Lift options since a high lift is now out (1 Viewer)

[rhah]

Discovered during my alignment today I have no way to lift this rig anymore

My normal high lift jack method went out the window being as the frame is now at 3ft tall. Let alone how much spring flex is there

Had to do some cribbing and use a bottle jack. Which works, but on the trail not really wanting that, because the world isn’t flat.

anyone use the exhaust air bags? Work under just the axle?

Off road floor jacks?

 

[OSS]

Hi Lift has an accessory called the Lift Mate that looks like it will fit your wheels perfectly.

Trying to lift any vehicle by the body is a loser with a Hi Lift Jack by itself. The Lift Mate is king.

 

[John McVicker]

https://safejacks.com/g

Check out Safe jacks. Expensive but absolutely 1st rate, get the job done and are VERY safe. They have 3 jacks that you can consider, The Private, The Sargent and the General.

I’ve carried my Hi Lifts for decades on my 40 & 60...and will continue to do so...but I think they suck balls when you have to use them.

 

[Gretsch]

I’ve carried my Hi Lifts for decades on my 40 & 60...and will continue to do so...but I think they suck balls when you have to use them

Man glad someone said it. I thought it was just me.

 

[Dumpolina]

Just sell it to me I’ll solve all your problems

 

[batthewmrown]

HOLY **** THAT THING IS A MONSTER

 

[Rockymtnreaper]

Maybe look into hummer or military scissor jacks. I know companies that resale them but I used one from Agile Offroad and it was pretty rad.

 

[MoaByte]

Holyhell that would be scary off-camber on slickrock. Do you have a scaffold for engine maintenance?

 

[cheeese]

I don't understand what the Lift-Mate is for, if you can't use it to change a wheel nor can you use it like a normal hi-lift to provide a weight adjustment and drive off. Just to lift the truck for access to underbody components?

 

[OSS]

The Lift Mate allows you to easily lift the wheel out of a pit it dug itself into so you can fill the hole with rocks/wood so the tire has a firm surface to rest on. It's very effective when getting stuck in mud at low tide that wasn't quite as firm as you thought it was: Lift each tire up to fill the hole you dug and build a firmer track to back out the way you came in.
Without a Lift Mate I would have lost my cruiser for good down in Mexico. Priceless as far as I'm concerned.
Also it makes jacking up a flat tire wheel a lot easier than trying to use the dinky bottle jack under the car in the dirt or mud when the axle is too close to the ground.

I'd use it to lift the wheel off the ground then slide the bottle jack under the spring pad to use as a stand - then remove the hi-lift w lift mate to get at the wheel to remove it.

 

[2mbb]

At least with my 15 inch wheels the lift mate would not work on the rear. The brake drums prevented its hooks from grabbing onto the wheel.

 

[rhah]

Hi Lift has an accessory called the Lift Mate that looks like it will fit your wheels perfectly.

Trying to lift any vehicle by the body is a loser with a Hi Lift Jack by itself. The Lift Mate is king.

View attachment 2611013

Not opposed, just back loads of cribbing to brace the axle and then a jack move to take the wheel off

will see how the drum spacing issue looks, I wouldn’t have thought of that @2mbb brought up.

 

[rhah]

https://safejacks.com/g

Check out Safe jacks. Expensive but absolutely 1st rate, get the job done and are VERY safe. They have 3 jacks that you can consider, The Private, The Sargent and the General.

I’ve carried my Hi Lifts for decades on my 40 & 60...and will continue to do so...but I think they suck balls when you have to use them.

https://safejacks.com/g

Check out Safe jacks. Expensive but absolutely 1st rate, get the job done and are VERY safe. They have 3 jacks that you can consider, The Private, The Sargent and the General.

I’ve carried my Hi Lifts for decades on my 40 & 60...and will continue to do so...but I think they suck balls when you have to use them.

don’t worry John the first thing I busted out was my high lift and ended up using it in conjunction with the alignment rack to get the tire off the ground, no I didn’t take pictures It was sketchy enough, just get in and out hahaha

The more I look those bottle jacks the more I’m liking, the sergeant seems to be the one if I’m going that route. Just sucks bottle jacks only lift 6 inches

 

[rhah]

Just sell it to me I’ll solve all your problems

Maybe this time next year, I’m still torn on the idea

 

[rhah]

Holyhell that would be scary off-camber on slickrock. Do you have a scaffold for engine maintenance?

I just carry a 6ft ladder around now, or crawl clean in the engine bay, there no leaning over to work on things

have not gotten to slick rock yet but the back woods trails are ok, she’s fairly well planted surprisingly, but each wheel and tire combo comes in at 185lbs

 

[rhah]

I don't understand what the Lift-Mate is for, if you can't use it to change a wheel nor can you use it like a normal hi-lift to provide a weight adjustment and drive off. Just to lift the truck for access to underbody components?

Kinda why I was looking into those exhaust air bag systems and was hoping someone has used

 

[g-man]

You can cut some cribbing into a wedge like this:

...make them about the same length as your other pieces. Then you can use the wedges to level up as you build on uneven ground.

Also when I was in the FD we used "step cribbing" to quickly stabilize vehicles. I could see you building step cribbing slightly higher than your frame and shoving it under the frame after you lift. Then lower the jack until the frame is resting on the step cribbing. Now your ready to fix broken stuff under the truck, change out a wheel or whatever. More stable than bottle jack on cribbing.

 

[poptart]

They make tall 60" hi-lift jacks, I'd probably just go that route. Short of carrying around cribbing I don't think you're going to find a reasonable answer.

Edit: Just read the spring flex comment. Not sure if this will get you the range you need, but still probably worth looking into.

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[pawnthatdude]

Do you take a running start to get in that thing?

 

[boots4]

For trail work. Any plans sliders or bumper work? Not that you necessarily need sliders for protection but done right they are a good lifting point and you could build in specific lifting points if desired. You could also weld on some attachments points to the frame and axle and fix a strong strap between them so the spring won't droop out. I carry both a high lift and a bottle jack with a selection of blocks depending on what the issue is on the trail. As you mentioned having a good base surface to lift from adds safety to sketchy situations. At least in our 60's there is decent room in the back to carry a couple extra things.