Hi-Lift Knock off? $32..

[DiscoPilot]

Alright and gals can anyone vouch for this jack? I am going to go compare this against a Hi-Lift. At first glance it looks like a steal!

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...44&R=200310544

[keptin]

ive seen knock offs....I just say stay away.. The only knock off I would touch with a 10-ft pole woudl be the Jackall.....even then. Despite the possibility that poor metals and fabrication was used in its formation, there are also other factors such as its paint coating.

I bought my 48" Iron-Steel (black painted) Hi-lift for $50 at my local 4x4 shop.

[DiscoPilot]

That was my thought but i figured hey why not check it out while i'm getting some other crap at northern, wanted to see if anyone knew anything about this on in particular.

$50 is a good price northern wants $62, they match and beat anyones pricing have a link for a cheaper one?

[keptin]

Here is where I bought it at....they had some local special so I grabbed one....though, I still cant use it because I dont have any jack points.


http://www.4wheelparts.com/4wp/produ...ories&man=HILI

48" HILift Casting and Steel Jack
H/LHL484 $57.99

[01001010]

Man I Love Northern! Being in ther makes me want to own a Fleet of Trucks!

[DiscoTex]

Originally Posted by keptin

ive seen knock offs....I just say stay away.. The only knock off I would touch with a 10-ft pole woudl be the Jackall.....even then. Despite the possibility that poor metals and fabrication was used in its formation, there are also other factors such as its paint coating.

Have you ever seen one break though? Because I've never seen or heard of one breaking, so

[Roverhound]

You can get the 48" HiLift at Tractor supply for about $45.
Lots of straps and shackle there also without the bling pricing.

[Badger1]

Originally Posted by Roverhound

You can get the 48" HiLift at Tractor supply for about $45.
Lots of straps and shackle there also without the bling pricing.

That's where I got mine.

DiscoPilot, where are you located? Check around to see if one is nearby, as they also have some beefy towstraps, Warn winches, and Warn D-shackles also!

[keptin]

Originally Posted by DiscoTex

Have you ever seen one break though? Because I've never seen or heard of one breaking, so

They dont necessarily have to "break", what would be most likely is that the paint comes off and they rust....they are cast iron, so once the coating comes off the jack will be gone shortly. Point is, I wouldnt go for knock offs.....you are using a Hi-Jack when you need it most, I wouldnt go cheap in the area of recovery/emergency equiptment.

[DiscoTex]

Originally Posted by keptin

They dont necessarily have to "break", what would be most likely is that the paint comes off and they rust....they are cast iron, so once the coating comes off the jack will be gone shortly. Point is, I wouldnt go for knock offs.....you are using a Hi-Jack when you need it most, I wouldnt go cheap in the area of recovery/emergency equiptment.

But that's usually surface rust. Usually, as long as they are properly lubed and the pins and bolts are not rusted, they're not going to fail on you. There's a reason why you'll see people with 50 year old hi-lifts that are still at work.

I dunno, like I said, I have yet to see a hi-lift (or the knock offs) failing. About the only parts that ever fail are the obvious ones: the pins or bolts, and I've only heard of that happening.

btw, sorta off topic (well, not really), here's the instruction manual from Hi-lift. Just thought I'd add it to the thread cuz it's still good info, and I had no idea hi-lift had a manual and much less on-line. It has tips on how to lift, winch, etc, straight from hi-lift themselves. It's pretty sweet. Check it out.

[keptin]

Originally Posted by DiscoTex

But that's usually surface rust. Usually, as long as they are properly lubed and the pins and bolts are not rusted, they're not going to fail on you. There's a reason why you'll see people with 50 year old hi-lifts that are still at work.

I dunno, like I said, I have yet to see a hi-lift (or the knock offs) failing. About the only parts that ever fail are the obvious ones: the pins or bolts, and I've only heard of that happening.

btw, sorta off topic (well, not really), here's the instruction manual from Hi-lift. Just thought I'd add it to the thread cuz it's still good info, and I had no idea hi-lift had a manual and much less on-line. It has tips on how to lift, winch, etc, straight from hi-lift themselves. It's pretty sweet. Check it out.

The Hi-lifts are 50 years old because they are Hi-lifts.......I also havnt heared of any similar jacks breaking, but I dont want to be the one that finds out....again, I more doubt its paint/coating to be high quality. Either way, I wouldnt go cheap for the $20-30 saved.....just wouldnt. It wouldnt be worth having to keep repainting a knock off....again, the only think I would trust besides a Hi-lift is a JackAll.....thats about it......if you can find it at tractor supplies, buy it....that a really good deal.

[roverX]

Cool, thanks! I downloaded the pdf for the HiLift.

[John C]

Just an FYI, I recently had to send a customer the "nose" section fro a hi-lift because he managed to break his, I don't have all the details yet but I was very surprised to hear that he broke it.

[texasrover]

Walked into a sears with a 1/2 breaker bar that we spun the swivle out of the seat. The man at the counter took one look at the tool... one look at us and said, "I dont want to know, go get you another".

We abused the hell out of it!!! Trying to pop the lugs off a fork lift at the shop, we wanked, pulled, jumped on, pushed, even stuck a 6 foot steel pipe on it for leverage. Well the lugs did not come off but the swivel on the bar did. Not sure if I should have kept it for show and tell...

I guess the moral of the story is those lugs were reverse thread!

The other moral of the story... if you take care of your shit and dont abuse it, chances are it will last just fine. As for that torin... looks, feels pretty solid. As for the paint coming off, keep your eye on it and if it comes off hit it with some rustoleum left over from all the touch up job we have to do with our rover vs. rust.

That jack is solid... is it as good as Hi-Lift... maybe not. But for the price, it will last long enough to pay for itself more than once.