thought out use of everything for a field repair. Tires chocked, a "jack stand" of sorts, level ground and so forth. And most importantly you had others around to assist you. Perfectly good use of a high lift in my opinion even if I'm not a fan of them in general.

I'm not a high lift hater overall. I just try to emphasize they are quite dangerous tools and easy to misuse. Particularly in the case of solo travel you need to be extra careful in considering if your particular situation warrants the risk of using one. Usually there is a safer way to solve the problem with other tools.

Personally after carrying a high lift for about 15 years and finding I never had to use it because I could use other tools more safely I've stopped carrying it. Others of course can make their own decisions, but I'd strongly advocate always sitting down for a few minutes before doing anything with a high lift and thinking if there is a way to use another tool to get the same job done more safely. If the answer is no spend a few more minutes thinking if the particular situation you are going to use the high lift for is worth the risk to health and safety versus getting help for your recovery. And remember accidents that result in just injuries when there are people with you can easily convert into a fatality when you are solo.

 

Ha ha. I bet, that was a really impressive field recovery. Welding job is amazing. Awesome rig in the photos, do you still have it? Used to have a 1992 but sold when I got the Tacoma.

 

My CBI Dakar has jack points - under the top hoop, or on either side where the fog lights were:

Even after adding custom hoops, you can still jack from under the top hoop:

 

I ended up selling it about a year ago now. Just started getting old. I didn't stay far enough ahead of the rust and repairs so kind of had to get something with less miles and abuse on it. I like my Tacoma OK but sometimes I do miss the old girl, Imelda The Wonder Hilux. I had it for almost 16 years and it had 100K on it when I got it way back when.

 

Hi-Lifts look cool. I'm going to mount one across my windshield so everyone can see it.

 

^ try leaving the mall parking lot once in a while. In the real world a highlift is a pretty handy tool.

 

*hi

 

Maybe he like to get blazed and go to the gym

 

Low profile Relentless Fab winch bumper

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/relentless-2012-15-stingray-lo-pro-winch-bumper-gb.503712/