One piece of equipment that is, in my opinion, invaluable is the “high-lift” jack. There are various makes including “high-lift,” “jackal,” “farm jack” and “black rat” but they all do much the same thing; although some have a higher safe working load than others. This is important to take into consideration if you are driving a heavy 100 series Land Cruiser,
The good thing about a high-lift jack is not just it’s capability of lifting the vehicle high off the ground, but that it can also be used as a winch for splitting logs or for clamping together timber and other material. In other words, it can do more than one task and this can save valuable loading space in your vehicle when planning to go on long safari.
Capable, but dangerous if operated incorrectly! I have heard horror stories of eyes, teeth and digits being lost and operators knocked unconscious because of a “misunderstanding” of how much force is on the jack handle as it is being released.
Safety is key, as with all recovery equipment. When lifting your vehicle off the ground, you are making it unstable, so generally the jack should only be used in this configuration for recovery when stuck in ruts or soft ground where you need to put some material under the wheels to clear the diff casing / leaf springs. Unless you have the correct jacking points on the vehicle that can safely accept the jack, it should not be used to change a flat tyre. For instance, you can buy an adaptor to fit the jack so that it
goes into the jacking point on the Land Rover. With other models such as Toyotas you may be looking at having a new bumper / bull bar fitted that has the jacking points incorporated. These have a T section cut in them that are designed to take a high-lift. Don’t rely solely on a bit of angle iron welded to the chassis. This might be good enough to help lift the vehicle but it does not make it stable enough to change a wheel. When using the jack on soft ground it is advisable to use a base to spread the weight. You can buy the expensive neoprene ones or you can go and get yourself a good chunk of hardwood If you are a first time user then I would suggest that you learn how to use it correctly before you get stuck. Do some dry runs to familiarise yourself with how it works in a safe environment. This will enable you to get a feel of the tension on the handle as the jack is being released. For use as a hand winch you will need to buy a few extras to go along with it. You can buy complete kits, which cover all the bases and are well worth the investment as the contents can also be used for other things as well. Depending on what size jack you buy, either 4 or 5 foot will depend on the amount of pull you get on the first try. Generally, in my experience, two 3ft pulls backward will
generally get you out. Again, do some dry runs with the equipment first and don’t forget to use the gloves supplied in the kit. Think safely first! If you have a topic you would like to see covered in this section, please email us at The Eye:
lena.theeye@yahoo.co.uk