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DrEntropy

DrEntropy

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From pal and former partner. He's got a Rolls on a drive-on lift, doing brake work. Lift cable BROKE with this as result ( no injuries!):

lift_fail2.jpg



cable.jpg


It took a call to the outfit that installed it (2009), a forklift and a LOT of effort to get the Corniche down without damage. This is the second lift to fail with a large car on it in our total time working together. Scary stuff!
 
Oh boy!..... Glad no-one was hurt or any damage to the customers car.
That cable needs to have a higher tensile rating.
 
Glad no one was hurt. But is that device made for heavy cars?

:scared:
 
Should always be setting on the safety stops instead of the cables except while raising or lowering. Of course maybe it was "in the process."
 
Customer was IN the car, it happened as it was being lowered.. safety catch did engage but with the distortion the best plan was to brace it before anything else.
 
DrEntropy said:
Customer was IN the car, it happened as it was being lowered.. safety catch did engage but with the distortion the best plan was to brace it before anything else.
Click to expand...
Hope he had his seatbelt on!
 
Wow! They’re lucky the car didn’t fall off the axle stands too. That would have been a major “brown trouser moment”!
 
Knew a guy back in my college days who got a call from a dealer who was servicing his car. Seems they hadn't gotten it centered on the lift an once it was 6ft or so up, roled to one side and landed roof down on the concrete. Because the car was a couple years old they got out of replacing it and only offered an at cost new one. Being a grad student he couldn't afford a new car, or to get a lawyer and fight it. Ended up with a cheap used one from the paper with what the insurance paid off and what he scraped together.
 
Hmm, what is the capacity of a typical 4 post lift. I think they may have pushed that one a little too far.
 
vette said:
Hmm, what is the capacity of a typical 4 post lift. I think they may have pushed that one a little too far.
Click to expand...
Having said that I do remember that there were two rating organizations that rated most lifts sold in US. I believe the one organization would guarantee that the lift had been tested to twice its stated rating before they would put their sticker on it. But I do know from my own searches and purchases that not all lifts got rated.
 
Chinese lift?
 
I bought my Danmar 2 post lift about 5 years ago. At that time during my searches I only came across 2 lifts that were made in the US. And they averaged about double the price of all the other lifts. The one lift that I was very interesting in was Rotary. They were originally made in USA and were well known to be very good. At the time i was shopping it became evident that even the Rotary lifts were not made in the USA at least not all their models. And not the ones I could afford. But I also discovered that there was a rating system. Two organizations and at least one of them rated safety and breaking capacity. Not all the lifts on the market were rated or stickered from these organizations. I don't recall and not in view of the raters names. The Danmar 10K lift that I bought was rated by both. You did pay a little more for the ones that were rated but I believed it was worth it.
 
I never worked under a lift but in 1950 a gas station went out of business on Jefferson St. It had a pit, and it was there that I went to install lowering rear spring shackles on my 1940 Ford. Being inexperienced, I made a possibly horrible mistake. The Ford had one transverse leaf spring front and rear, and what I didn't realize was that I had to place a small jack under the end of the spring so that I could gently lower it, put on the longer shackle and jack it back up to install the lower shackle pin and nut. I carefully unscrewed the shackle bolt and knocked out the pin. BANG! Freed of the shackle, the end of the spring dropped to the ground. Luckily, my left hand was not under it. What was I to do? It was late; maybe 6 pm. My friend Charley was with me and we did have a small jack. Luckily too, there was just enough room under the spring and it was far enough from the rail running down the length of the pit to slide the jack under and pump up the spring to where I could install the shackle pin, the nut and I think a cotter pin, remove the jack and drive home in time for dinner. Lesson learned.
 
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