Well i've hit my first "bummer".
Was hoping to get home this afternoon and snap some pictures of the jack holding my flexed out rear tire off the ground... instead i almost ended up with body damage.
The jack itself is solid... the jacking points on my vehicle however, are not.
My first attempt I just threw the jack under there close to where the notch is in the sliders. Figured i'm on a level surface with a solid base... if being off 1/2" here matters than this will be useless offroad; unfortunately, that was the case. As soon as I started lifting the jack tilted inwards until the top bar hit my door. Luckily it was just a "soft" collision and no damage:
^ You can see in the pictures the main problem. The notches in the slides only catch the very tip of the lifting foot and doesn't provide support anywhere else. The moment (torque) created by this about the base of the jack results in rotation until its counteracted (by the door).
Against my better judgement i decided to give it another shot. I positioned the base further under the vehicle to reduce the effect of the moment created by the above conditions.....
... i was blinded by my desire for this to work. When you start lifting, either the vehicle has to slide toward the jack OR the jack slides/pivots toward the vehicle.
This time the jack hit the door with a bit more force. NO DENT (i didnt get high enough).. but left a little scratch (that you probably cant see if i dont point it out)..
^^FYI, what you dont see in this picture is that the base of the jack actually kicked outwards a few inches as well.
This isn't really a Hi-Lift review... the flaw is definitely with the lifting points on the sliders. The sliders need to latch on to more of the jacking foot and rest up against the vertical portion to provide support to reduce/counteract the moment created. Putting all of the force on the very tip of that foot just doesn't work [as i thought it was meant to be used]
Looking back at 4XG's website i think they meant "emergency" literally:
... I don't see using these points as lifting points unless you absolutely have to; and be prepared for body damage.2 gusset-supported notches — one front and one rear — for more secure (emergency) vehicle lifting with a HiLift-type jack.
Needless to say:
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