Hi-Lift Jack question

[steelcityslicker]

I apologize in advance for once again starting another thread!!!!

Due to my recent S/L and B/L I realized that I have nothing to lift my truck further to change a tire. So, which jack is the best for me a 48" or 60"? And where the heck is a safe spot(s) on my truck to use it? I don't have aftermarket bumpers or sliders. Any thoughts?

[Jayman]

Without sliders, there really isn't anywhere that you could lift the truck using a hi-lift.

The only solution is either getting sliders, or getting a lift-mate, which is designed to be used with the Hi-lift when you have no lift points on the vehicle in question.

http://www.hi-lift.com/accessories/lift-mate.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Of course, the problem is if you are lifting the truck to change a tire, how do you get the tire off, when you are using it to get the truck off the ground. Once the truck is in the air, you then have to figure out how to keep it there so you can change the tire. You'd need some form of jack (tree, rock etc?) to lower the truck down onto.

As for length, I have a 60" Hi-lift Extreme, and have never come anywhere CLOSE to getting it maxed out. Most people use the 48" without any problems at all.

I have actualy considered cutting mine down to a more reasonable length, but I'm still not sure If I want to do that or not.

[lookzcustoms]

get a bottle jack and a lot of wood

i have a s/l and b/l on the truck and when i'm at home i always use a bottle jack to lift the truck

put it under the center of the rear axle use a 2x4 in between the jack and axle, in the front do it the centre bracket between the control arms
always use safety stands

http://www.princessauto.com/shop-garage ... ottle+jack

[Scotto]

As Jayman said, the hi-lift is pretty useless on our trucks without sliders and other stuff. There's no where to hook it in.

BUT, to truly answer your question on which hi-lift to get, figuring you're wanting to know and one day you'll have sliders:

A 48" hi-lift will do you fine, and it will fit in your truck. The 60" is too wide to fit, unless you mount it outside, where it gums up and becomes close to impossible to use, unless you're one of those guys who remembers to lube it up every time you look at it. But - again a "but" - the 60" is quite often on sale because of its stupid length and you can pick it up for the same cost or less sometimes as a 48". So why would you buy it? Because you can cut it down to about 52", it will still fit in your truck, and you'd be surprised about how that extra little bit of steel on the arm is handy - remembering that you can't actually use the 48" on a 48" lift.

And besides, custom anything is where it's at. I have a 51" Hi-lift, with cool add-on for round slider (see thread in Problems and Fixes "Hi-Lift adapter.)


Scott

[steelcityslicker]

Thanks for the replies, you guys are awesome. Looks like it'll have to be a bottle jack for now until I get sliders then it's custom Hi-Lift baby!