Hi-lift jacks... Y or N?
General 4WD11 replies · 59,834 views
HillsForThrillsDrives a Nissan Patrol · 13 Sept 2014
As the title says, what are your thoughts on Hi-lift jacks? Are they REALLY the must-have weapon of choice for 4WDers, or are they just extra weight and more of a fashion statement for a lot of people?
My personal thoughts are that they aren't actually as good/useful as we're led to believe by magazines, ads, shops etc.
My reasoning behind this is firstly, obviously, they jack up the chassis, not the diffs/axles... Now that's probably handy for a stock suspension vehicle that has minimal flex, but for my GQ with a 7" suspension lift and quite a lot of down travel, the jack would have to be nearly fully extended (even a 68") before the tyre would even look like coming off the ground... I use the factory Nissan bottle jack and a solid block of wood roughly 12"x8"x2" exclusively and haven't encountered a situation yet that the setup couldn't cope with. Yes, if you're chassis deep in mud, the bottle jack will not be very useful at all, but that brings me to my second reason...
Most 4WDs these days have winches... The days of needing to jack and pack are getting fewer and further between... Simply winch out of the boghole or off the rocks/logs and then do what needs to be done. Without a winch, then yes, a Hi-lift would be useful in some cases, even to the point of being used as a hand-winch. In all my years of 4WDing, I've used a Hi-lift once, and that was to get out of a bog. I was stuck at the bottom of a gully, front wheels on top, rear down the bottom. No winch, so I used the hi-lift to pick up the rear driver's corner and simply drove off the jack then, using the jack itself as a pivot.
One benefit of a Hi-lift is the ability to easily break a bead on a tyre. However, again, this is rarely performed as most people will simply put the spare on and have the busted one repaired at a shop. Remote travel of course may require tyre repair, but the Hi-lift is a lot of space and weight just to use as an easy bead-breaker... Lie the tyre on the ground and drive over the sidewall (if there's another vehicle available...), or place the tyre under the vehicle and put the trusty bottle jack on the bead and jack it off that way...
Hi-lifts are also very dangerous if used incorrectly and with inexperience.
But anyway, these are just my thoughts, what about others? Do you find them to be the "Duck's Nuts" for 4WD accessories, or just an outdated and overrated fashion item these days?
My personal thoughts are that they aren't actually as good/useful as we're led to believe by magazines, ads, shops etc.
My reasoning behind this is firstly, obviously, they jack up the chassis, not the diffs/axles... Now that's probably handy for a stock suspension vehicle that has minimal flex, but for my GQ with a 7" suspension lift and quite a lot of down travel, the jack would have to be nearly fully extended (even a 68") before the tyre would even look like coming off the ground... I use the factory Nissan bottle jack and a solid block of wood roughly 12"x8"x2" exclusively and haven't encountered a situation yet that the setup couldn't cope with. Yes, if you're chassis deep in mud, the bottle jack will not be very useful at all, but that brings me to my second reason...
Most 4WDs these days have winches... The days of needing to jack and pack are getting fewer and further between... Simply winch out of the boghole or off the rocks/logs and then do what needs to be done. Without a winch, then yes, a Hi-lift would be useful in some cases, even to the point of being used as a hand-winch. In all my years of 4WDing, I've used a Hi-lift once, and that was to get out of a bog. I was stuck at the bottom of a gully, front wheels on top, rear down the bottom. No winch, so I used the hi-lift to pick up the rear driver's corner and simply drove off the jack then, using the jack itself as a pivot.
One benefit of a Hi-lift is the ability to easily break a bead on a tyre. However, again, this is rarely performed as most people will simply put the spare on and have the busted one repaired at a shop. Remote travel of course may require tyre repair, but the Hi-lift is a lot of space and weight just to use as an easy bead-breaker... Lie the tyre on the ground and drive over the sidewall (if there's another vehicle available...), or place the tyre under the vehicle and put the trusty bottle jack on the bead and jack it off that way...
Hi-lifts are also very dangerous if used incorrectly and with inexperience.
But anyway, these are just my thoughts, what about others? Do you find them to be the "Duck's Nuts" for 4WD accessories, or just an outdated and overrated fashion item these days?
11 replies
NAVMANDrives a Mitsubishi Pajero · 15 Sept 2014
HillsForThrills wrote:As the title says, what are your thoughts on Hi-lift jacks? Are they REALLY the must-have weapon of choice for 4WDers, or are they just extra weight and more of a fashion statement for a lot of people?
My personal thoughts are that they aren't actually as good/useful as we're led to believe by magazines, ads, shops etc.
My reasoning behind this is firstly, obviously, they jack up the chassis, not the diffs/axles... Now that's probably handy for a stock suspension vehicle that has minimal flex, but for my GQ with a 7" suspension lift and quite a lot of down travel, the jack would have to be nearly fully extended (even a 68") before the tyre would even look like coming off the ground... I use the factory Nissan bottle jack and a solid block of wood roughly 12"x8"x2" exclusively and haven't encountered a situation yet that the setup couldn't cope with. Yes, if you're chassis deep in mud, the bottle jack will not be very useful at all, but that brings me to my second reason...
Most 4WDs these days have winches... The days of needing to jack and pack are getting fewer and further between... Simply winch out of the boghole or off the rocks/logs and then do what needs to be done. Without a winch, then yes, a Hi-lift would be useful in some cases, even to the point of being used as a hand-winch. In all my years of 4WDing, I've used a Hi-lift once, and that was to get out of a bog. I was stuck at the bottom of a gully, front wheels on top, rear down the bottom. No winch, so I used the hi-lift to pick up the rear driver's corner and simply drove off the jack then, using the jack itself as a pivot.
One benefit of a Hi-lift is the ability to easily break a bead on a tyre. However, again, this is rarely performed as most people will simply put the spare on and have the busted one repaired at a shop. Remote travel of course may require tyre repair, but the Hi-lift is a lot of space and weight just to use as an easy bead-breaker... Lie the tyre on the ground and drive over the sidewall (if there's another vehicle available...), or place the tyre under the vehicle and put the trusty bottle jack on the bead and jack it off that way...
Hi-lifts are also very dangerous if used incorrectly and with inexperience.
But anyway, these are just my thoughts, what about others? Do you find them to be the "Duck's Nuts" for 4WD accessories, or just an outdated and overrated fashion item these days?
This is actually a very good subject. I have one here i got for free as part of a 4wd action subscription and im racking my brain as to when i'd use it. The one and only scenario i can think of is to use it as a hand winch and pull the rear of the car around if i was slipping off a track or unable to trun around. But how rare would that be. Nearly everyone i travel with has a winch so it's no often i have the only winch either. I might eBay mine and make a few $$ out of it while is in great nick
y_b_normalDrives a Holden Rodeo · 17 Sept 2014
I agree with you Dan, I've seen guys roll tyres of the rim, proceed to jack the 4b up with the hi lift, it takes AGES. they nearly tip the thing on it's side cos it's got so much flex, just to get the wheel off. & I've thought a normal jack would have done it so much quicker.
yes a high lift is a poor mans winch, & granted they have a few uses besides that.
But I reckon if you used one your gq would lay on the doors & the wheels would still be on the ground Dan!!!
yes a high lift is a poor mans winch, & granted they have a few uses besides that.
But I reckon if you used one your gq would lay on the doors & the wheels would still be on the ground Dan!!!
HillsForThrillsDrives a Nissan Patrol · 17 Sept 2014
That's it mate, hey... As I said, stock suspension and very little travel is more for what they're suited... as ya say, mine would nearly lie down for a sleep before I got the wheels off 😁 ... And you also made another good point there, that they do take a lot longer to effect the jacking height than a standard bottle/hydraulic jack...
So it looks as though it's 3 against, 0 for, at the moment... Anyone else wanna contribute? Maybe someone out there has had nothing but good experiences with them and can come up with more practical uses than just poor man's winch and expensive bead-breaker (even though the trusty bottle jack can perform that function just as well...) ...
So it looks as though it's 3 against, 0 for, at the moment... Anyone else wanna contribute? Maybe someone out there has had nothing but good experiences with them and can come up with more practical uses than just poor man's winch and expensive bead-breaker (even though the trusty bottle jack can perform that function just as well...) ...
1makDrives a Jeep Wrangler · 19 Sept 2014
Yesterday, we wanted to adjust the handbrake cable thingy on the brake drums. 😉
HillsForThrillsDrives a Nissan Patrol · 19 Sept 2014
Ha ha yep, well that certainly is an effective use... I'll give ya that one 😉
Although, it does still come back to my point about stock/minimal lift suspension... I can just about sit under my truck without jacking anything at all... 😁
Although, it does still come back to my point about stock/minimal lift suspension... I can just about sit under my truck without jacking anything at all... 😁
y_b_normalDrives a Holden Rodeo · 19 Sept 2014
when you sit under the GQ there is certainly some jacking going on.......:-Q
1makDrives a Jeep Wrangler · 19 Sept 2014
We couldn't get the wheels off the ground to take them off and work on the handbrake adjuster pin. So, yeah, put it down again and ask a mate (ARGS) to lend us him trolley jack. So yeah, kinda proved your point here, Dan. Although I have 2 different stories to tell where a hi-lift jack came handy or would have saved us when we didn't have any. 😉
NAVMANDrives a Mitsubishi Pajero · 19 Sept 2014
Well Torsten lets have it as it is relevant and I'm struggling as to why I should even keep mine.
HillsForThrillsDrives a Nissan Patrol · 20 Sept 2014
It certainly does prove my point... And that's sitting on flat concrete, can you imagine out on rough, unstable ground, possibly on an angle and lifting the vehicle that high? I could see the jack toppling fairly easily...
^ yep, let's hear 'em!
Oh... Andy... andy, andy, andy... Why do they let you loose on society...? 😛
^ yep, let's hear 'em!
Oh... Andy... andy, andy, andy... Why do they let you loose on society...? 😛
JA
Jaram10 Oct 2014
What about Exhaust Jacks......I had a guy in Christmas Island asking me about the safety of an exhaust jack in comparison to a high lift jack ....As far as i heard exhaust jacks were fine to use and high lift jacks seemed to have a bit of a reputation for falling over and being unstable......Would an exhaust jack be any more stable ???? Having never used one i wouldnt know and the guy that sells them thinks they are awesome ...Of course .... So is there any unbiased opinions on exhaust jacks about?
HillsForThrillsDrives a Nissan Patrol · 15 Oct 2014
Hmmm that's a good question too mate... Having never used one personally, I can't say for sure... But I have seen them used, and while I believe they would be more stable than a hi-lift (given the larger footprint and vehicle contact area), I would still be a little hesitant using them on sloping ground... I have actually seen footage of vehicles tipped over using them (lifted too high...) and you must remember they are made of flexible material, basically a tough balloon, so as soon as the weight shifts downhill, the jack will collapse on the low side and over the vehicle goes fairly easily... As I said, think about putting a weight on a balloon on flat ground, then tilt it... However, as mentioned, due to the larger footprint and contact area, I believe they would be a more stable option than a hi-lift... Although there is still the problem of it lifting the chassis and NOT the axles... My opinion... Anyone else?