maxingout
Adventurer
Every time I fit out a Land Rover for expeditionary travel, I always have to decide whether or not I will get a Hi Lift Jack for the truck. Usually the answer is yes. Here is why.
I didn't know about Hi Lift Jacks until I got my first Land Rover 110 in Saudi Arabia. Hi Lift Jacks were standard equipment for deep desert travel in the sand. Arabia is an extremely large sand box with lots of big dunes, and bottle jacks under the axle were never that good in soft sand. Since we spent most of our time in the sand, we wanted a jack that would make quick work of changing a tire when the sand was soft. We always carried a plywood square on which we set the base of our Hi Lift to provide a stable jacking platform. We didn't need to use the Hi Lift very often, but when we needed it, it performed like a champ.
Land Rover bumpers have a round hole that makes jacking easy and stable as long as you have the proper adapter to mate the jack to the truck. In the USA this adapter is called GHL4/5A and can be purchased from various vendors over the internet. In Arabia, we went down to the welding souk, and we had someone weld one up from scratch.
The adapter will never slip off the Hi Lift Jack because a large pin and cotter pin securely fixes the adapter on the Hi Lift.
The ARB bulbar for Land Rovers also has a round hole for using the GHL4/5A adapter.
The GHL4/5A adapter is a perfect fit in the ARB bullbar
The adapter fits perfectly in the back bumper of the Land Rover 110.
Without the adapter, I would not use a Hi Lift on my Land Rovers. The adapter creates an extremely large and secure interface between the jack and the vehicle. There is no problem with the vehicle slipping off the jack. If the wheels are chocked and the transmission engaged and locked with the emergency brake, the vehicle will be stable on the jack. The adapter also makes it so that the jack stands off a safe distance from the vehicle decreasing the risk of panel damage to the truck in the event that you do something stupid with the jack.
The Hi Lift Jack is a weapon of mass destruction in the hands of the stupid and inexperienced. If you cannot see and understand how things could possibly go wrong with the improper use of the Hi Lift, you should not own or use one. I have seen people get their chin split wide open by the improperly tended handle of the Hi Lift while jacking. I have also seen vehicles drop down with improper use of the Hi Lift. On one trip in sand dunes of the Empty Quarter of Arabia, a vehicle came off the Hi Lift when work was being done to remove a broken locking rear differential. Fortunately, both rear sand tires had been removed from the vehicle and stacked under the rear of the vehicle to support the weight of the vehicle in the event that there was a problem with the jack. You simply never get under a vehicle supported by a jack without other means of supporting the vehicle in the event the jack fails or the vehicle shifts so that the jack is no longer perpendicular.
Even after seeing things go wrong using the Hi Lift, I still carry one because there are things the Hi Lift can do that nothing else can do or do as easily or as well.
The real decision is not whether to get a Hi Lift, but what size and model to purchase.
If you are going to drive around the world, the decision is a bit easier. You will be in many remote locations where self rescue is the only option, and the greater the capabilities of the jack, the more options you have in extreme situations.
I sailed my boat to New Zealand, and two weeks after arriving there, I rolled the van that I was driving. They had to use the jaws of life to extricate me from the vehicle. Although a Hi Lift is not the same thing as the jaws of life, a Hi Lift Jack in the hands of an expert can do amazing things to extricate people from a vehicle in an emergency. It can also be used to lift a vehicle just enough to pull someone out from under a vehicle whose legs are trapped under the truck.
I would never use a HI Lift to extricate someone from a vehicle or from under a vehicle if there were first responders available. But they are not always available. And in that rare situation when help is not on the way, it is awesome to have a tool that gives you a fighting chance in an emergency. I once came on a rolled light weight Land Rover in the Arabian desert in which one person was killed and the other person had fractures. The vehicle was only five miles off-road, but the ambulance refused to come to take the victims. People passing by in their vehicles actually had to transport the injured to the hospital. Some places in the third world don't operate on USA rules. There are no lawyers chasing ambulances into the Arabian desert.
I regard a Hi Lift as a tool for recovering a vehicle, and on rare occasions as a possible tool that can save a life to extract someone from a vehicle when there are no other options. I hope I never have to use my Hi Lift in a life and death situation, but if the need ever arises, I will at least know what to do, and I will have options.
Because of these considerations, I chose a 60 inch Hi Lift Extreme. I wanted the 60 inch length so that I had the greatest length possible for the most options when the jack is needed. The extra length does not add that much weight, but the additional length could make the difference between success and failure.
I chose the extreme, because it has the Winch-Clamp-Spreader attachment not found on the standard Hi Lift. Although I have a winch on my Land Rover, I can see how in rare circumstances the winching capability could be useful.
The spreading capability particularly interested me because of its ability to spread metal in an emergency. The spreader attachment is the closest thing to the jaws of life that I can carry on my truck. Since I have been in a situation where I needed to be extracted from a vehicle, I want to have the tools available should the need for an extraction arise.
If you visit the Hi Lift web site, you can see all of the capabilities of the Winch-Clamp-Spreader attachment found on the Hi Lift Extreme. The attachment can be used to winch, clamp, or spread up to 5000 pounds.
In the USA, we expect first responders get us out of difficulty when things go wrong. But in the rest of the world, they might not exist, and self rescue is the only option. If push ever comes to shove, it will be nice to have a Hi Lift Extreme along for the trip.
Anyone making a major overland expedition should visit the Hi Lift Jack website and discover the capabilities of the High Lift Extreme before they make their decision about a Hi Lift Jack.
The original Hi Lift is manufactured in the USA using good components, and reliability is not an issue if your take care of your jack. Before you purchase a knock off jack manufactured outside the USA, you should see testing that proves the safety and reliability of the jack. A cheap imitation made with poor quality components could result in damage to your vehicle, serious injury or both.
I didn't know about Hi Lift Jacks until I got my first Land Rover 110 in Saudi Arabia. Hi Lift Jacks were standard equipment for deep desert travel in the sand. Arabia is an extremely large sand box with lots of big dunes, and bottle jacks under the axle were never that good in soft sand. Since we spent most of our time in the sand, we wanted a jack that would make quick work of changing a tire when the sand was soft. We always carried a plywood square on which we set the base of our Hi Lift to provide a stable jacking platform. We didn't need to use the Hi Lift very often, but when we needed it, it performed like a champ.
Land Rover bumpers have a round hole that makes jacking easy and stable as long as you have the proper adapter to mate the jack to the truck. In the USA this adapter is called GHL4/5A and can be purchased from various vendors over the internet. In Arabia, we went down to the welding souk, and we had someone weld one up from scratch.
The adapter will never slip off the Hi Lift Jack because a large pin and cotter pin securely fixes the adapter on the Hi Lift.
The ARB bulbar for Land Rovers also has a round hole for using the GHL4/5A adapter.
The GHL4/5A adapter is a perfect fit in the ARB bullbar
The adapter fits perfectly in the back bumper of the Land Rover 110.
Without the adapter, I would not use a Hi Lift on my Land Rovers. The adapter creates an extremely large and secure interface between the jack and the vehicle. There is no problem with the vehicle slipping off the jack. If the wheels are chocked and the transmission engaged and locked with the emergency brake, the vehicle will be stable on the jack. The adapter also makes it so that the jack stands off a safe distance from the vehicle decreasing the risk of panel damage to the truck in the event that you do something stupid with the jack.
The Hi Lift Jack is a weapon of mass destruction in the hands of the stupid and inexperienced. If you cannot see and understand how things could possibly go wrong with the improper use of the Hi Lift, you should not own or use one. I have seen people get their chin split wide open by the improperly tended handle of the Hi Lift while jacking. I have also seen vehicles drop down with improper use of the Hi Lift. On one trip in sand dunes of the Empty Quarter of Arabia, a vehicle came off the Hi Lift when work was being done to remove a broken locking rear differential. Fortunately, both rear sand tires had been removed from the vehicle and stacked under the rear of the vehicle to support the weight of the vehicle in the event that there was a problem with the jack. You simply never get under a vehicle supported by a jack without other means of supporting the vehicle in the event the jack fails or the vehicle shifts so that the jack is no longer perpendicular.
Even after seeing things go wrong using the Hi Lift, I still carry one because there are things the Hi Lift can do that nothing else can do or do as easily or as well.
The real decision is not whether to get a Hi Lift, but what size and model to purchase.
If you are going to drive around the world, the decision is a bit easier. You will be in many remote locations where self rescue is the only option, and the greater the capabilities of the jack, the more options you have in extreme situations.
I sailed my boat to New Zealand, and two weeks after arriving there, I rolled the van that I was driving. They had to use the jaws of life to extricate me from the vehicle. Although a Hi Lift is not the same thing as the jaws of life, a Hi Lift Jack in the hands of an expert can do amazing things to extricate people from a vehicle in an emergency. It can also be used to lift a vehicle just enough to pull someone out from under a vehicle whose legs are trapped under the truck.
I would never use a HI Lift to extricate someone from a vehicle or from under a vehicle if there were first responders available. But they are not always available. And in that rare situation when help is not on the way, it is awesome to have a tool that gives you a fighting chance in an emergency. I once came on a rolled light weight Land Rover in the Arabian desert in which one person was killed and the other person had fractures. The vehicle was only five miles off-road, but the ambulance refused to come to take the victims. People passing by in their vehicles actually had to transport the injured to the hospital. Some places in the third world don't operate on USA rules. There are no lawyers chasing ambulances into the Arabian desert.
I regard a Hi Lift as a tool for recovering a vehicle, and on rare occasions as a possible tool that can save a life to extract someone from a vehicle when there are no other options. I hope I never have to use my Hi Lift in a life and death situation, but if the need ever arises, I will at least know what to do, and I will have options.
Because of these considerations, I chose a 60 inch Hi Lift Extreme. I wanted the 60 inch length so that I had the greatest length possible for the most options when the jack is needed. The extra length does not add that much weight, but the additional length could make the difference between success and failure.
I chose the extreme, because it has the Winch-Clamp-Spreader attachment not found on the standard Hi Lift. Although I have a winch on my Land Rover, I can see how in rare circumstances the winching capability could be useful.
The spreading capability particularly interested me because of its ability to spread metal in an emergency. The spreader attachment is the closest thing to the jaws of life that I can carry on my truck. Since I have been in a situation where I needed to be extracted from a vehicle, I want to have the tools available should the need for an extraction arise.
If you visit the Hi Lift web site, you can see all of the capabilities of the Winch-Clamp-Spreader attachment found on the Hi Lift Extreme. The attachment can be used to winch, clamp, or spread up to 5000 pounds.
In the USA, we expect first responders get us out of difficulty when things go wrong. But in the rest of the world, they might not exist, and self rescue is the only option. If push ever comes to shove, it will be nice to have a Hi Lift Extreme along for the trip.
Anyone making a major overland expedition should visit the Hi Lift Jack website and discover the capabilities of the High Lift Extreme before they make their decision about a Hi Lift Jack.
The original Hi Lift is manufactured in the USA using good components, and reliability is not an issue if your take care of your jack. Before you purchase a knock off jack manufactured outside the USA, you should see testing that proves the safety and reliability of the jack. A cheap imitation made with poor quality components could result in damage to your vehicle, serious injury or both.
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