Do you really use your Hi-Lift?

For the actual size and weight of these bad boys, has it really saved your butt ever? I have a winch already, but not sure if I want to invest in one of these for lifting my rig to just change a tire.......

Share your thoughts if you care on if it really saved you, or its just a trophy piece on your jeep......

hasta

never used it to change a tire but have used it many times on the trail and in the garage

I have used one twice. both times it was to lift a rig off of a tire with a blown bead.

I much prefer a bottle jack for changing tires, etc but every once in a while they don't work.

I leave mine at home.
Have needed one a couple times in my years of wheeling, but someone else usually has one.
Much lighter to carry a couple extra beers to rent it.

It's useful in the garage from time to time and helpful on the trail both for fixing broken stuff and for getting yourself out of a tough spot. I've been hung up on a rock before and lifted my jeep by one of the sliders, then drove off of it to get off.

Mine holds up the garage wall really well.

I've only used one a few times, but it was nice when I had to change an axle shaft in Moab that more than one showed up. Same with changing tires at WF when the jack slipped in the snow and we needed 2 of them to get the jeep back up in the air.

They're kind of like fire extinguishers. If everyone has one, you won't need them, but if nobody has them someone is getting burnt down.

Many times for all sorts of stuff on the trail. The best use was as a winch. The sol pak in my warn shit and i was in a bad spot and the only one in the group with a winch. Just pulled some cable out and busted by butt winching with the Hi-lift. Save the day.

yeah many times during trail recover. high lift is a key piece, but like a winch, as long as at least 1 person in our group has one we'll be fine.

so I don't carry one lol

a high lift is a useful tool, but more of a "have it and not need it rather than need it and not have it" kind of tool. kind of like the extra set of jumper cables and electrodes i have in my crash box. the handle also makes a great sleeve for a bent tie rod.

i carry two of these... when i bought them they were $30. but they have been invaluable for trail repairs. the flat base really stops them from sinking in the sand/dirt/mud. they also act as my helping hand for driveway alignments.
http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/powerbuiltreg;-3-ton-jack-amp;-jack-stand

I don't use it much, but as the post before this i always carry a jack stand, so that no matter how i jack up the jeep i can set it on that, because the bottle jacks can be sketchy too. I plan on ditching the bottle jack for a aluminum jack asap....

Anyway I have also used the high lift to jack up the jeep and drive off an obstacle and let it hit the ground no worries.....it is really big and makes it tough to open my hatch when its on my tire carrier....

I like the high lift attachment with the hooks that you can put inside the steel wheel, so you can pick that up and put it on a jack stand....

I much prefer the stock jack for removing a tire, however this past trip on the rubicon I broke my leaf spring centering pins and had to borrow a hi lift jack, So now i carry one. I have been jeeping for 15 years and never had much use for one, but I hated having to go hunt one down( i was with a big group) so now I installed it on my tire carrier.. and it is with the jeep all the time.

Sadly, I use mine more at home than on the trail...

It's great for:

Pulling out steel stakes from concrete form boards.
Pulling out fence posts.
Re-stretching a section of chain link fence.
Holding up a section of wall in place, while replacing a header.
Popping a bead on a tire...

Funny I was just thinking about this the other day! I have literally never used one on the trail, nor have I ever seen anyone else use one on the trail. I don't even carry mine anymore but a few of my buddies do.

Changed several tires on the trail (dam red label crawlers don't have super strong sidewalls, nor do radial iroks lol) and always used a bottle jack. Changed a tire for Larry McRae on the trail a few years ago in lake havasu on the poison spyder JK, before the trail leader even dug out his hi lift I had the bottle jack under the jeep and the tire off.

Not to say hi lifts don't have their place, but honestly I've only used mine in the shop and to hold up a few walls and patio covers for work.

The HiLift is like a condom...... It is protection you carry around just in case :gee:

Sounds like I need to get one for the house.

I use mine a few times a year. They can be kinda dangerous so you have to be respectful of their shortcomings.

Use mine in the garage and on the trails. Although more garage then trail use.

I am always afraid i am going to break my teeth out when ever i lower a heavy load....

Hi-Lifts have their uses, but they are inherently unstable. There is a reason why auto manufactures redesigned the good old Bumper Jack, then scrapped the whole idea for a bottle or scissors jack in the 80's.

Jacking up by the bumper causes the vehicle to become unstable. If you have a lifted vehicle with some travel on the suspension, you may not even be able to get a tire off the ground using a Hi-Lift anyway. I keep wood blocks and a Dodge Van bottle jack in the Jeep to change tires.

I have seen people work under them and I cringe knowing that thousands of pounds of vehicle are supported by a single point no larger than a dime, 30" in the air. They have to be constantly supervised to be safe. Even changing a tire on level dry ground can be an accident waiting to happen without a buddy to watch the jack; many motorists over the decades discovered that via the Hi-Lifts cousin, the Bumper Jack.

This is one of those tools that you keep around, and like any other tool, carries a certain risk in the use of it. Use it wisely and it will get you out of a jam, use it wrong and it can kill you dead. Never work under one, and never put any part of your body above the jack.

That said, I carry one. I have lifted myself off obstacles, moved the vehicle off trees (Lift and push routine), unseated tire beads to clean them out, changed a set of tires out of the rims, pulled posts and the handle makes a good ratchet handle extension in a pinch. I should get a couple of the "Old Man" accessories, like a sling for lifting these heavy wheels onto the Jeep