Warren de Jager: A high-lift or farm jack, on it's own is not much good. Like most things, it needs the accessories to be really usefull. I cannot stress that as useful as the jack s, it is also extriemely dangerous if you do not know how to use it.
This is my full jack kit.... Soft surface baseplate, with stabiliser cross bar... Sedge note the little lug welded on the front of the baseplate to prevent the jack from leaning backwards...Safety chain..... Stabiliser belts.... lift mate, used to lift the wheel so as to overcome having to first overcome wheel articulation.... Vehicle independant bead breaker, bumber mount attachment...... Vehicle dependant bead breaker jack protection: - Spray with silico spray after use, cover with crepe bandage then cover with the rip-stop bag
Safety chain.... NEVER EVER leave the handle of the jack...I do not trust the little clip that comes with the jack, especially when the jacking mechanism is near the top..
The handel has too much weight. If the handle falls, the weight of the vehicle will cause the handle to whip up and down as the jack jack's down. This whipping action of the handle can cause extriemely serious harm. To overcome this I use a safety chain as per the picture, and do not let go of the handle until the clip is latched through the eye-bolt at the top.
The other side of the safety chain is simply a suitable D shackle. The two female ring eyes are joined with a piece of threaded m10 cut from a High tensile bolt, and they are left on the beam of the jack. The stabiliser top's hook throught the eye bolts as well..
modified baseplate
Modified soft surface base plate with welded tube and cross bar through the welded tube and pinned. Note the lug welded to the front of the base plate, the footpiece of the jack clips under the lug and stops the jack from leaning backwards.
Jack stabiliser from the side... Usually, this is probibly the most unsafe as it's here that the handle has a tendincy to fall doen and actiivate the jack.... YOU CANNOT STOP THAT ONCE IT INITIATES YOU WILL GET SERIOUSLY HURT... hence the safety chain
Dankie Warren
Dankie vir die deel eish ek nog baie om te leer wys jou net jy moet weet wat jy doen
High Lift Jack
Warren: The jack stabilisers from the front. simple ratchet straps... If I did it again I would use two different colours of belt, as you only need to release one side, the other side can stay at the correct length... Simply lean the beam over, hook the fixed belt and ratcheet up the moving one....
The stabiliser cross bar at the bottom slides int a square tube welded to the soft-surface base plate and is pinned with an M8 bolt. and the ratchet straps simply hooked in at the ends.... Overall length of the cross bar is +-750mm. By being removable it makes it much easier to pack away