which Hi Lift?

Alright guys so.
I (possibly mistakenly) sold my floor jack.

And, the truck has armor. Would like to do some work on the front end.
And figured, maybe now is the time to get a Hi-Lift.

1) it can be kept in the bed, even for recovery. A jack staying with the truck? Sounds awesome.
And can figure out what accessories it needs to actually lift the truck, such as the rounded attachment for sliders, etc.

2) It's cheaper than a floor jack

Question is, which one is best to get?
Truck is DCSB, so 5" bed
I searched on here, and found guys recommending 60". I suspect their truck may be LongBed, and don't see how a 60 would fit a ShortBed.

I was at a truck store, and asked the staff. Guy told me two things:
1)Go with Hi Lift themselves, as the most reputable and original brand
2)get a 42 or 48 instead (I think 48") as the most common, still plenty of lift height, with 60" being excessive and only needed for a ridiculous vehicle and/or situation

I'm thinking the best place to mount it, may be right rear along bedside (inner)

All I have right now is a used RCI mounting kit. No rubber insulators, protective boot, or anything like that
Yes I can always move and re-arrange things later, but as of now I have in the back:
-Axe and Shovel mounted to left
-front behind window, spare wheel/tire secured with 1-2 ratchet straps hooked on 2 bed cleats, that loosen up over time
-shell

Curious to hear from you all what the thing to do is



When I visited OR lots of stores had cheap Hi-Lifts but haven't seen much of that here in SoCal and am not sure if they're pretty much all the same (basic design copy) or if brand/quality is important

 

Looks like you already have a farm jack in there buddy?

 

that is what is called a picture from google

I imagine I would not be asking if I had one

 

I see, your description looks like the picture so I assumed here. Let me say, go with the largest jack you can fit, the trick here is if the 60" won't fit in the back of a DCSB, you can cut down the jack to lose a few notches and maybe turn it into a 55" jack. Better to have the extra length and not need it than the other way around. Sticking it on the bedside there already eats up most of the space so you won't be doing anything with the last little bit if you only got the 48" anyhow.

 

A 60" will fit in the bed on a DCSB...I've been running one in my truck for nearly 10 years now. I did cut about 2" off of it when I installed bed stiffeners.

I would recommend a bottle jack over a hi-lift in most instances, especially if you're trying to change a flat on pavement.

 

60" for sure, before I got mine I researched the same question and the result was that the largest hi-lift you can get is the safest in any scenario. I fit mine in the hollow tow bar underneath, but it's inaccessible without removing the rear bumper and it's a very tight fit (been stuck in there for a while) I'm still interested in using this area to store my jack tho I just have to put some brain power to making it convenient. (just the 60" bar itself fits here, everything else removed. It's quick and easy to set the jack back up)

 

The cost to quality delta over a whatever brand farm jack and a real HiLift is not worth cheaping out. Because of its nature, the type and place of task it is used for, and the danger of failure, I consider a HiLift to be life safety equipment. IMO a HiLift is every bit as dangerous as a chainsaw and should be treated as such.

A cheap farm jack might work fine for 20 years pulling stumps and fence posts or occasionally jacking up a tractor, but when it's your life or someone else's, do you really want to worry about the slag content of the casting holding your truck up or whether someone decided to save $0.01 by cheaping on the shear pin?

Now that my Dad lecture is over with, yeah, there's a big quality difference among farm jacks, even in the same pile of store brand ones at Tractor Supply or whatever. Some of them seem like they might be OK if you absolutely had to have one (but the cost savings on these over a HiLift is typically minimal), some I wouldn't use to hold an outhouse door open.

 

Only use a high lift if you have to, other wise carry a smaller bottle jack with you and a block to help you reach your jacking point.
Hi-Lift Jacks are a pain in the ass and can be dangerous. Yes I have used one on the trail when we had to, but I hated it.
Make sure when you use it it planted firmly in the front in ground and never stand over it. Always stand to the side and never have your face over it when jacking. Or stand directly behind it where it can kick out.

I know it’s a little large, but I run something like this in my truck.