Rubichronic

So I recently purchased a hi-lift and hi-lift offroad kit. Until I get a winch, I am going to use my hi-lift as a winch, only as a last resort, and hopefully only for short pulls. I am aware they can be very dangerous, and plan on doing some "practice pulls", so when I really need it, I will know what I am doing. I have used come-a-longs in the past, and I can say I'm not a fan. Anyways, I have a couple questions:

First, is a recovery strap suitable to use between my jeep and the jack, or should I buy a non-stretch tow rope or chain?
Also, I plan to buy a length of 3/8" grade 7 transport chain to use on the anchor end between the jack and tree saver when needed. Is it safe to double the chain back on itself to achieve the required "reach"? If it is, should I use hooks or d-rings to secure it to itself? I was thinking about getting 15ft of chain, which, with the recovery strap (if suitable) and the jack itself, should give me just under 40ft of reach.

Again, I am aware this can be dangerous, and plan to use it only as a last resort. thanks in advance.

genesbro

Because of the short amount of movement you have with the jack it would be better to use transport chain instead of a recovery strap which will stretch using up that precious little movement you have.

A long time ago when I had my full size k5 Jimmy had to use a recovery strap with a high lift for self recovery from a snow bank and the jack would move 3 feet or so and the Jimmy would move 1 foot, after that I used a chain. You won't be able to use enough force to make the chain unsafe with that jack and then 3 feet will be closer to 3 feet movement. After that experience I started carring chain for use with my jack, still carried the strap for normal extraction using another vehicle.

Rubichronic

so what if I carried a non-stretch tow rope to use in conjunction with the jack and chain. would that work well for some extra reach if needed? i think i'm going to get 20ft of chain now instead of 15. if a good tow rope would work as well as chain, i would like to use that between the jack and the jeep, just to avoid carring the extra weight in chain. or should i just buck up and get longer chain?

genesbro

The Jeep is a lot lighter than my K5 was so a heavy duty tow strap would probably not stretch much at all.

Rubichronic

Thanks guys. I bought 20ft of chain today. I have a hi-lift x jack with the attachment for the chain. Maybe I am over thinking it a bit, but i just want to make sure i have what i need when i need it. thanks for the help.