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mermoto



Member Since: 21 Sep 2011
Location: Essex
Posts: 326

Jacking up maximum height using Hi-Lift type jack?
Ok boys and girls, using two hi lifts With Defender adaptors in both holes, how high can you safely raise the end of the vehicle and support it on axle stands?

Mermoto
Post #92175 30th Sep 2011 11:54pm
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LandRoverAnorak



Member Since: 17 Jul 2011
Location: Surrey
Posts: 11240

United Kingdom 2013 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 USW Orkney Grey
Safety in this scenario is very much a relative term Shocked , but in theory all the way to the top of the jack. Be damn careful though. Darren

110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Post #92176 30th Sep 2011 11:58pm
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MrFlips



Member Since: 27 May 2009
Location: Cardiff
Posts: 682

Wales 2008 Defender 90 Puma 2.4 PU Santorini Black
As a nosey neighbour, seeing you walking towards your car with two high-lifts would make me rub my hands together with glee thinking this is going to be a bloodbath!

Do you have massive suspension travel, or do you just want the axles really high up? Peter
2008 SWB Truck Cab
1952 80" Soft top
Post #92179 1st Oct 2011 12:06am
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Eduardo



Member Since: 28 Aug 2008
Location: RegiĆ³n Metropolitana
Posts: 2109

Chile 2007 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 SW Stornoway Grey
Mermoto

I will not do that for a long time. In my case one of the holes in the rear members fails 2 times changing a flat tire, leaving the car very unstable. So I bougth a bottle jack instead. Eduardo

MY 2007 110 SW PUMA 2.4: Big Fog of 64'
MY 1994 Jayco 1207 Folding camper: "El Tremendo"

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Post #92180 1st Oct 2011 12:08am
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leeds



Member Since: 28 Dec 2009
Location: West Yorkshire
Posts: 8578

United Kingdom 
Hi lift jacks and safety?

Using two high lift jacks and axle stands suggest that you intend working at home.

For home use a 3 tonne trolley jack with high rise, decent size saddle and a good footprint.

Otherwise a good bottle jack.

High lift jacks are at bottom of list for working on vehicles. If you must use them learn how to use them 'safely'. Learn how to restrict suspension movemnt. Makes life a lot safer

Brendan
Post #92186 1st Oct 2011 12:42am
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BigMike



Member Since: 13 Jul 2010
Location: Lancashire
Posts: 2253

United Kingdom 
I agree with Brendan but say that hi lifts shouldnt be used at all, ever, for working on vehicles. thats not what they are designed for.

so at home, trolley jack then axle stands. leave trolley jack in place but sloly release the weight to the axle stands and use the trolley jack as a safety device.
Post #92191 1st Oct 2011 8:17am
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leeds



Member Since: 28 Dec 2009
Location: West Yorkshire
Posts: 8578

United Kingdom 
By design, high lift jacks are inherently unstable!

A 2-3 tonne vehicle lifted at one end on to the top of a 4 or 5 ft rack which has a base with a tiny footprint of say 4 x 6 inches with no side supports? That is a recipe for instability. Small movement at top of rack takes load outside of base footprint. Result.......???? Give the rack a 'hinge' as the connection between rack and base and inbuilt. Stability is out of the proverbial window!

This instability gives the high lift jack the ability to 'cast' out of ruts.

IMO the high lift jack is a much over rated bit of kit.


Brendan
Post #92199 1st Oct 2011 9:38am
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Green Machine



Member Since: 19 Nov 2010
Location: North Yorkshire
Posts: 1226

United Kingdom 2005 Defender 90 Td5 CSW Tonga Green
BigMike wrote:
I agree with Brendan but say that hi lifts shouldnt be used at all, ever, for working on vehicles. thats not what they are designed for.

so at home, trolley jack then axle stands. leave trolley jack in place but sloly release the weight to the axle stands and use the trolley jack as a safety device.


I've never lifted a vehicle onto axle stands, but always thought that this is the way you would do it - with a trolley jack. I have always wondered though where you would locate the jack and the stands? Presumably you really want them both in the same place, which is obviously impossible. Also, what is the correct technique for lifting the whole front, or rear, axle onto stands? Do you need to use 2 trolley jacks? Once one side of the axle is on an axle stand, it doesn't seem too safe to then lift the other, allowing it to hinge on the stand already in place?

As you can tell - I have no knowledge of this and it is something I've wondered about in the past. 2005 Td5 | 90 Station Wagon | Tonga Green
Post #92211 1st Oct 2011 10:36am
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Bobble



Member Since: 21 Aug 2011
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 223

United Kingdom 
Two trolley jacks is the way forward for a two-wheel lift.
Failing that, just about the safest way is to lift either end of the axle (by whatever means) just enough to raise the axle stand to its next stop/latch/pin hole or whatever, lower the weight on to that, then raise the other end of the axle likewise, so it goes up in the smallest stages possible keeping the axle as horizontal as possible through out.
I have no issue with a Hi-Lift by the way, and can't see what all the fuss is about. The jacks aren't dangerous - people are. If mermoto wants to lift his car that way, who are we to say he doesn't know what he's doing?
Post #92220 1st Oct 2011 12:37pm
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paulnb57



Member Since: 18 May 2011
Location: Isle of Wight UK
Posts: 38

Dont do it - it will end in tears! Hi lifts are incredibly unstabe and 2 side by side - oo noooooo!
Use a trolley jack and go up a bit on each side and support on an axle stands...........

Paul
Post #92221 1st Oct 2011 12:40pm
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Happyoldgit



Member Since: 14 Sep 2007
Location: Norfolk
Posts: 3471

United Kingdom 2015 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 USW Corris Grey
Re: Jacking up maximum height using Hi-Lift type jack?
mermoto wrote:
Ok boys and girls, using two hi lifts With Defender adaptors in both holes, how high can you safely raise the end of the vehicle and support it on axle stands?

Mermoto


Scary Shocked Steve.
Owned numerous Land Rover vehicles of all shapes and sizes over the decades.
Current Defender: A non tarts hand-bagged Puma 110 XS USW.

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Post #92407 3rd Oct 2011 2:07pm
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Bobble



Member Since: 21 Aug 2011
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 223

United Kingdom 
Yer know, the more I think about it the less dangerous this scenario seems.
The general assumption appears to be that the vehicle would be lifted as high as possible on the Hi-Lift(s), then have the axle stands inserted.
If it were raised incrementally, raising the stands to support the axle as it went, I can't really see a problem since the Hi-Lift would only be lifting the vehicle an inch or so at a time.
I can't see a need for it as such, but at the same time it doesn't strike me as the route to a early grave that everyone seems to think it is.
Post #92409 3rd Oct 2011 2:15pm
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landy andy



Member Since: 15 Feb 2009
Location: Ware, Herts
Posts: 5438

2006 Defender 110 Td5 USW Zermatt Silver
They would have to lift it a certain height before being able to get axle stand under there.

They will have to go under the vehicle many many times to keep adjusting the stands.

When a vehicle falls off a high lift jack it goes sideways, not just down, so little chance of landing on the stands, if it goes wrong.

If I was raising vehicle with pair of high lifts, I would like one person on each, and operate them together. I would go from the ground to the required height in one movement, so as only need to go under the vehicle once, and if it does fall off the jacks, I don't end up with an axle stand stuffed through my floor, or fuel tank.

But would much prefer a trolley jack

Oh and make sure diff locks, and in gear,

Andy
Post #92410 3rd Oct 2011 2:36pm
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mermoto



Member Since: 21 Sep 2011
Location: Essex
Posts: 326

Bobble wrote:
Yer know, the more I think about it the less dangerous this scenario seems.
The general assumption appears to be that the vehicle would be lifted as high as possible on the Hi-Lift(s), then have the axle stands inserted.
If it were raised incrementally, raising the stands to support the axle as it went, I can't really see a problem since the Hi-Lift would only be lifting the vehicle an inch or so at a time.
I can't see a need for it as such, but at the same time it doesn't strike me as the route to a early grave that everyone seems to think it is.


Bobble seems to have the idea I was getting at. Two jacks in place using the adaptor, chock the wheels at the other end and jack it up a few clicks at a time each side. Move the axle stands up as you go.

I am suprised that no one has come up with a jack system that uitilises both holes simultaneously with some sort of box section joining the two and a central jacking point for a heavy duty jack.


Click image to enlarge


Mermoto
Post #92411 3rd Oct 2011 2:37pm
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markb110



Member Since: 22 May 2010
Location: Guildford
Posts: 2537

England 2002 Defender 90 Td5 HT Epsom Green
Hi Mermoto

I believe that Hi Lift did have a divice in the past that allowed a stable base and two feet to sit under a squared bumper.

A single Hi Lift was then used centrally to move the unit and hence the front of the car upwards. From looking on the web i can't seem to find it. You picture is a similar idea but using a trolly jack

The main issue that you have is that you are in effect jacking up the chassis/ body long before the wheel will leave the ground. Based on the length of your shocks it can be frightening. On my last 110 (lifted / longer shocks) i could get the wing up to my shoulder before the wheel would lift off the ground - let alone any higher to use an axle stand or god forbid get underneath it.

If you tried this on the back the opposite spring (again my last 110) the opposite spring would not compress enough and hence the back end would skip to one side as the jack fell over.

Magazines dont help as i have seen numerous pictures over the years where the owner has left the jack handle in the horizontal position and not verticle.

As the others have rightly said these can be dangerous if used incorrectly. There is no reason at all to put yourself in a dangerous position - we need you in one peice on this forum Thumbs Up

Buy yourself a good trolly jack - its coming up to Christmas so worth checking Halfords as they may have some deals coming up. My 3 tonne jack came from Sealys years ago when they had a summer reduction.

In the car a keep a bottle jack if i need to change a tyre, the Hi-Lift only goes in for green lane trips and has only been used for moving large branches and burnt out cars out of the way.

Good luck with your chosen method

Rember hindsight is something you learn after the event Very Happy

Mark
Post #92416 3rd Oct 2011 3:59pm
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