Hey everyone - I just finished mounting my Hi-Lift on my TJ hood. The installation was clean and I didn't run into any issues. The mount seems solid.
I had a few questions - I am still on the fence about leaving it on my hood all the time.
1. Has anyone had any issues with the weight on of the jack on the hood causing the hood to bend or warp? This is my main concern.
2. How concerned should I be about rain damaging the jack itself over time? Obviously after years of rain it would rust out, just wasn't sure if anyone had any input here.
Leaving a Hi-Lift jack out 24x7 will cause the mechanism to bind up. You should take it down once a month, put a drop of light oil on the pins and work it up and down if you're going to leave it out.
Two reasons not to have it on your hood
1. No reason to have a high lift in the first place. They are unsafe to use and the factory jack will lift a Jeep on 35's and do it much more safely. Why lift the body to get the suspension off the ground?
2. If in an accident, I wouldn't want a 30 pound steel bar 3' in front of me.
Pardon me for being direct, but I just saw the whole rear end of a toyota pick up come crashing down (fortunately just after 3 guys got out from underneath it) on the trail 2 weeks ago. The rear end was being supported by 3 high lift jacks...the front tires were on the truck and firmly planted on the ground. I absolutely have no love for high lifts.
I left it on for one day and have actually decided to take it off and return the mount. I am just too concerned about the weight of the jack on the hood damaging or bending the hood over time.
Although it may not be necessary I bought the jack a year ago so can't return it now. I'll just remount it in the back between the roll bars - believe it or not, had a group of guys that did need it a few months back while we were out.
I have an almost brand new one that I bought 5 or 6 years ago that has been sitting in my shop since the first time I took it out. I figured I would hang on to it to pull fence post out of the ground.
I had a hood-mounted Hi-Lift on my TJ for just under two years. I got a lot of compliments on the look, but it rarely fulfilled any kind of functional necessity.
Leaving it out in the rain will cause problems. The coating on mine began flaking off. Using a cover for the jack isn't helpful, either; you'll get a lot of crap caught in there and that's not good for the mechanism.
I liked the look and it was nice to have, but I eventually got tired of it being there.
I don't carry a hi-lift jack because I never wheel alone and everyone else already has one. I guarantee you that if I'm ever in a situation where I do need a hi-lift, 8 of them will magically appear.
Had a hi-lift on my tire carrier for a couple years. Every time i went to use it, the thing was seized up. Also almost had a Jeep fall on me after trying to use one. Eventually took it off and gave it to a friend to scrap it.
The stock bottle jack is plenty for changing a 35" tire if you ever needed to change a tire.
A Hi-Lift is an invaluable tool for anyone who ventures into the mud. I've got to have one myself because I've noticed that noone else in my one-vehicle caravan has one.
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