4 Post Lift - Experiences?

Carmine

Carmine

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 10
That would have been nice Bob. Great customer relations alright lol.
I remember that the pads attached on the bottom of the two towers, each required 6 holes be drilled a certain depth into the 4000 psi concrete. I believe the special bolts were 5/8" in diameter. I started drilling with a masonry bit and quite a bit of dust. After the 3rd hole, my DeWalt 1/2" drill started sputtering and missing. It eventually quit running. I think the dust got to the armature and brushes and destroyed it. So, I went to Harbor Freight and bought a cheap 1/2" drill for about $22.00. I was just barely able to finish the holes when that one started to take a crap to. But I expected that. I gave it a toss in the garbage. If i had been smart, which I'm not, after destroying my DeWalt, I should have bought another DeWalt or some facsimile and used my shop vac while drilling to vacuum up the dust from the hole before it reached the drill. I'm sure that approach would have worked just fine. I think I ended up buying a new Makita 1/2" drill. Sometimes, it's costly not to be smart LOL, Carmine.
 
Carmine

Carmine

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 10
bobs409 said:
Now that you mention it Carmine, mine is also 220 volt and it's something I don't like about these. I don't think they need to be 220 volt. I have seen plenty of power units that were 110 and work just fine. Another thing pertains to Bend Pak lifts; the air locks... PITA is what I think about them. Some have mechanical rods that actuate the locks. Anything would be better than air. Just my thoughts. I bet many like it that way but I rarely have air on stand by so that means I have to fire up the compressor to lower it.

Been doing some deep thinking.... :D When I got my lift, none of the holes lined up on one of the runways. I contacted them and told them I had to drill new ones to make it work. They were sorry and offered me 1/2 off one of those trolley jacks or a free floor jack. I was happy they did that over some mis-matched holes and just took the floor jack. BUT... 18 years later, I discovered the channels that are welded onto the sides of the runways for that trolley jack to ride in are in the wrong position on mine!! It's welded to the top of the runway and all I have seen, it's welded to the bottom of it. I never noticed it before because I never had the trolley jack. It was only recently I noticed it when I was thinking of building some type of jack. This of course would put that jack assembly a few inches higher that the vehicle would have to "clear" when driving on/off. I wonder how many got shipped out like mine???? Wish I spotted that in 2005!! Maybe they would have given me a full refund and keep the lift. (probably not)
Click to expand...
When I was looking at 4 post lifts, I do believe everyone I saw worked on 110v. That was also part of the appeal. I could plug it in anyplace. With my 2 post, I had to run a 220v line which I wasn't happy about but did it anyway. I hate fooling with 220v line. Not very forgiving, Carmine.
 
scott hall

scott hall

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 2
I will say that I don't use it to work on. It goes up and down and sits on the locks 99% of the time.
 
JED

JED

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 6
Story in the news today about a vendor's 4-post lift collapsing during the Corvettes at Carlisle event last week. It appears a cable broke, but they don't give a lot of details. If the lift had been sitting on the locks (like you are supposed to do instead of relying on the cable or hydraulics to hold the lift in position), then it should have stayed in place even if the cable had snapped. Additionally, since the lift wasn't bolted to the concrete, the vertical posts twisted when the cable broke, which compounded the problem. Fortunately, no one was hurt and they were able to get the Corvette off the lift since it was fairly low and they were able to use a flatbed to drive it off. Lucky!

www.corvetteblogger.com

[ACCIDENT] Watch the Rescue of a C8 Corvette After a Four-Post Lift Fails at Carlisle - Corvette: Sales, News & Lifestyle

A scary moment occurred for one C8 Corvette owner at Corvettes at Carlisle after the lift his car was on failed during a product install, and a wrecker was dispatched to make the rescue.
www.corvetteblogger.com www.corvetteblogger.com

John
 
Carmine

Carmine

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 10
JED said:
Story in the news today about a vendor's 4-post lift collapsing during the Corvettes at Carlisle event last week. It appears a cable broke, but they don't give a lot of details. If the lift had been sitting on the locks (like you are supposed to do instead of relying on the cable or hydraulics to hold the lift in position), then it should have stayed in place even if the cable had snapped. Additionally, since the lift wasn't bolted to the concrete, the vertical posts twisted when the cable broke, which compounded the problem. Fortunately, no one was hurt and they were able to get the Corvette off the lift since it was fairly low and they were able to use a flatbed to drive it off. Lucky!

www.corvetteblogger.com

[ACCIDENT] Watch the Rescue of a C8 Corvette After a Four-Post Lift Fails at Carlisle - Corvette: Sales, News & Lifestyle

A scary moment occurred for one C8 Corvette owner at Corvettes at Carlisle after the lift his car was on failed during a product install, and a wrecker was dispatched to make the rescue.
www.corvetteblogger.com www.corvetteblogger.com

John
Click to expand...
Wow. They are lucky. A friend of mine went last week to that event. Will have to ask him about that. When working on my car, I always lower it to the locking position. I also listen carefully when raising it. My instructions said that the clicking sound of the inside rails passing over the locks, should be simultaneous. You should hear them both at the same time. This indicates that the car is going up level. I recall the first several times I used the lift, this was not the case and I had to adjust the cable. I think it probably had to get stretched out a little. It's fine now, but I still listen, Carmine.
 
bobs409

bobs409

 
Administrator
It looks like it wasn't lifted enough to clear all 4 locks when they were lowering it to lock in place. (not set up properly!) Probably lowered it down and hit 3 locks but went past the 4th one and kept going. USER ERROR is my vote!

To explain my statement above better for anyone that does not have one, you lift the vehicle up HIGHER than you want, then come down to sit on the next available lock. (every 4 inches I think on my Bendpak) If the locking plates are not set up properly, it won't engage at all 4 posts at the same time. Each one has to be set at the same height on all 4 posts. I think one was out of adjustment and did not lock. The person kept lowering the car and did not see the one corner of the car continue to lower until it was too late and the whole thing folded up like a cheap suitcase. :pop

Anyway, great advertising for the maker of this lift! I didn't see the brand mentioned. Those that see this will steer clear of buying one! :roll
 
Last edited:
bjburnout

bjburnout

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 5
boxerdog said:
I think Bob is exactly right on this one regarding what happened. Setup and adjustment is critical, and paying attention when operating it goes without saying. You can't assume anything.
Click to expand...
:yup
Besides owning 2 four post hoists for years and being in the trade forever on all types of hoists, you have to be aware at all
times when working with these and other machinery.:rub
The story above just shouts that no one really knew what they were doing and that could have been fatal.
I've noticed a lot of these guys at shows running hoists act like they know it all and you as an observer are just in the way.
Also look at the hoist - looks pretty flimsy to me. As for the locks Bob is correct and someone wasn't paying attention.:confused.
And as for being bolted down, looking at that rake from collapsing I suspect the bolts would have been pulled right out
of the concrete. Bolting these down only limits back and forth movement not pulling power......:bonk.
 
mdenbow

mdenbow

Member
I have had both and have liked both. However, I have found that in setting up the 4 post lift you don't bolt it to the floor, what could possibly go wrong you say? When you are trying to bolt the rails onto a couple pillars, you should have some help. Fortunately, I was able to literally use my head to save the rest of my body!
 

Attachments

  • 20200807_075457.jpg
    20200807_075457.jpg
    45.4 KB · Views: 11
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top