The Tauler Jack, your Hi-Lift Alternative

Disclaimer: This is a DIY Weld Kit so may not be suitable for everyone. This kit is welded to a side crank trailer jack, that you purchase separately.

I ran a search across the forum for this jack before making a thread to see if there was any discussion about it and was only mentioned in some BS threads. So I figured I would post a thread based on my experience and opinion while making it a bit easier to search.

Short Story: I was able to test the Tauler jack out twice in March during our annual trip to Moab. The first was when a friends vehicle debeaded a tire on the road out of Pritchett Canyon and the other was when my UCA bolt released on Metal Masher. In both cases we used the Tauler Jack to quickly lift the vehicles and make repairs.

One point I want to make about the UCA bolt, on the way into the first unnamed obstacle on metal masher I heard a clanking upon initial slowing and acceleration. I got out and my passenger UCA bolt was missing both the washer and nut and had backed out until it hit the inner fender. With a stroke of luck both the nut and washer were wedged on top of the frame next to the body so I was able to make a quick repair. THIS is why you should never just cut the bolt and install a new one backwards, do it right, bend the fender out install correctly and then bend the fender back over the bolt head. I would have had a rough day if I installed them backwards and the bolt was able to completely drop out.

The Jacks:

I hate hi-lifts, they can be used for other things like come-alongs but hard pass on that. They may look cool and make your truck look super duper tough but I find them dangerous and sometimes difficult to use depending on how long they have been rusting and sunbaking in their neglected state as an almost permanent accessory to a vehicle. I've used them enough to be safe with them but extra care is always required. Not to mention they are awkwardly large (that's what she said).

Insert the Tauler Jack. This is actually a kit available from Brennan's garage that is designed to weld to an 8000lb trailer jack. The benefit to this is that most trauler jacks and the ones this kit is designed for have better lifting capacity, a wider more stable footprint, and they use a simple side crank to lift and lower (aka, super easy). The simple crank design of a trailer jack is night and day to the swinging arc of a hi-lift. They are also smaller and more compact than your typical hi-lift.

After using one in the wild, I made the purchase and may never use another hi-lift if I can avoid it. Here is the link to the Kit and feel free to ask any questions.

It's a cool kit and was a fun project for the weekend, I think it took maybe an hour to complete.

https://brennans-garage.com/products/tauler-jack-kit

Below are some of my pictures.

 

Good video on the thing here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc4MXRloa0g

 

Did this thing lift enough to account for suspension droop? I was watching the video and dude was using a ratchet strap as a limit strap.

 

I can’t speak to the video but in both my cases and the photo I posted we have to lift the vehicle completely off the ground, so yes. Keep it mind that you can lift the vehicle as high as 51”

 

Is this still working well? Thinking about picking one up

 

Well, picked one up and got it all welded up. Thing seems great, cant wait to use it in the wild. Light too compared to offroad floor jacks or hilifts. I want to make a way to use this as a hitch vise.

 

Hey sorry for the late reply. Ya still works awesome, I love being able to just throw in between rigs as well since it’s small I can just move it when needed. I took the LJ to Moab and just threw it in the back.