Using Receiver Hitch As A Lifting Point With A High Lift Jack

[Wallowa]

May have been covered but I could not find it....

Can you use a receiver hitch as a lifting point for a high lift jack?

Inserting the jack or and extension of some type into the hitch and lifting the front or back of the vehicle?

Thanks...Phil

 

[Lighthawk]

I've done it to stretch my suspension when pulling a blown airbag in the field. But I don't know the specs.

 

[Wallowa]

I've done it to stretch my suspension when pulling a blown airbag in the field. But I don't know the specs.

Hi LH,

I did read about your DV fix of the airbag using the HLJ...but how did you use the hitch as an attachment point for the jack?

Thanks...Phil

 

[Espresso]

I wouldn't want to exceed the maximum tongue weight. Even then, you're lifting up, not pushing down.

 

[Kolockum]

I have lifted all of my vehicles at some point by the trailer hitch. Never had a problem.

 

[Wallowa]

I have lifted all of my vehicles at some point by the trailer hitch. Never had a problem.

Not exceeding the tongue weight limit seems to make sense....and lifting an empty '05 Tundra AC SR5 is way different than one with a '16 loaded Hawk and lots of "stuff" on board. Wish there were some data on what weight can be lifted via a receiver hitch.

How did you lift your vehicles by the hitch? Using what? What was the approximate weight lifted?

Thanks for input and experiences.

Phil

 

[DavidGraves]

Hi Phil

What are you really asking ?

A factory designed class 3 or better frame mounted hitch would no doubt be a robust lift point .

That said, there is no reason to assume it is safe to lift the entire rear of the vehicle 12 inches off the ground to change the tires or something.

What really are you asking ?

David Graves

 

[Kolockum]

Not exceeding the tongue weight limit seems to make sense....and lifting an empty '05 Tundra AC SR5 is way different than one with a '16 loaded Hawk and lots of "stuff" on board. Wish there were some data on what weight can be lifted via a receiver hitch.

How did you lift your vehicles by the hitch? Using what? What was the approximate weight lifted?

Thanks for input and experiences.

Phil

I use a high lift jack and stick the lifting part of the jack into my hitch. This is only something I do in a recovery situation and my hitches are class 5. High lifts are very nice but can be dangerous. Look up some how to videos on them to see if they are for you. The jacks is only rated for 5,000 pounds. Also check out the high lift tire attachments

As for weight I have lifted a Dakota with a FWC Eagle and a Tacoma with an Eagle. We have also used two to lift the back of a F-450 brush truck.

Are you looking at recovery or something else?

 

[Wallowa]

Hi Phil

What are you really asking ?

A factory designed class 3 or better frame mounted hitch would no doubt be a robust lift point .

That said, there is no reason to assume it is safe to lift the entire rear of the vehicle 12 inches off the ground to change the tires or something.

What really are you asking ?

David Graves

Dave,

I am asking for either data or empirical information/details to verify: "..hitch would no doubt be a robust lift point' and the seemingly contradiction that "no reason to assume it is safe to lift the entire rear of a vehicle 12 inches..". Not assumptions but numbers and direct experiences.


Does anyone have solid data or experience lifting the rear of a pickup with a camper using a high lift jack inserted in a receiver hitch?

That and those that have done this; how did you insert the high lift jack into a 2" receiver hitch?

Phil

PS:

Kolockum,

Just saw your post...that is what I was looking for...sizes, numbers and "did it work"...I have the wheel lift attachment for my high lift but that doesn't work to change that tire, only to lift that corner of the truck...

By chance can you estimate the weight your jack was lifting in the examples you gave?

No doubt Eagles weigh less than my Hawk.

Missed your last question: More for changing a tire, repairing an air bag or recovery if MaxTrax or winch can't cut it...

Thanks...Phil

 

[DavidGraves]

Hi Phil

Ask the engineer and company who design and market the High Lift Jack you own and use...and their lawyers.

Your response was a bit snippy...if you are not looking for members opinions then don't ask on a member based internet forum.

If you are asking members of this forum to contribute I don't see how you can have it both ways....

Empirical is a big word.

David Graves

 

[Wallowa]

Hi Phil

Ask the engineer and company who design and market the High Lift Jack you own and use...and their lawyers.

Your response was a bit snippy...if you are not looking for members opinions then don't ask on a member based internet forum.

If you are asking members of this forum to contribute I don't see how you can have it both ways....

Empirical is a big word.

David Graves

=========================================================================
Dave,

No way meant to be "tit for tat" just replying to "what are you really asking"...if my questions were not explicit, then I tried to clarify them...

Yes I use big words like empirical...since I truly believe experience is the best teacher...

Take Care...Phil

FYI...dug in a little more and doubt that my hitches [especially front] are a high enough class of hitch to withstand a vertical lift that I would need to lift either end of my truck/FWC combo....front is a Curt hitch about a class 4 and rear Tundra OEM is about the same....unlike Kolockum's class 5 that has about a 1,500 lb vertical load limit, my hitches are about 500+ lbs of vertical [9,000lb towing], no where near enough...not about the capacity of my High Lift Jack but about what are the receiver hitches vertical lifting limits...

 

[DavidGraves]

Hi Phil

Thanks for the reply.

Our hitches are designed and attached to truck frame in order to carry a down load.

There may be no way to know what UP load they might carry.

They remain the best lift point, in my dirt farmer opinion, if one needs to lift the entire front or rear a little bit.

For maintenance work or changing tires etc BEST is a floor jack under the suspension member along WITH a jack stand of sufficient strength.

Be safe !

David

 

[Wallowa]

Hi Phil

Thanks for the reply.

Our hitches are designed and attached to truck frame in order to carry a down load.

There may be no way to know what UP load they might carry.

They remain the best lift point, in my dirt farmer opinion, if one needs to lift the entire front or rear a little bit.

For maintenance work or changing tires etc BEST is a floor jack under the suspension member along WITH a jack stand of sufficient strength.

Be safe !

David

Dave...more good information and thanks...never thought about the direction of the vertical load rating; that makes sense...I agree about bottle jacks or my floor jack in my shop....on a dirt road, well, you do what ya gotta do to get home!

Take Care,

Phil

 

[Lighthawk]

Hi LH,

I did read about your DV fix of the airbag using the HLJ...but how did you use the hitch as an attachment point for the jack?

Thanks...Phil

Thanks Phil. The nose of my HLJ just fits inside the 2" receiver.

 

[Wallowa]

Thanks Phil. The nose of my HLJ just fits inside the 2" receiver.

Cool...thanks!

Phil

 

[ntsqd]

One of my concerns with lifting via a receiver hitch is that the snout on the Hi-Lift traveler doesn't really fit into a 2" ID tube very far, and there is nothing in that tube in the form of a lip to make it more secure. It is at risk of sliding out under load. If you have a shackle slider and the shackle is large enough to fit over the snout on the traveler I would suggest using it instead of direct insertion.

All of that assumes that all of the weight ratings involved are high enough to make this viable.

In the 20 years that I've owned my Hi-Lift I've used it in the field exactly once, and that was to aid stability of a vehicle already lifted by another jack. These days it does a very good job of holding down part of a concrete slab in our backyard and I carry a small hyd. floor jack on a skid plate instead. Every time I mention this the Hi-Lift kool-aid drinkers get all wound up. Save your efforts, I'll not be convinced otherwise.
Said hyd. jack when it was new:

 

[Wallowa]

One of my concerns with lifting via a receiver hitch is that the snout on the Hi-Lift traveler doesn't really fit into a 2" ID tube very far, and there is nothing in that tube in the form of a lip to make it more secure. It is at risk of sliding out under load. If you have a shackle slider and the shackle is large enough to fit over the snout on the traveler I would suggest using it instead of direct insertion.

All of that assumes that all of the weight ratings involved are high enough to make this viable.

In the 20 years that I've owned my Hi-Lift I've used it in the field exactly once, and that was to aid stability of a vehicle already lifted by another jack. These days it does a very good job of holding down part of a concrete slab in our backyard and I carry a small hyd. floor jack on a skid plate instead. Every time I mention this the Hi-Lift kool-aid drinkers get all wound up. Save your efforts, I'll not be convinced otherwise.
Said hyd. jack when it was new:

[SIZE=10.5pt]Thanks!...logic dictates doing what you did....I assume you made that plate; if not, please post the source of plate and jack...In the 50s I roamed the desert in Nevada as a kid in a '36 Ford PU with mechanical brakes, often with re-caps with boots showing through tread and coming back to off-roading I was amused at all the gadgets strapped, bolted, clamped on off-road vehicles and was puzzled at their use and frequency of use[/SIZE] …also they appeared to my neophyte eye to be mostly displayed badges.

[SIZE=10.5pt]Anyway, I am discarding the idea of using my HLJ in either receiver on my Tundra. I vividly remember “in the day” taking ‘bumper jacks’ [spindly, baby HLJ] way beyond safe height and having them spit out from under the load. I think I got caught up in the “gotta have it” mentality; but now I am standing down and going back to KISS.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Thanks all for the input and education.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Phil [/SIZE]

 

[Wallowa]

Random thought...could I use one of my MaxTraxs as a base plate for a 2 ton lightweight [aluminum] floor jack?

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Random thought...could I use one of my MaxTraxs as a base plate for a 2 ton lightweight [aluminum] floor jack?

Put a piece of plywood between them...

 

[ntsqd]

I did make that plate and I had thot of making a short run of them way back when, but when I worked out the pricing I couldn't make it worthwhile. In the desert racing community there is/was someone making a similar skid plate for a specific jack (I *think* an HF jack). AHA! http://dmzfab.com/product/jack-skid-plate-for-harbor-freight-2-ton-racing-jack/ It's apparently quite the thing these days, got a lot of hits from searching "floor jack skid plate".

In most receiver hitches the tongue weight is a torsional load. I *think* that it's safe to assume that the rotational direction of the torsion is not significant to the design. Given that, you can then assume that max tongue weight is also the max lifting weight.