Hi-lift jack points on bumper

[jeep_boss]

Please keep this on topic, I don't care what anyone else thinks about Hi-Lifts, I am just looking for advice as described below.

Although I haven't ever used these points on my front bumper, they look like they were cut out as a jack point. Supposing that I was in a situation where I actually needed to lift one of the front corners, what do y'all think about using one of those as a jack point? (My bumper appears to be 5/32" steel FWIW)

 

[UPJOHN]

Reminds of how I jacked up cars when I was young.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

I wouldn't lift from there, not to mention I can't even recommend the use of a Hi-Lift. They're not needed or recommended for changing tires and so seldom the right tool for the job that I stopped carrying mine in 2003. Haven't needed one or even seen one used on the trail since. Most who use them do so when unnecessary or when something else would be a better or safer choice. Hi-Lifts are popular purchases for new wheelers but only because they haven't yet learned they're not what they're cracked up to be by some.

 

[jeep_boss]

I wouldn't lift from there, not to mention I can't even recommend the use of a Hi-Lift. They're not needed or recommended for changing tires and so seldom the right tool for the job that I stopped carrying mine in 2003. Haven't needed one or even seen one used on the trail since. Most who use them do so when unnecessary or when something else would be a better or safer choice. Hi-Lifts are popular purchases for new wheelers but only because they haven't yet learned they're not what they're cracked up to be by some.

Yeah, I know your standpoint on Hi-Lifts, Jerry and you had already thrown that boilerplate "new wheeler" insult at me once before.

 

[UPJOHN]

I've been stuck to the frame in mud where a hi-lift or bumper jack was the only thing that would lift enough to get logs under the tires.
If a person uses a little common sense and is carful, they can work.

 

[jeep_boss]

I've been stuck to the frame in mud where a hi-lift or bumper jack was the only thing that would lift enough to get logs under the tires.
If a person uses a little common sense and is carful, they can work.

They can be very handy here in the PNW too, in the mud and snow especially. I haven't had to use it yet on my Jeep, but I have had to use it a half dozen times on a friend's XJ.

It can be dangerous, sure - it is a good tool to have and serves more than one practical purpose. Not everyone lives in a rocky desert with 50 people to bail them out.

 

[toximus]

For the guys who recommend them, 1) Do you have a winch that works? 2) do you wheel with at least 1 other vehicle?

We get some muck and mud around here and I have never had an issue doing a recovery without a hilift as long as I have a buddy (and his jeep) and a winch of each. But we also tend to think out recovery before entering.

 

[Thunderhead]

Just use your hi lift. Practice. Put it there and see if it works. Put it different places and see how it reacts. I have used one to pull a F 350 out of a snow bank with a cable and it was sketchy as hell but worked. It’s not about what you got it’s about how you use it. USE IT

 

[Drizit]

I'd say those spots are perfect for it, they will help retain the jack better than going to a flat surface. Only thing is with the hard edge of the cut out it will definitely trash the powder coat.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.

 

[jeep_boss]

For the guys who recommend them, 1) Do you have a winch that works? 2) do you wheel with at least 1 other vehicle?

We get some muck and mud around here and I have never had an issue doing a recovery without a hilift as long as I have a buddy (and his jeep) and a winch of each. But we also tend to think out recovery before entering.

The only time that I do not wheel solo, is when I am out at a spot near North Bend. I know an older Jeeper with an XJ that has a gate key to a cool NF road. I also have a winch, but most of the trees on my trails are young Alders that uproot easily in very saturated ground. I'll risk using a Hi-Lift before I'd take the risk of bringing a tree down on my Jeep.

 

[toximus]

The only time that I do not wheel solo, is when I am out at a spot near North Bend. I know an older Jeeper with an XJ that has a gate key to a cool NF road. I also have a winch, but most of the trees on my trails are young Alders that uproot easily in very saturated ground. I'll risk using a Hi-Lift before I'd take the risk of bringing a tree down on my Jeep.

Have you considered using a tree strap around multiple, lower on the trees, or using a ground anchor?

I'm open to seeing the benefits of a hilift but I just haven't as of yet.

 

[xxdabroxx]

Looks like a good spot to me so long as it isn't too far back in there to the hook into them.

 

[alittleoff]

^^ That and the shackle bracket and hoop design, might not be too good of a bite for the jack. You got a pic of a jack inserted in it?

 

[Jerry Bransford]

The only time that I do not wheel solo, is when I am out at a spot near North Bend. I know an older Jeeper with an XJ that has a gate key to a cool NF road. I also have a winch, but most of the trees on my trails are young Alders that uproot easily in very saturated ground. I'll risk using a Hi-Lift before I'd take the risk of bringing a tree down on my Jeep.

I know you hate pretty much everything I say but all that plus age-old basic advice is to simply not wheel alone. Too much can happen when you're alone in a remote area. With another Jeep you can winch to each other, use pull straps, spot for each other, go for parts, go for help, etc.

You mentioned earlier to me that you don't have the luxury of 50 other Jeeps being with you. First, I seldom have that many either but just one other Jeep would be a wise policy. I don't know about you but one of the soundest recommendations I was told when I first started going offroad was to never wheel alone. Just one friend in another Jeep when you're out in the boondocks can and often will save the day.

 

[jeep_boss]

I know you hate pretty much everything I say but all that plus age-old basic advice is to simply not wheel alone. Too much can happen when you're alone in a remote area. With another Jeep you can winch to each other, use pull straps, spot for each other, go for parts, go for help, etc.

You mentioned earlier to me that you don't have the luxury of 50 other Jeeps being with you. First, I seldom have that many either but just one other Jeep would be a wise policy. I don't know about you but one of the soundest recommendations I was told when I first started going offroad was to never wheel alone. Just one friend in another Jeep when you're out in the boondocks can and often will save the day.

You're assuming that I am off-roading for the sake if off-roading. I have been a mountaineer for as long as there have been mountains. The entire reason that I own a Jeep is to get me out to spots that 33" tires weren't getting me to.

My motivation for getting out there that far is solitude. I drove 3h15m on way yesterday to an area of the Cascades, because that is what it takes out here to get away from civilization and people. The places where my 33" tires would get me to are now overrun with young, dipshit tech yuppies.

I do not get stuck anywhere I go, but I can only take the risks that I feel my Jeep is up to. The issue that I have with you @Jerry Bransford in this case is that you are talking out of your ass, assuming many things and copying and pasting your boilerplate stance on Hi-Lift jacks that aren't needed in your neck of the desert. You wheel for recreation and have different motivations than me, do realize that not everyone is you. I don't want to hear solutions looking for problems when my Hi-Lift already solves specific problems.

I'll ask you again to not hijack my threads.

 

[Jorge Bolivar]

Insert the jack into the cut out to see how much bite in.
I do assist a fella on the high way that its tire lugs fail on him using the shackle and the shackle point. I will suggest that also try that point.

I do pay $145.00 for my Hi-Lift jack Extreme edition and carry the same on the LJ driver side plus I'm planning to get the bag with the attachments. Did I have ever need it or use it for me? No. Did I ever use it to help others, Yes, many times.

I do heard every ones point and advise but the Hi-Lift jack will remain on the LJ and its routine maintenance will be performed monthly. I do understand the pro and cons and the related danger of its use but Is part of my trail emergency kit same as extra U-Joints and axle shaft.

 

[jeep_boss]

Have you considered using a tree strap around multiple, lower on the trees, or using a ground anchor?

I'm open to seeing the benefits of a hilift but I just haven't as of yet.

There aren't always trees or anchor points around. Again, the topic of this thread was the points on my bumper, not alternatives to a Hi-Lift.

 

[Drizit]

Given the design of the bumper and its lack of any other horizontal surface on the bottom I'd say they are a nice design feature for exactly that use. Personally I tend to lift from the rocker though as it gives me more height than the bumper due to the angle the jeep ends up on. It depends on the direction you want sabilitoin though. If you go to the side of the jeep you end up with more stability side to side as the handle hits the body and doesn't move any more. However front to back it's easy to knock the jack over. I suspect this is the best positecor changing a tire as you are more likely to push the jeep to the side.

I've even used a hilift under the trailer hitch to move a jeep sideways by lifting it off the ground and the tipping the jack over to the side. Endless uses.

Just be super careful around them, I treat my hi lift like a table saw. It's incredibly useful to have but I have a healthy fear of what it can do to me every time I use it. I have a friend who's been wheeling for more years than I'm sure he'd care to admit, who got complacant just once. He busted a rig gear and while lifting the jeep to start pulling things appart the jack handle got away from him while his face was over it. It hit him hard enough to knock him out and give him a concussion. If I remember correctly it also fractured his orbital bone. Luckily he was with friends who got him to the hospital and got his jeep off the trail, but had he been alone, well who knows. I'm not saying don't do it, you are a gown ass man and know the risk, that decision is up to you to make. I'm just make sure you know more of the dangers of that particular bit of kit.
—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.

 

[05 Blue Unlimited]

Do you know the mfg'er of the bumper so you can call them and get there advice. It does look like the two holes are there for jack points.

 

[jeep_boss]

Do you know the mfg'er of the bumper so you can call them and get there advice. It does look like the two holes are there for jack points.

It's custom of unknown origin. I like how you think though!