| Mini-Barbie acts as spokes model for the Hi-Lift Fix-it-kit while Pikachu stands by to provide technical support. Tex the cat loiters in the background and seems harmless enough... |  |
| Suddenly things turn ugly! 1. In the first shot of this sequence, Tex turns his attention to Barbie. Pikachu, noticing the movement from the corner of his eye, grows apprehensive... 2. Suddenly Tex lashes out knocking Barbie to the ground. Pikachu stands there apparently transfixed in horror! 3. In shot three Tex moves forward to assess the damage while Pikachu stands there like the sniveling little coward that he is. Don't let his press machine or the Saturday morning cartoon heroics fool you! He's yellow through and through. 4. In the final image of the sequence Tex, deciding that Barbie needs a good mauling (and who hasn't thought that from time to time...) moves in for the kill. Pikachu stands there and, in spite of the hideous shrieks, does nothing! I'm not sure but I think that's a smirk on his pudgy little face! |  |
| At this point the indoor location is a mess with gore everywhere and the savage cat still being chased down so the shoot moves outdoors. It disgusts me to have to work with talent of his ilk but I'm a professional... Here you can see Pikachu, the little chicken-shit, pointing out the broken cross pin on the bottom climbing pin. This was hampering the function of the jack because it's the cross pins that push the climbing pin in and out of the holes in the main bar providing lift. The upper, heavier line points to where the missing section of the cross pin should be in order to engage the cam surface. |  |
| Here's Pikachu, the little wuss, holding the punch used to drive out the broken cross pin. So you think you're hot stuff lifting that punch, huh? Where were you with your big bad punch when Barbie was getting torn to pieces? Huh, tough guy!?!? Well, here's your damned hammer... |  |
| Uh... Sorry... I might have handed it to you a little hard. Hold the jack solidly, I left mine attached to the bumper mounts, and drive the pins out with a punch and BFH. I bought a full set of cheap punches at Harbor Freight to have one larger to get the broken cross pin started and another one to drive it on through. |  |
| Here Pikachu, the smirking little b@$+@rd, shows you the broken cross pin and rusted climbing pin. The climbing pin is still functional but the new one was installed and this one was moved into the trail spares box. Sorry about the out of focus image. This whole cat attack / hammer incident has me flustered... Barbie's people are screaming law suit and Pikachu, the little putz, is threatening to have me charged with assault! |  |
| Here the new cross pin is being driven in. You can see metal peeled back from the first attempt during which care was not taken to keep both sides of the spring behind the cross pin. |  |
| Pikachu, the litigious little looser, inspects the cross pin in the top climbing pin. The cross pin is slightly bent but intact and the climbing pin is rusted but functional. As long as we're here might as well replace 'em... |  |
| In this shot of the newly installed cross pin, and the one of the old cross pin above, you can see how the top climbing pin has the cross pin driven through it a little farther than the bottom climbing pin. This cross pin needs to be stressed to one side with a screwdriver or something while driving it with a punch in order to get it past the casting. A third hand would help but I used my knee. |  |
| Here's a final shot where you can see the fresh climbing pins with their new cross pins. You can also see more clearly how the top, or left hand, cross pin needs to be slightly higher because of the casting it rests against being higher. I also replaced the safety shear bolt which was included in the Fix-It-Kit. It is designed to shear when the jack exceeds it's rated capacity. Since the old one was worn and rusted, replacing it with a new one insures that the jack will perform to it's design limits. The Fix-It-Kit is available from Hi-Lift directly for around $13 or slightly less from your local farm supply store. |  |