[Cliff R]

"I have that same 4 post lift. It appears that someone let down the lift but didn't pull the lock release lever far enough out; So one side was engaged but the other was not"

+2

As mentioned I've had to re-adjust mine twice in 10 years to make sure the locks "click" in correctly as the lift goes up. The cables stretch a little over the years and they get out of adjustment. I listen for ALL FOUR locks to "click-in" as the lift goes up, then gently lower it onto the locks when I get the vehicle where it needs to be.

Failure to do this will get you into BIG trouble quickly as the vehicle is lowered.

I also have all four posts studded into extra-thick concrete to prevent them from wanting to lay over for any reason.

Even with all that said every single time I use the lift we are very cautious with it, especially when I get a Suburban or heavy 3/4 or 1 ton truck up that high.......Cliff

[R68GTO]

I didn't take the time to dig up any facts but would venture to say that well over 95% of any mechanical failure like these lifts are due to operator error. The equipment either is poorly maintained, improperly operated, improperly installed, or overloaded at some point in its life to cause these failures. Faulty design or manufacturing of the equipment itself surely happens, but it is relatively rare. Overloading is the most dangerous issue. You can do everything absolutely correct....install, maintenance, operation. But if you overload a piece of equipment, you can cause unseen damage that gets worse over time until one day, (could be years later) it completely fails.

[1967Tempest]

Originally Posted by steve25

A few months ago in Hot Rod mag I think it was ,there was a accident that happened to a fellow and just two nights ago the same thing took place to a buddy of mine's Relative .

Both guys where under the front of there car's doing some wipe down and clean up from the driving season.
Both cars where Manual Trans, jacked up on the front only and set in gear to be kept from rolling.

The near fatal flaw in both of these situations is that the battery was left hooked up!

With both guys wipping down there headers near the starter there wrist Watch shorted across the nose of the starter and the car cranked itself off the jack stands and onto them!!

The guy from the hot rod story some how managed to get himself out on his own with a crushed skull and a dislocated Shoulder, my buddy's friend we do know if he's gonna make it yet!

This is crazy that this still happens. My brother died the same way. I hope your friend pulls through.

[Formulajones]

And the safety idea applies here. This wouldn't have any affect on a 2 post lift, and on a 4 post lift if it happened it wouldn't crush you, just roll off the back. So even some types of human error can be somewhat avoided with no injury to ones self in a case like this using a lift. Technically the car shouldn't even be able to roll off the front, and difficult at best to roll off the back anyway when the safety catch plates are in place, as long as someone wasn't too lazy to put them there after parking the car.

Sorry to hear that Steve, the thought just makes me cringe. Best wishes. These things happen more often than we hear about.

[4zpeed]

Very sorry to hear that Steve, best wishes for your buddy's relative, please send him our sincere regards.

I agree with everyone as to never use one means of tire chalk or support, always have a backup in place, cribbing, ramps, your neighbors firewood... anything!

My thoughts on lifts go to the installation, being that some are an afterthought and anchors are predominantly installed in a slab after the poor.

Possibly buy the owner/purchaser without full knowledge of or in accordance with anticipated loads, or to bare minimum specs.

Usually the hole in the base plate is a indicator of the intended diameter of the anchor to be used by the manufacturer, but not always the case.

Generally mechanical concrete anchors, sleeve, drop in, wedge even epoxy types work very well for their intended purpose.

They have a great amount of sheer strength but the positive force of a leaning/lifting plate will absolutely test their integrity!

J bolts are the best method prior to the slab being poured, just takes a bit of layout work, or box them out and poor them in afterwards.

If its an existing slab cut a (for example) 12X12 square for a 6X6 base plate, drill and insert a few dowels/rebar horizontally on the inside perimeter.

Insert J bolts/anchors in a template then place and encapsulate with hydraulic cement, dependent upon the structural steel of your lift, that should be sufficient.


Better safe than sorry,
Frank

[Tom Vaught]

Your suggestion Frank is somewhat similar to the Tower Anchors we used to install in the Lake of the Ozark's area. 12" round hole, continuous spiral blade on the anchor 12" tall, then fill the hole with hydraulic cement. Anchor is not coming out. Anchor rod thread was 2" diameter.
Don't need that for a lift but 1/2" rod with a 90 degree bends and some horizontal rebar as you mentioned in 4 places on each leg would work well.

Tom V.

[Jack Gifford]

In post#60 of this thread, at the posted link, the photo of the failed cable idler pulley certainly appears to be an error in designing in enough safety factor of the idler's shaft.

[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by Jack Gifford

In post#60 of this thread, at the posted link, the photo of the failed cable idler pulley certainly appears to be an error in designing in enough safety factor of the idler's shaft.

And if you look at the other black lifts you'll notice a cable hanging on all that collapsed. That is not operator error.

[The Boss]

Seal failure in the black lift with the red LeMans Convertible on it - not operator failure as has been portrayed here.

[Blued and Painted]

Most failures come with warning signs. If these warnings were dismissed or egnored, then it's still opperator error.

Seen rotors cut into, and caliper Pistons fall out and the customer will say "I never herd anything".

[Cliff R]

A seal failure with a 4 post lift shouldn't result in any of the 4 corners going any lower than any of the others.

This assumes that correct maintenance and adjustments were made to the lift from the day it was installed. A mentioned I've had to "re-adjust" mine twice since it was installed over 10 years ago. The cables stretch just enough that you will NOT get the locks to click in at the same time as the lift goes up. Matter of fact two of mine quit clicking in at all an required some minor adjustments to correct that issue.

If you have a seal failure at most any point when raising a vehicle the lift should slowly lower onto the safety stops on all four corners. The release time is also controlled by metering the oil as the lift comes down so it will not fall quickly if you have a hose, cylinder, or seal failure.

I will say that the first time mine went out of adjustment the farthest post from where I was standing failed to engage the stop as I lowered the vehicle onto them, pretty scary for just a moment as the lift got lop-sided. I also had one failure in the opposite manner where one safety stop engaged while lowering the vehicle and I didn't see it right away. Once again the lift got lop-sided and the vehicle could have slipped off of it if I had continued lowering it.

Not that I've had a close call with both scenarios, EVERY SINGLE TIME a vehicle is raised or lowered I watch it very closely, and listen for the audible "clicks" in all 4 corners as it goes up. I also lower the vehicle very slowly onto the stops vs just throwing the lever all the way in. A couple of extra seconds each time it is used is well worth it.....IMHO......Cliff

[Greg Reid]

Not a lift failure issue per se, but on the subject of manual shift cars lurching forward for any reason, I have always as a rule had a habit of setting the brake and popping the shifter into neutral every time I park my straight shift vehicles.
I guess because I've never had one where the clutch safety switch worked!

[Bentwheelbob]

The lift with red vert almost torpedoing through the side wall is mine. I hoped this thread would die, but it doesn’t seem likely. The more I thought about it, the more I feel like there is an important lesson here that should be shared.

So far there has been some truth written, and some fake news. As usual, Cliff seems to have the best grasp of things.

This was my second 4 post lift. It was my gift to me for Christmas several years ago. My first four post preceded this one by a couple years. I did everything by the book when assembling and adjusting the first one including nailing down all the lock adjustments so that it sounded like four hammers striking a nail at the same time. After using it for a week or so the cables had stretched and things had settled in, and it needed to be adjusted again. Following that the lift served two years with no problems and no need for further adjustment.

Flash forward two years and lift two arrives. I spent the day assembling, again followed the book, but this time the locks just got roughed in to a starting point. Seemed like a great idea to run it up and down several times empty, load a car on it and run it up and down several time loaded, and then do the fine adjustments necessary to get that four hammer, simultaneous sound. Ran it up and down three times empty. Put the vert on it and the first time up at almost the top of the stroke the seal burst in the hydraulic cylinder. Oh sh_t. Stuff started happening fast, including hydraulic fluid spraying everywhere.

One lock was a little high and it caught, then another one caught the next step down at which point the whole thing was racking. A third one caught a millisecond after that on the same level, but that this point the thing was so contorted the fourth lock moved on down to yet a third lock level. Fortunately it stabilized in this precarious position with me bear hugging the front post where the control was to keep the base from kicking out.

I spent the next hour securing things with HD ratchet straps and Hilti anchors, and went to bed. The next morning with the help of several really good friends and All Crane the outcome ended up with only damaged pride. The lift company sent a new lift and everything had a happy ending.

Flash forward to today..... next week each lift is getting its’ annual inspection and all the locks will get their annual adjustment. Anyone reading this that has a four post should do the same.

Merry Christmas.

[Chief of the 60's]

Well that proves my point. I will never buy a lift that is painted black, unless it says Rotary on it.

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

Not a lift failure issue per se, but on the subject of manual shift cars lurching forward for any reason, I have always as a rule had a habit of setting the brake and popping the shifter into neutral every time I park my straight shift vehicles.
I guess because I've never had one where the clutch safety switch worked!

Yep, there's good reasons those pieces are in place. I've always kept the NSS in place on my stick cars. You can't jump the starter like that without the clutch pushed in. I also keep the lock out rod on the 69 and up cars. Meaning they all have to be parked in reverse to be able to remove the keys. Can't park them in neutral unless you want to leave the keys in it.

If your cars are 68 and earlier you don't have that locking issue.

[tcseacliff]

Originally Posted by Cliff R

I had a Forum member/customer tell me a story a while back about his GTO backing off the car ramps as he was unaware that the transmission was built with a reverse valve body. I can't remember the details and he may chime in to correct me here, but the car backed off the ramps, out thru the garage door and into the neighbors house or garage door! Very scary stuff and lucky it was only property damage with his experience.......Cliff

I was at my brothers house, had an '85 cutlass on the ramps, drove them up onto to raise the front,just had it in park ,well ,were were changing the engine and wer disconnecting the linkages and such. before I could ge the drive train out, withe the shift linkage removed the car slipped into neutral on it's won with my head near the bottom of the ramp, the entire car came down on the suspension and brushed the hars on my side burns!! was that close!!!!almost was a pancake face!

[AdamIsAdam]

this is why I bought the quickJack. I don't have the ceiling height for as full lift, but I didn't want to trust Jack stands alone. Even the quick Jack makes me nervous. I put Jack stands under as a backup.

[HO Kenny]

I work on a guy's private fleet of really cool cars that owns a lift company. He has the competitions lifts in the back to show the difference between his and theirs. There is a difference even though all are made in China.
A guy came in with a story and I saw the pics of one that was hit by a car. They were working under a car with the garage door open. A lady drove up and hit the wrong pedal, crashed into one of the posts hard enough to move the whole lift back about 4 feet. The post that was hit bent about 15 to 20 degrees. The hoist was not anchored, all of the locks held, the car stayed up and no one was hurt. They replaced the post and the customer was very happy.
Always have the cables adjusted correctly. They stretch.
Always rest them on the locks. All of them.
Always block or secure the car from rolling on the lift.
Carry out periodic inspections. Cables, pullies, locks, controls, fasteners, hydraulics.
Make sure the floor is level.

Even when something goes wrong, most 4posts are strong enough to keep you safe. As seen by the pics in the earlier posts.

[AdamIsAdam]

/\
|
What brand?

[tcseacliff]

Originally Posted by AdamIsAdam

this is why I bought the quickJack. I don't have the ceiling height for as full lift, but I didn't want to trust Jack stands alone. Even the quick Jack makes me nervous. I put Jack stands under as a backup.

very nice!! my car was on the ramp,and my brother was leaning on the front end of the car with his head under the hood disconnecting the radiator and when I disconnected the linkage on transmission it immediately moved because of him leaning on the front it jumped into neutral and the war since only the front was off the ground rolled off the ramp with my head right at the bottm of the ramp. the quick lack is awesome! so nice!