All –

Finally got a chance to wax lyrical with our rep at Hi-Lift and the splendid Lift-Mate we played with and/or cut hands with at Barnwell.

According to Hi-Lift the purpose of the Lift-Mate is three fold:

1. Allow you to lift your tire and get boards/rocks/ underneath in the event of traction loss (which we assumed was it’s purpose)
2. Allow lifting in the event a vehicle has a plastic OEM bumper that would not support the weight of a vehicle on a high-lift. In this case, you would lift the tire with the Lift-Mate to a height where you could then put a jack stand under the vehicle. This makes some sense, as the OEM Nissan bumpers would not hold if we tried to Hi-Lift off them.
3. Allow for ‘lower’ lifting. In other words, say your truck is stuck in a rut, and you need to dig it out/lift it up to get planks under the wheels. A Hi-Lift jack works well on flat land, but the Lift-Mate gives you that extra six inches of ‘lower lifting’.

I did tell them, among other things, we thought a wing nut would be nice in lieu of the nylon thread nut. I also mentioned the fact the Lift-Mate did not work on out stock 15-inch rims (as the side wall brace was too high/low). Hi-Lift did say that only Jeepers have tried the tool so far, and they have made changes based on their comments. We were the first Nissan people to give it a whirl, and Hi-Lift did say they realize they will have to tailor the Lift-Mate for specific brands, and ‘they will incorporate our ideas into any Nissan specific product they make.’

There was mention of allowing us to test more new stuff as it comes out.

Oh, Kraig, no free jack. I tried. They said be careful next time.

s

If you can only safely lift 2" with it, how you gonna get a jack stand under it?

Don't #1 and #3 sound kinda the same?

Hi Lifts are scary bastages!

I want to get an electric hydro bottle jack for my truck.

#1 you could be on a flat surface like our camping area when it is really muddy and somehow loose traction. #3 would be like spinning wheels on Twister.

Generally speaking, yes #1 and #3 have the same purpose: get the wheel up to get something under it for traction. #3 they were just trying to illustrate you can go lower than a Hi-Lift will allow.

yeah - the problem is that, if you don't keep the pins well lubricated, which the owner of the jack hadn't , and they both stick in the OUT position, which they did, then the jack can just collapse while under load.... which it did... causing a hell of a scare and, very luckily, only minor damage to Kraig's hand.

I vote we have a 'Learn To Use a Hi-Lift' day for EVERYONE. Watching is one thing, hands-on experience another...

s

That is a good idea. I have one, but it is not in the best shape, so I don't even bring it. I need to rebuild it I guess. I have been using these jacks for years. They are a great tool, but they can mame and kill you if you do not use them properly. They aren't called widow-makers for nothing.

I second Scott's suggestion.
We could do it at Mod Day,or at the Fish Fry.

hands-on huh? No pun intended, right? Hi-Lift sucks... I want my free jack... tell them to atleast send me a new first aid kit!

I got a hi-lift recently and then cornered a guy at work that was familiar with "farm jacks".

Time well spent. I didn't learn a whole lot, but I gained some piece of mind just knowing that I was using the tool correctly.

EDIT: oops... sorry guys. If I paid closer attention, I would have noticed that this was the SWXC forum. Apologies...