Thread: Hi-Lift jack vs exhaust jack vs hand winch

Thank you everyone for your replies! All of your opinions have been considered

So with 4 votes the winner is the hand winch, with 2 votes each going for the Hi-Lift jack, exhaust jack and Maxtrax. However after reading some of these replies I am leaning towards the Hi-Lift jack as it has a variety of uses (as opposed to the exhaust jack) and I can use it to winch the truck if I really needed to (albeit not as well as a hand winch). I also have a suitable bull bar for it and will soon have suitable rear bar-work for it too. I like the Maxtrax and agree that they would be very useful, but they are very expensive for what are essentially a couple pieces of plastic. I might just make my own up.

If I do go for the Hi-Lift jack would I be correct in saying that the best model to go for would be the tall one (156.9cm overall height, 126.4cm lift height at the nose) as opposed to the short one (128.9cm overall height, 98.1cm lift height at the nose) as it would be better for winching? (The size of the jack is not a limiting factor in terms of storage on the truck as i will be making a mount for it the roof rack).

Thank you all again!

Edward

yep, the tall ones the more usefull of the two.

however... if you are planning on have you considered

1. its heavy ask yourself it you really want to lift it up and down after a couple of recoveries.

2. it'll be muddy and messy if you get a little rain most of this will wash down onto your roof and gutters and typically over into the tops of the doors down the windows and this is worse if you've been regularly oiling it.

3. if you put the highlift, support plates, and other gear up there you can wind up going over the rated weight for the rack, the recommended weight for the top of a rover INCLUDES the weight of the rack work itself.

I myself am a big fan of making up a mount for it that sits onto the rear cross member or putting it down behind the front bar work hell even on top of the front barwork. If you do the rear cross member setup right you can also unmount the jack and then use the base plate for the highlift as a step so you can see up onto the rackwork on top.

Some good points there Blknight.aus, thanks!

Yeah i know putting it on the roof rack may be a pain, but i'm a little stuck for areas to put it considering that the back of my 110 is already taken up with a tow bar that sits out from the crossmember, ladder, jerry can holder and lights (semi-truck style) which sit about 12cm out from the body. I also don't really want to put it on the bull bar as i don't want to furthur reduce air flow into the radiator.

I will think about places to put it a bit more though.

Cheers!

Edward

the hand winch and the maxtrack won't lift the car.
most situations need to lift it to change a tyre or other suspension problem.
exhaust jack takes up too much space in the car, and is useless if the engine ain't running.
hand winch, isn't going to be used that often, is a bugger to use and costs heaps.
buy the high lift, it is the cheapest, most useful piece of equipment you can have, it jacks the car from six inches to about two feet, can be used for winching, yep it is slow, but when winching, usually all the hurry to get somewhere is gone, it's cheap, it lasts- not made of rubber or something else that deteriorates and might be rooted when you need it [exhaust jack]
and you can sell it on ebay when you have no use for it after ten years of not needing it for what you paid for it.

look up philco on here, he sells highlifts, might be cheaper for you, depending on where you are.

In order of preference:

1. Hi-Lift
2. Hand Winch
3. Air jack

M

Look at my latest Fraser Trip report and tell me if you think an exhaust jack is any use.....