Jacks - HiLift, Etc

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Date: Fri, 16 May 1997 09:22:20 -0400 (EDT)
From: DRM033@aol.com
Subject: Hi-Lift Jacks
To: Toy4x4@tlca.org

In a message dated 97-05-16 04:10:53 EDT, you write:

> My question is are these jacks really capable of (hand winching) a 3500#
>  vehicle out of a bad situation ??? Has any-one been REAL STUCK and use one
>  to recover their self? Wheeling with my girlfriend and 3 year old makes me
>  think maybe my vehicle could use one of these..

I think these are ok, but they do have problems.   If you get too high, they
are VERY unstable.  I don't have one, I carry a scissor jack and 2 bottle
jacks.

David
DRM033@aol.com

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Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 08:57:54 -0700
From: Eric Johnson 
Subject: Hi-Lift Jacks
To: "'Toy4x4@tlca.org'" 

DRM033@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 97-05-16 04:10:53 EDT, you write:
>
> My question is are these jacks really capable of (hand winching) a 3500#
> vehicle out of a bad situation ??? Has any-one been REAL STUCK and use one
> to recover their self? Wheeling with my girlfriend and 3 year old 
> makes me think maybe my vehicle could use one of these..
>
> I think these are ok, but they do have problems.   If you get too high, 
> they are VERY unstable.  I don't have one, I carry a scissor jack and 
> 2 bottle jacks.

They do get unstable, but I've been in several situations where a bottle 
jack or scissor jacks just wouldn't work. I find that hooking the hi-lift 
directly to my steel wheels works awesome, since I get the wheel free 
without having to jack it up very high, and it also works pretty well as a 
winch. In fact, I got stuck bad in thick mud saturday night while Bill 
Morency and I were trying to pull out some idiot in a dodge who was 
ridiculously stuck (I'm sure he's still there...). once I found a 
wide-enough rock to use as a base (otherwise i was just compressing mud as 
I jacked) I was able to lift the wheels high enough to stack rocks beneath. 
Short of having an electric winch, I don't think there's any other way i 
could have gotten out.

and while I'm on the subject, to those of you who love running deep mud: I 
think you're nuts! :)
- --
- -- ej@blarg.net

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Date: Tue, 20 May 1997 10:30:27 +1000
From: Juha Sarimaa 
Subject: Hi-Lift Jacks
To: Jack Alford 

Penny wrote:

>   My question is are these jacks really capable of (hand winching) a 3500#
vehicle out of a bad situation ???

Yes but is hard work and its real slow.  You will also need a lot of chains,
cable and shackles.  A good way to do this is rig more than one jack into the
line.

>  Has anyone been REAL STUCK and use one to recover their self? 

How stuck is REAL STUCK ?  I would rather have a Hi-Lift and some chains than
nothing.  I have used mine on a number of occasions until I had to use it one
day to get up a steap & slippery hill.  My back was sore for a week after
that episode, I bought an electric winch (XD9000) after that.

I still carry the Hi-Lift all the time.  There are situations where a winch
isn't going to help you or is going to do more damage than its worth but the
Hi-lift  will get you out.  If you have ever driven into a decent sized
Wombat hole you'll know what I mean :-)

Juha.
Juhapekka.Sarimaa@health.gov.au
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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Date: Wed, 07 Jan 1998 10:05:57 -0800
From: Scott Wilson 
Subject: hi-lift
To: Toy4x4@tlca.org

Kevin Valentine wrote:
> 
> Could someone please explain to me what a hi-lift jack is used for?

It's uses are limitless (well...almost).  All depends on how imaginative
your are.   I think it's most common use would be to lift trucks that
are high centered, or really caught up on something.  Then you can
reposition the truck, or place something under its wheels while/before
setting it down.   I think it's second most popular use is as a
come-a-long....the poor man's winch.  (I'm a poor man).   For awhile we
were using mine as a aluminum can crusher at my house.  :-)

Scott
- -- 
     _____
    /_/_|_\__       Scott Wilson TLCA #5261  CA4WDC #13393
    | _     _ :     88 4Runner SR5 V6
    */_\---/_\'     Santa Clara, CA
     (_)   (_)      http://www.off-road.com/~swilson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Date: Wed, 7 Jan 1998 08:06:43 -1000 (HST)
From: Eric Johnson 
Subject: hi-lift
To: Toy4x4@tlca.org

On Wed, 7 Jan 1998, Kevin Valentine wrote:

> Could someone please explain to me what a hi-lift jack is used for?

Jacking up your truck
Lifting your truck off an obstacle
winching (tie chains to each side and crank it)
moving your truck out of a rut (jack it up, and push it over)
straightening body parts, bumpers, etc.
clamping
bury it to use as a winch anchor
very handy when high-centered - jack up the truck, shove rocks/logs under
the wheels, drive out.

I'm sure I'm missing about a million uses, but the above are the main 
ones I use. Once you have one you'll wonder how you ever wheeled 
without it.

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Date: Wed, 07 Jan 98 16:48:14 -0600
From: bwiencek@kcnet.com
Subject: What basic accesories are needed to use a HiLift as a winch ??
To: Toy4x4@tlca.org

On Wed, 7 Jan 1998, Specilizd  wrote:
>I do not yet have one of those expensive battery burners we call a winch.

Neither do I - haven't needed more than a tow strap yet - if you travel 
with friends like I do!

>However I do have a HiLift jack.   The question is what are the basic
>accesories needed to use it as a winch.  
>
>Here's a start:
>1. Tree saver
>2.?

2. Tow strap for hooking to the truck that's stuck (if the chain won't 
   fit)
3. Length of hardened steel chain and clevis with at least a 10,000 lb 
 + load rating - the hi-lift pin is designed to break (stop lifting) 
 at 7000 lb.
4. an old carpet scrap - to put on the chain during winching or to lay 
 on to fix what 'ya broke ;-)  A heavy coat or other cloth will do.
5. leather gloves & safety goggles (yeah, I hardly wear mine too, but 
 it's probably a good safety idea)
6. Something to bury in the sand or dirt if you don't have a tree or 
 another truck to anchor to. (pull-pal's also work but cost $$$, and 
 this is supposed to be the cheap way to do it...)

That should get you going  Did I miss anything??

- - Brian

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Date: Wed, 7 Jan 1998 12:59:08 -1000 (HST)
From: Eric Johnson 
Subject: What basic accesories are needed to use a HiLift as a winch ??
To: Toy4x4@tlca.org

Use as much chain as possible and as little tow strap as possible, 
because tow straps stretch, and since a 48" hilift only has 37" of 
travel, sometimes all you can do is crank out the stretch in the 
strap. This can be reduced by doubling up the strap and keeping it short. Using a hilift
as a winch >works< buts its >slow< and tedious. I also carry a comealong
which while not as strong as a hilift, can do longer pulls without
resetting.

I've also picked up a length of no-stretch kevlar 3/8" rope, but 
I haven't successfully used it because kevlar can't really be tied 
into a knot and I've not come up with a strong way of splicing an 
eye into it. 

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Date: Wed, 7 Jan 1998 17:57:07 -0800
From: "Roger Brown P.E." 
Subject: What basic accesories are needed to use a HiLift as a winch ??
To: Specilizd@aol.com

2. A good chain or cable to hook to your anchor.  You need something that
won't stretch, since you have such a short pull distance with the jack.  
Stretchy tow straps won't work, you'll most likely use up your full jack 
taking the stretch out of one.

3. Possibly a shackle to bolt to the top of the jack to hook on to with 
the above.  My jack has a bracket bolted on top that your probably work 
in a pinch.  You can also re-position that bracket 90 degrees (to make 
an L) which might be useful in certain applications.

4. Possibly another short chain/cable to hook the jack to the vehicle.

Then with the top of the jack hooked to an anchor and the part that moves
hooked to the vehicle, you make pull the vehicle towards the anchor until
you run out of jack, then disconnect, reset, and start again.

- -- 
    Roger Brown, P.E.        mailto:rogerb@sgi.com
    +1.650.933.1898 (vmail)  +1.650.932.1898 (fax)
    http://reality.sgi.com/rogerb/
    Check out the SGI EuroDev Forum: http://www-devprg.sgi.de/Forum98/

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Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 02:31:33 -0500
From: "penny" 
Subject: What basic accesories are needed to use a HiLift as a winch ??
To: 

"HI-LIFT LAND ANCHOR" If you ever find yourself "stuck" you may want to 
try this!

materials; 
4 foot piece of rebar with one end pointed, 
3# sledgehammer, 
strong piece of chain, 
(tarp optional)
Hi-lift jack

First, drive the rebar into the ground at an angle away from the stuck
truck/4 runner with the sledgehammer, leaving about 1 foot of it above 
ground.

Second,attach the jack to the rebar by placing the top hole in the jack
over the rebar.(tarp is handy here to lay hi-lift jack on)

Third, hook one end of the chain to the "lifting" part of your hi-lift,
then the other end to a recovery point on your truck. Try to get as much
"slack" out of the chain as possible.

Finally,using the hi-lift you can manually winch yourself out...this method
will generally move the vehicle almost 4 feet, sometimes thats all you need
to get underway again...if not lower jack and do it again,etc.

A 1" I.D. piece of p.v.c. with two end caps will make a nice carrying case
for your "land anchor". And use tie wraps to mount the land anchor to the 
back of my bench seat on the metal grid looking deal.

I use two hose clamps (the type you can tighten by hand) to secure my
hi-lift behind the seat against the back of the cab, in the place of the
factory jack handle. all I had to do was bend the 2 tabs down a little so 
the jack sits there while I'm mounting it.

Jimmy 82Toy4x4 L.B.
purnrgy@quancon.com
http://www.geocities.com/baja/6397/

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