Who's skeered of their hi-lift thread.

had to use mine again wheeling this weekend. i tore two valve stems right off on rocks within abotu 10 minutes of each other. pluggend them up real quick and hauled ass back to camp before they went flat. camp was on a hill, so to safely lift the truck, we used a come-along and a tree saver to tie the roof rack to a tree. as the hi-lift went up, wetightened the come-along as needed so the truck didn't fall downhill off the jack. a little nerveracking, but because the correct precautions were taken, we knew it was safe.

 

pics?

 

i'll check with some of the guys there to see if they took any since i was working on it. we waited to do it until one of the guys with a powertank got back, since we had to unseat both tires to fix it. while it was safe for a quick fix, i didn't want the truck sitting on a hi-lift, tied to a tree for an hour and a half.

 

hahaha sounds like a heck of a mess out on the trail

 

You need to lube the hell out of the jack before use and ensure it's regularly lubed. Once lubed, that jack will go up and down no probs.

 

luckily i got back to camp ok, but unseating the tire was fun. had to run over the rim/tire with a 7000 lb land rover. backup plan was to use another hi-lift as a clamp to get it off. i still have to get to the tire shop though because the inner end up the tire pressure sensor is just bouncing around in my tire. made for a shakey steering wheel on the ride home

 

I got myself into a similiar situation when I was wheeling alone in danial boone state forest in corbin, ky. Everything worked out ok using the hi lift as a come along. I have a shackle and plate that fits the opposite end of the hi lift but the only thing that was really sketch was using the "foot" of the hi lift to wrap the end of the strap for winching.
I was at an odd angle and it looked as if the strap was going to come off at any time.


I have since purchased a warn m8000 and used it twice so far.
I enjoy wheeling alone so I want to make sure that I can get out of situations or atleast have the equipment to know with a little rigging and some time, I can recover myself.

 

I have a love hate relationship with my jack. I bring a can of wd40 and spray it down every time i use it. Still hates to go down.

 

maybe you guys should consider reading the directions that are included with a REAL Highlift.
Educate yourself before you need to use it, Common sense. Then you wont end up slamming it through walls or smashing your door, or dropping the truck. Ill get you all started....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ7fgW5QNl4

http://www.bb4wa.com/articles/hilift_jack.html

good luck

And for those of you that are buying the junk "Farmers Jack" from HF and calling it a Highhift, lol. Theres a reason yours bent Colinb17...

 

I was letting my older farm jack junk down and for some reason the handle had extreme pressure on like 3 pump it stripped outta my hand bam almost broke my nose hit me on the side rite by my eye. Sorry no pics.

 

they can all bend when weight unexpectedly shifts in the wrong way. friend i went wheeling with this past weekend has a real hi lift hanging in his garage that looks like a "c". it's a matter of if the foot slips or not when the jack falls. if it slips, your jack is usually fine. if the foot is planted firmly enough, it can bend any jack.

i bent mine back before the trip this weekend and it handled great, without bending again, but i'm going to get a new one for the truck and keep the old one with the trailer.

Edit: i can't speak for the HF ones as i've only used Hi-lifts, and the ones northern tool sells. i believe the northern ones are made by Torin (big red)

 

nice tip with teh old tire. i'll have to do that or build a base like the wab fab.

 

so if i understand this correctly you cant use a hi lift on a stock taco
ya need aftermarket bumpers and or sliders
then ya worry about it falling?
hmm

 

on a stock truck you can use it on the hitch (you need to secure the back from swaying side to side or it will fall). or you can get the wheel mate, which attaches to your wheel, which is actually pretty stable, but in order to change a tire that way you will need a jack stand or some good improvising.

 

If you have to ask...

I grew up with Hilifts just being a part of wheeling. When used properly it's one of the most versatile and important tools to have when wheeling. It's the difference between the time effort it takes to bust it out and use it vs. a wasted miserable day of being stuck/stranded. Especially out in the desert, all the winches and offroad tires won't do you a bit of good in some situations that the Hilift makes easy to get out of if you're solo.

It can be used to lift the vehicle, shift the vehicle over a few feet in the same spot, come-along, jaws of life, swap a spare, pull out fenceposts/signs, lever stumps out, etc. True, a stock Tacoma's body/bumpers make it very difficult to use properly (most newer vehicles) and you're left taking chances with the hitch (if you have one) or using the wheel hooks, but if you wheel regularly you'll want armor anyway, which conviniently works perfect with a Hilift. Hell, I installed sliders more for using my Hilift on than rock protection.

 

fyi a highlift will NOT hold up a school bus without bending like a paper clip

 

hahaha, tried this have we?

 

yessir

 

ditch my fail lift a long time ago

 

i'm going to start carrying one of those as well, but most of the time i'm in a spot that one of those won't work