Why do some people not carry Hi-Lift jacks?

Hi-Lift Jack Use Alert:

This past weekend at a post-wildfire trail restoration volunteer work project at the Chappie-Shasta OHV Park in Northern California I observed several Hi-Lift jacks actually being used on the trail - to pry out guard rails, wooden barriers and signposts burned or otherwise damaged in the Carr Fire.

No one needed a Hi-Lift to recover a vehicle or change a tire, but the jacks were invaluable trail tools nonetheless. One person commented that it was the first time his jack had been used and he was glad it was for a worthy purpose.

Bottom line: Carry a Hi-Lift jack or don't. There are valid reasons for either decision and which you choose is nobody's business but your own.
 
Last edited:
Agreed but I think intellectual and mature conversation goes beyond a basic Q&A session.

We should all be able to have an adult conversation as friends involved in the same hobby. As a person of your own you should be sure footed in your beliefs, but willing to listen and weigh the pros/cons of another's point of view without getting upset over it. I think if you are made to feel stupid over the internet by a total stranger you might have some more personal self confidence issues to work on, it's not the objective of most people in intellectual conversation.

I don't think I have seen anyone take a "gee why don't you have that" stance in a long time. There is a product that fits almost everyone's budget these days. Example: You can buy a winch for under $200.00.

Everyone operates under their own budget, and someone always has something bigger and better.

But I am not debating budget or feelings here, just touching on the want for more exchanged conversation rather than a mod list.

I am always willing to accept criticism that makes me smarter, my gear better, or my methodology more sound. It is how we push each other to be better at what we do.

At the end of the day I leave a conversation a bit smarter for absorbing the point of view that someone else has to give. This may or may not change the way I do things or what I equip myself with.

Too often people stick to there guns without diving into the logistics of it, it's great to breach that barrier and make good conversation out of it. It's great to actually be engaged in rich conversation rather than making a single isolated post, followed by the next, and the next...

Good talk sir.
I Agree....see we keep agreeing. But you keep saying "you" like its me that was made to feel stupid. It wasn't "ME". I have no problem with adult conversations with someone that is involved it the same hobby. But I also don't think its right to say that someone might have some more personal self confidence issues to work on if he happen to get upset about something.
So anyway.....good adult conversation here as on all the other threads. :)
 
I Agree....see we keep agreeing. But you keep saying "you" like its me that was made to feel stupid. It wasn't "ME". I have no problem with adult conversations with someone that is involved it the same hobby. But I also don't think its right to say that someone might have some more personal self confidence issues to work on if he happen to get upset about something.
So anyway.....good adult conversation here as on all the other threads. :)

"You" is not directed at you specifically, it has been used in context as a generalization; perhaps a poor use of the word?

I don't want to derail this thread anymore or start splitting hairs over dialect.

I think we are clear on where we stand haha.
 
This is an interesting attachment that I've had several occasions to use.
blm-lm-100_w.jpg
blm-lm-100_jy.jpg

Sometimes it's the easiest way to get a tire out of a hole. Jack the tire up, shovel sand or dirt into the hole and away you go. (Stack rocks or whatever. )
 
This is an interesting attachment that I've had several occasions to use.
View attachment 59863 View attachment 59864
Sometimes it's the easiest way to get a tire out of a hole. Jack the tire up, shovel sand or dirt into the hole and away you go. (Stack rocks or whatever. )

That accessory is great (have one myself) and adds some real capability for not a lot of money. It allows you to grab from the lowest point (keeping things more stable), you aren't fighting the suspension droop, and works on most vehicles where a solid jacking point isn't available.

As far as speed/laziness/safety factor though (at least in the great northern forests) I think a tug from another jeep with a kinetic rope is the easiest/fastest method, followed by a winch, followed by a jack and dig/pile stuff under the tire.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: DrDmoney and StG58
That accessory is great (have one myself) and adds some real capability for not a lot of money. It allows you to grab from the lowest point (keeping things more stable), you aren't fighting the suspension droop, and works on most vehicles where a solid jacking point isn't available.

As far as speed/laziness/safety factor though (at least in the great northern forests) I think a tug from another jeep with a kinetic rope is the easiest/fastest method, followed by a winch, followed by a jack and dig/pile stuff under the tire.
You're right, of course. A kinetic rope and another rig is the easiest and fastest way to go. Followed by the other methods you mentioned.

I'm "that guy" though. I'm rarely out in the woods with anyone else, and when I am it's my TJ that ends up being the recovery vehicle. When the can I vs. should I decision turns out poorly, that little device comes in handy as a quick fix. Lol, if I'm not on the forum for awhile, it's probably because I'm stuck on the side of a mountain up in the Coast Range sweating while getting my Jeep out of an avoidable pickle and lamenting a poor life choice.
 
You're right, of course. A kinetic rope and another rig is the easiest and fastest way to go. Followed by the other methods you mentioned.

I'm "that guy" though. I'm rarely out in the woods with anyone else, and when I am it's my TJ that ends up being the recovery vehicle. When the can I vs. should I decision turns out poorly, that little device comes in handy as a quick fix. Lol, if I'm not on the forum for awhile, it's probably because I'm stuck on the side of a mountain up in the Coast Range sweating while getting my Jeep out of an avoidable pickle and lamenting a poor life choice.

That guy! Nice to meet you finally.

The last time I used a hi-lift to recover a vehicle was solo with my buddies dodge ram 2500 5.9 Cummins on 44s stuck in the mud with no front driveshaft.

He had a hi-lift knock off from tractor supply or some other place (not really sure where but it wasn't a hi-lift brand). That thing was the definition of SKETCHY!! With the weight of that dodge on it, the I beam of that jack actually bowed an unnerving amount (more than I thought one could without snapping)! It was a real potential recipe for what I like to call a bad time.

We played the pile everything we could find in the vicinity under the tire game for hours. Each time we got him going he would move a few feet and get stuck again. The sun was going down and we grew real tired of playing that game; those rocks and logs get heavy after a while. He had an undersized budget winch that he had burned up on a single line pull like a jack ass weeks prior to this mess.

We had a yank strap but everyone we knew to call that was close enough wouldn't be heavy enough to yank him out or be able to get back to where we were without getting stuck.

We eventually gave up on hi-lifting and had a buddy come up with a small excavator to pull him out (luckily we were close enough to him and a road where it was actually feasible).

If he had a functional winch it would have been a 10 minute event, not hours and hours. Had we kept up our efforts for some more hours the hi-lift would have eventually gotten us out, there is credit to be given for that.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Squatch and StG58
This is an interesting attachment that I've had several occasions to use.
View attachment 59863 View attachment 59864
Sometimes it's the easiest way to get a tire out of a hole. Jack the tire up, shovel sand or dirt into the hole and away you go. (Stack rocks or whatever. )
One of the big advantages of this accessory is that it has a pin that connects it to the jack so it can't slip off. Combined with the hooks you get a pretty secure connection.
 
  • Like
Reactions: StG58
FWIW, I have also had a hi-lift since I started Jeeping. (at first because I couldn't afford a winch, and now because they are just useful).

It doesn't bother me if others don't carry them, or if someone has one as a "fashion accessory". I do what I like and expect others will do the same. It doesn't matter if someone buys a Jeep to be a rock-crawler or mall-crawler or anything in between. The more people that buy Jeeps means it's that much more likely that FCJ will invest the money to keep making them.
 
I have one but it sits in my shed, I don't carry a spare (yet) anyway.

I can see why people carry them around these parts though, lots of mud means it would be impossible to get a jack under the jeep (with out a lot of digging but I don't carry a shovel either :) )
 
I have one but it sits in my shed, I don't carry a spare (yet) anyway.

I can see why people carry them around these parts though, lots of mud means it would be impossible to get a jack under the jeep (with out a lot of digging but I don't carry a shovel either :) )
Sounds like you need a few things to go with your shiny hi lift ;)


There must have been a time
when we could have said no.
 
I have one but it sits in my shed, I don't carry a spare (yet) anyway.

I can see why people carry them around these parts though, lots of mud means it would be impossible to get a jack under the jeep (with out a lot of digging but I don't carry a shovel either :) )

I would avoid using a hi-lift to change a tire or anything that involved me being under/near under the vehicle when supported by one.

I would also avoid changing a tire/working in the mud at almost all costs. The hi-lift tire change exception being if I lifted the rig with the hi-lift and set it down on a jack stand/something suitable on an appropriate surface.

I don't care how jacked up it is (obligatory corny joke), id be getting that rig onto solid sure footed land before working on it.
 
Last edited:
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Equilibrium31
Yah I would love to have that arb jack, but not for that money.


There must have been a time
when we could have said no.
 
LOL! 800$!? For a you pump it jack!? It could at least be automatic rapid lifting for that price.

Its cool but not many average joes will be purchasing that one...

Sure, just put it in the back next to your $900 ARB refrigerator.....

Hmm, let's see. What would be more useful, an $800 hydraulic jack, or a $650 Warn 8,000lb winch?

I'm always amazed by the prices ARB gets for their stuff.
 
Sure, just put it in the back next to your $900 ARB refrigerator.....

Hmm, let's see. What would be more useful, an $800 hydraulic jack, or a $650 Warn 8,000lb winch?

I'm always amazed by the prices ARB gets for their stuff.
Everyone's fridge is a similar price FYI if you look at a compressor style vs thermoelectric. But yah, that jack is a bit nuts, although I suspect the cost to produce it are indeed quite high, lots of high tolerance machined parts.


There must have been a time
when we could have said no.
 
Everyone's fridge is a similar price FYI if you look at a compressor style vs thermoelectric.

Agreed. I was just picking on ARB because it was the same brand as the jack. :)

I believe ARB makes fine, high-quality products and probably worth the money if your life depends that kind of stuff. For my own limited needs a $40 hi-lift jack and $65 Coleman eXtreme cooler meet the need. (I'm not poor, just cheap).
 
If y’all cannot tell the guy in the video is using a improperly working hi lift jack. You don’t need to use one. He was having to force the locking pins in place, as the springs were not working them. Using one hand and he got what he deserved.
 
  • Like
Reactions: xxdabroxx