High lift Jack

Excellent! thanks for the link Nigel.

Graeme

Do not leave the jack under load with the handle away from the clipped upright position, if you press the lever down to descend and you have a limb or your head in the way, the handle will whip up and strike - it hurts lots!!!!!

Alistair

We have a Jackall with an adaptor that goes on the toe to fit the original jacking points on our 90. Assume you need one for a Hi-Lift too? We also have jackallble sills from Rebel 4x4 so you can jack along the side. For the base I use a square of plywood laminated to the thickness of about

2". For storage in the back of the 90 I cut about 3" off the end and have it clamped along the floor under the rear banch seat. Richard

ONLY get a hi-lift a close second by a gnats, is the Jackall. The rest, especially those non-named 'farm jacks' are likely to bend and potentially kill you...

Yes you do... The one that (should have) came with it.

Pro: they look the business, can be used as log splitters and as an impromptu winch with a chain. Good at times for de-rutting (lift the entire front of the vehicle a few feet in the air, then push from the side...

Con: Think about this carefully. You jack from some part of the chassis or body - there's suspension, you have to raise a hi-lift VERY high before you get the wheel off the ground enough to change it. At that height the vehicle is somewhat unstable.

Better to get a good bottle jack, make a big base for it. You get this under the axle, lift it a mere couple of inches, change the wheel.

If you do go for a nice Hi-Lift, the best and only advice you should take is to READ THE INSTRUCTIONS - if you don't understand them, READ THEM AGAIN until you do - and keep it very, very well lubed (I use spray grease twice a year).

If you're anywhere near Sheffield, I have a 4' hi-lift, complete with a Terrain Master jacking adapter, and Terrain Master spare wheel mount (designed for a Discovery) up for grabs at 75 quid the lot. Unlike my

5' hi-lift, hasn't been used but has been maintained. My 5' has been used lots and lots, but only once to change a wheel - then I got a good bottle jack :-)

I would like to echo mothers comments re hi-lift jacks. They are wonderfuly versitile (sp) implements in trained hands and extremely dangerous in untrained hands. Get one by all means but please learn how to use one properly before risking lives with one. For wheel changing i would recomend a good 3 to 5 tonne trolly jack or a simular rated bottle jack.

I find there's only one rule with Hi-lift jacks.

NEVER trust them. Never go underneath a vehicle supported by one, never rely on one for lifting, never stand near one used as a spreader etc etc etc.

Alex

Most seem to agree that the hi lift type is not a safe way of jacking a vehicle because they are not stable. It's this coupled with the way the land rover handbrake works that makes the dangerous combination. I think it's important to engage difflock and put vehicle in a low gear but don't rely on the hi lift alone. They really come into their own for jacking a bogged down or stuck vehicle clear of obstacles.

AJH

I agree. You can change a wheel with one but I hate doing it - had to do it twice now.

I much prefer using the trolly jack.

Mine is a standard ht 90 with slightly bigger than standard wheels - when on the end of a Hi-Lift the articulaion seems imense and you feel as though you are lifting forever. If you have a 2" lift that will only compund the issues.

if you do get one and you have to change a wheel, try to find a kerb to rest the un-jacked side of the vehicle agains so that it cant slide away from you. That said when you doo need it chances are you'll be in a field and no kerbs about!

Jon

On or around Mon, 08 Aug 2005 09:00:02 +0200, AJH enlightened us thusly:

'tis a fact that they're not really intended for "normal" jacking, I don't think - the whole design is never going to be stable, in any case.

There's an obvious temptation, though, if the hi-lift is to hand, to grab that and use it for wheel changing.

You shouldn't, of course, ever go under a vehicle without a fixed support (wheels, a block or an axle stand).

Well Gents, and Ladies if there are any here, Thank you all very much for the advice. The only jacking i intend to do in this vehicle is to change a wheel in the event of a flat, so a good quality bottle jack it is then. Once again thanks.

Graeme

The 90/110 jack adapter is available for the HiLift as well.

I've used my HiLift for wheel changing on a 90 more times than I can remember. I don't carry any other jack. It's also been used for breaking the bead on tube type tyres, to mend a punctured inner tube.

I also have the jackable sills, and have found that jacking up one side, while completely chocking(sp?) the wheels on the opposite side, is a lot more secure and confidence inspiring than jacking up a front or back corner and chocking the opposite corner wheel.

BUT heed the following:

If jacking up a side with the HiLift on a road, or concrete, or other hard surface, use a pad of something grippy under the HiLift base to prevent the steel base from slipping away from the vehicle. I have a pad of tough rubber for this purpose.

Incidentally Richard; how come you had to cut 3" off your HiLift? I have mine mounted in the same place as yours, and it fitted OK!

Neil

(Reply via NG please)