How often Do You Use your Hi Lift Jack?

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NMC_EXP

NMC_EXP

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My FJ60 has a Warn 8274 and I have a Hi Lift jack which can be mounted on the ARB bumper. No rock crawling for me, I avoid mud as much as possible and generally stick to milder trails.

I tend to take more stuff than I need and the extra weight really affects the 60. I've been trying to pare down the gear I haul around and the Hi Lift is on the hit list.

For you guys that carry one, how often do you actually need it?

Thanks

Jim
 
Sounds like you don't need one. There's always someone who has one. Just carry a can of spray lube, so when you get the crusty hi-lift off a friends truck, the lube will make it work.

Hi-lifts are so rarely the best solution, that 1 per group is enough.
 
Many thanks!

I've used a hi lift for various things around home but cannot conjure many situations that could not be handled by the OEM jack plus the 6 ton bottle jack I carry.
 
I used it to lift my truck when I popped a bead on a tire. But that is the only time I've ever used one off of a farm.
 
I only carry it when I'm going on longer trips with minimal support. I've only used it 3-4 times ever.
Carrying the good bottle jack, and even something to put under it is good.
 
When traveling alone in remote places where there's mud or sand, bring a highlift with a big jack pad and a lift-mate if it will fit your wheel.
Without a Lift-Mate, in my experience, the HiLift is of limited use. Without a big jack pad, might as well leave the HiLift at home.
 
As I recall, the Lift Mate is the device that attaches to the wheel. Is that used when stuck in mud or sand so you can pack rocks or brush under the tire?
 
^^^Yes

I have used mine only a few times over many decades. But when I did have need for a Hi-Lift, I'm glad I had it!
 
The last time I used and carried a Hi-Lift


bent hilift.webp
 
I don't want to use it, I don't plan to use it, but I will take it with me for sure going solo and I will use it for sure if I need it. One more very useful tool to get me out in an emergency.
 
While over the years I've used the hi-lift a bunch of times, the only time it feels safe is with the lift mate. A couple of times, though, it did save the day. But just a couple.

My most frequent use is to level the truck for sleeping inside. It's awesome for that. I also hang a Coleman lantern on it. It's unbeatable for that.
 
One can improvise a lift mate function with a strap. Also did that for front ARB bumper.
I will say that it does makes me nervous when used as is on the sliders but I will build an adapter for that, should be easy with some tubing and a welder.
 
e9999 said:
One can improvise a lift mate function with a strap. Also did that for front ARB bumper.
Click to expand...

Eric-what are you talking about? A lift mate, lifts the wheel. How do you improve that with a strap?

I use it to lift the wheel, then stuff something under the axle. Works great.

Anytime you're lifting the whole truck, it gets way too high and unstable before the wheel comes off the ground. You can improve that with a strap on the axle, but the Lift Mate is easier.
 
I had decided not to haul the thing around. Now having second thoughts and considering a liftmate and a front shackle adapter.
 
Looking at lastresorts pic there. Plastic bumpers, no where to lift with it anyways. Better served with a bottle jack.
I think part of the thing is, everyone sees one bolted to the outside of every truck rolling down the road so they figure
got to have one. If the vehicle doesn't have any appropriate points of contact in order for jack to work, then don't take one.
If you have fabbed bumpers, sliders and are going into trouble areas they are worth every pound to carry. I don't like them,
they are dangerous the higher you go, but they do a specific job very well.
They allow you to lift without going under the vehicle, which can be handy.
 
so far I've only used my compact 1-1/2ton floor jack and 2x4's and the winch. The hi lift is there if needed but so far just a roofrack decoration
 
Used mine last year to extricate all the Kodiak's long steel tent stakes from Nevada hardpan :D
 
cruiserpilot said:
Looking at lastresorts pic there. Plastic bumpers, no where to lift with it anyways. Better served with a bottle jack.
I think part of the thing is, everyone sees one bolted to the outside of every truck rolling down the road so they figure
got to have one. If the vehicle doesn't have any appropriate points of contact in order for jack to work, then don't take one.
If you have fabbed bumpers, sliders and are going into trouble areas they are worth every pound to carry. I don't like them,
they are dangerous the higher you go, but they do a specific job very well.
They allow you to lift without going under the vehicle, which can be handy.
Click to expand...

Im going to have to disagree. Truck might be stock, but that doesn't eliminate the jacks usefulness. I do have the base plate and wheel lift attachment. It might not be as fast or as efficient as other modes of recovery, but you make do with what you have and knowledge..Knowledge and the ability to think things through will prevail each and every time in undesirable situations.
I usually head out as a solo rig and have gotten stuck a few times in my 80 and the Tacoma I had prior..Not once have I had to enlist anyones help for recovery.

As for jack storage, It stays in the garage until I'm packing up the truck to roll out and it gets tied down with the rest of the gear in the cargo area.
 
Last edited:
A highlift is a really heavy fashion accessory that will do lots of things very very very poorly, and a few (like pulling tent stakes) well. The only ting it does consistently well is lower your gas mileage.

In the first 20 years I owned one, I used it 3-4 times. Only once on a vehicle. But I have used the handle about a hundred. I eventually took the handle off the jack and left the rest of it at home. The handle is so useful it almost made the jack worth carrying.

In 31 years of off-roading, farm and construction work, and remote travel, the one time I used the jack on a vehicle was someone else's jack on someone else's truck, stuck in the mud in Tanzania. It, like all high-lift jacks bolted to the outside of a vehicle, was inoperable. We eventually fixed the jack and pushed about a pint of blood and a cord of wood down into the deep Serengeti mud before another truck came along and gave us a tow. If we had something to use as a base plate, it might have worked. Given more time and wood, it probably would have worked, but it was getting dark and, well, lions . . .

There are a few golden moments where they might be useful, but if you have a winch and a bottle jack, then you could wheel every day for a hundred years and not see that golden moment. Mostly they are good for breaking things and learning new cuss words.
 
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