Finally got me a Hi-Lift jack

In case you didn't know, a Hi-Lift is a super clever tool for lifting, tightening and pulling all sorts of things but it's mostly used to lift tall vehicles, like off road trucks and tractors and such.

The Hi-Lift's predecessor was invented as early as 1905 and it was called the Automatic Combination Tool. The original jack was commonly known as the Handyman or Sheepherder's Jack, and years later it was renamed the Hi-Lift Jack.
The design has pretty much remained the same since 1921 since there's no need to change it - now that's good engineering!
You can read all about it here: www.hi-lift.com/company/

I've been wanting a Hi-Lift jack for some time now since my standard hydraulic jack just doesn't match the height of my Daihatsu Taft. I used to build a stack of bricks and stumps of wood to get a proper reach - rather frustrating (and plain stupid).

I wasn't to keen on getting a brand new Hi-Lift since they're not cheap over here in Sweden and I didn't want it all new and shiny. I bought this second hand from a nice guy in Sigtuna. I got a good deal on it and he even threw in a restoration kit and a brand new mounting bracket - Thanks!

It's real tall so there's no way I can keep it inside the truck. One idea was to clamp it to my front bumper, horizontally. But the jack is taller than my truck is wide!
I decided to mount it on the rear left door instead.

I thought I would have to drill new holes but I soon found out that it would work just fine if I used the bolts on the hinges.

 

The base is quite wide so I couldn't just clamp the bracket flat to the hinge. I had to ad some spacers to make it work. These are from two of those "peek-through-the-door things". MacGyver in the house!

I also wrapped a beer coozie around the jack - the blue bit - to keep it all snug and rattle free.

It's made of thick neoprene and I folded it for a perfect fit.

I used a piece of the bracket that held my original air filter in place to hold the base of the jack in place.

I just needed to drill some holes and it worked like a charm. The jack is held in place by that bolt that goes through the base. Got a rubber washer there as well to keep it from coming loose.