Bendpak - Quality Issues

[jimval]

Lately there seems to be a lot of posts regarding Bendpak lifts — specifically quality issues. Holes not lining up. Components warped from welding. Short studs on the ladders. Pulleys installed incorrectly by Bendpak. Plasma cutting/grinding/modifications required to actually assemble the lifts. Poor assembly instructions. (I am not making these up. They are all on the posts here from real customers).

I suspect that once all the assembly issues are ironed out and the lift is together it works fine but this has got to be very frustrating for those who buy these lifts. There is nothing worse than having fit problems when assembling a new purchase whether it is a $300 gas grill or a $3000 vehicle lift. Quality is not only about design — it's also about how it' is manufactured.

Seems like there are some quality issues in Bendpak's foreign manufacturing facilities. With this being said, I have one and only one simple question:

Are these lifts manufactured in an ISO certified facilities?

 

[tdkkart]

Are these lifts manufactured in an ISO certified facilities?

As someone who works in an ISO, as well as FAA, certified factory I can tell you that ISO certification has very little to do with the quality of what goes out the door. ISO is all about having procedures and record keeping in place, has nothing to do with the procedures actually being followed, nor the ability or desire of the employees to do the work correctly.
I've never seen an ISO auditor actually checking to see that the final product is what it claims to be.

ISo is basically nothing more than a "feel good" deal.

 

[Phatsub]

Does TGJ have any members who work for Bendpak?

 

[dawg]

As someone who works in an ISO, as well as FAA, certified factory I can tell you that ISO certification has very little to do with the quality of what goes out the door. ISO is all about having procedures and record keeping in place, has nothing to do with the procedures actually being followed, nor the ability or desire of the employees to do the work correctly.
I've never seen an ISO auditor actually checking to see that the final product is what it claims to be.

ISo is basically nothing more than a "feel good" deal.

X2!!!!!
if you read in a previous post someone had that issue and tech at bendpak said some lifts got shipped out before the changes to make them better have been performed.
but bendpak helped the guy out.
qoute"Although some of this info appears on another thread, my recent dealings with BendPak were so exceptional that I wanted to make sure that everyone at this forum had a chance to hear. I purchased a BendPak HD9ST lift and while installing we discovered some misalignment of bolt holes. We ended up doing some minor plasma cutting to get the correct alignments. The lift, by the way, is first class all the way. Jeff Kritzer, a senior VP at BendPak, heard my grousing here on the forum and contacted me. We had a great conversation in which he explained how the problem arose - BendPak had beefed up the lifts and realigned the holes, but a few got shipped (mine) before being correctly fitted. Jeff was totally committed to making things right by me and agreed to pay my contractor for the extra install work and offered me a great discount on their rolling bridge jack just to keep my good will. This incident certainly shows me the usefullness of this Forum. It also shows me what a class act Jeff and BendPak are - what other manufacturer would go out of its way to make sure the customer is fully satisfied? Mark me down as a major BendPak fan. Jim Harrison qoute"

 

[jimval]

As someone who works in an ISO, as well as FAA, certified factory I can tell you that ISO certification has very little to do with the quality of what goes out the door. ISO is all about having procedures and record keeping in place, has nothing to do with the procedures actually being followed, nor the ability or desire of the employees to do the work correctly.
I've never seen an ISO auditor actually checking to see that the final product is what it claims to be.

ISo is basically nothing more than a "feel good" deal.

Partly true but not totally. I've seen the ISO auditors look at work instructions and procedures to make sure people are following them. I've seen instances where the work instructions were inadequate and not being followed causing write ups and root cause investigations so there is some meat to it. However, once the auditors leave, things can and do happen. It does take an awful lot of work to get and maintain an ISO certification. It is not however foolproof and perfect. I'll admit that for sure.

 

[revlover]

jimval - do you own anything from BendPak?

 

[Junkman]

X2!!!!!
if you read in a previous post someone had that issue and tech at bendpak said some lifts got shipped out before the changes to make them better have been performed.
but bendpak helped the guy out.
qoute"Although some of this info appears on another thread, my recent dealings with BendPak were so exceptional that I wanted to make sure that everyone at this forum had a chance to hear. I purchased a BendPak HD9ST lift and while installing we discovered some misalignment of bolt holes. We ended up doing some minor plasma cutting to get the correct alignments. The lift, by the way, is first class all the way. Jeff Kritzer, a senior VP at BendPak, heard my grousing here on the forum and contacted me. We had a great conversation in which he explained how the problem arose - BendPak had beefed up the lifts and realigned the holes, but a few got shipped (mine) before being correctly fitted. Jeff was totally committed to making things right by me and agreed to pay my contractor for the extra install work and offered me a great discount on their rolling bridge jack just to keep my good will. This incident certainly shows me the usefullness of this Forum. It also shows me what a class act Jeff and BendPak are - what other manufacturer would go out of its way to make sure the customer is fully satisfied? Mark me down as a major BendPak fan. Jim Harrison qoute"

It is obvious from jimval's latest signature change that he just has a *&%$-on for Bend Pak and he will do whatever he can to damage their fine reputation of good customer service. Personally, I find this very repulsive, especially, since I can't ever remember anyone trashing his favorite lift, the Pro Park by Greg Smith Equipment. It is obvious to me that Greg Smith Equipment must also think quite highly of Bend Pak, since they also sell Bend Pak products.....

(2) Pro Park 9 plus lifts wider than wide. (They went together with NO grinding, plasma cutting or modifications). Thanks Greg Smith Equipment!

 

[tdkkart]

I've seen the ISO auditors look at work instructions and procedures to make sure people are following them.

Yes, that does happen, but if you think back you did things differently when you knew your mother was watching also, and you clean your house before mom shows up, especially if you know she's coming. Everything goes back to normal after she leaves.......

 

[jay50]

As someone who works in an ISO, as well as FAA, certified factory I can tell you that ISO certification has very little to do with the quality of what goes out the door. ISO is all about having procedures and record keeping in place, has nothing to do with the procedures actually being followed, nor the ability or desire of the employees to do the work correctly.
I've never seen an ISO auditor actually checking to see that the final product is what it claims to be.

ISo is basically nothing more than a "feel good" deal.

I hold a ISO 9001:2000 Lead auditor certification from a nationally recognized
Registrar. I have directed over 19 audits involving external auditors evaluating compliance along with establishing the 9001 Quality Management system in 2 companies. One of my additional duties in my company which is 9001 certified, is to perform internal audits of the various functional areas of the plant along with the required ISO 9001 elements/clauses. This is required by ISO 9001.

I have also audited some of our suppliers quality management systems (9001 certified). The strength (or weakness) of ISO 9001 is found in the area of how a company conducts their required internal audits to continually improve and to assess compliance to ISO and. Some companies conduct superficial audits and do not drill down deep into their manufacturing processes during audits to add any value to their audits.

Companies with ISO certification typically have to get certified every 3 years from their Registrar. The external auditors from the Registrar conduct surveillance audits every year at announced intervals.

I do not put much faith in any company with a ISO 9001 certificate displayed on the wall. I have audited too many that were absolutely disaster areas with very poor process control.

 

[OldCarGuy]

I second that an ISO certified facility has little to do with producing a well engineered and manufactured product. That certification has more to do with busywork of shuffling paper around than anything.

On the other hand a lift that has the ALI/ETL third party Certified label affixed to it determines the lift is both engineered and manufactured to the industry safety standards.

And when small problems such as bolt misalignment occurs. I’m more interest on how the manufacturer receives and takes care of these issues. I have one BendPak two-post lift, one Mohawk two-post lift, and five Stinger four-post lift in my retirement garages. I installed all but the BendPak by myself. All with no problems.

 

[jimval]

It is obvious from jimval's latest signature change that he just has a *&%$-on for Bend Pak and he will do whatever he can to damage their fine reputation of good customer service

You always did have problems reading. I did not bash their customer service. Quote it and show me. I don't like it when a product arrives at my door and I have to modify it to get it to go together. If it doesn't bother you that's great. It does bother a lot of people.

 

[tdkkart]

I hold a ISO 9001:2000 Lead auditor certification from a nationally recognized
Registrar. I have directed over 19 audits involving external auditors evaluating compliance along with establishing the 9001 Quality Management system in 2 companies. One of my additional duties in my company which is 9001 certified, is to perform internal audits of the various functional areas of the plant along with the required ISO 9001 elements/clauses. This is required by ISO 9001.

I have also audited some of our suppliers quality management systems (9001 certified). The strength (or weakness) of ISO 9001 is found in the area of how a company conducts their required internal audits to continually improve and to assess compliance to ISO and. Some companies conduct superficial audits and do not drill down deep into their manufacturing processes during audits to add any value to their audits.

Companies with ISO certification typically have to get certified every 3 years from their Registrar. The external auditors from the Registrar conduct surveillance audits every year at announced intervals.

I do not put much faith in any company with a ISO 9001 certificate displayed on the wall. I have audited too many that were absolutely disaster areas with very poor process control.

Nothing against you Jay50, but I'm LMAO right now because the above diatribe is typical of how screwed up manufacturing(and the world) is today.

3 paragraphs of basically propaganda-ish babbling before getting to the point of things in the last paragraph, which was my point in the first place. ISO has very little to any bearing on how things ar actually accomplished and the quality that goes out the door.

 

[tdkkart]

On the other hand a lift that has the ALI/ETL third party Certified label affixed to it determines the lift is both engineered and manufactured to the industry safety standards.

Certification labels do no assure that the folks doing the assembly work gave a **** about what they were doing, or knew what they were doing in the first place. What happens when you get a lift done by a first-day no training weldor??
"Just weld these pieces together, then have inspector Joe look at them"

What happens when inspector Joe don't give a **** that day??

I think we saw a poorly welded hitch in another thread?? Wanna bet it came out of an ISO facility??

 

[OldCarGuy]

Certification labels do no assure that the folks doing the assembly work gave a **** about what they were doing, or knew what they were doing in the first place. What happens when you get a lift done by a first-day no training weldor??
"Just weld these pieces together, then have inspector Joe look at them"

What happens when inspector Joe don't give a **** that day??

I think we saw a poorly welded hitch in another thread?? Wanna bet it came out of an ISO facility??

The trailer you’re talking about was a Haulmark. One of the largest enclosed trailer manufactures in the United States. They make a good economical trailer. To the best of my knowledge they are not ISO Certified. I have owned four enclosed trailers manufactured by them over the years. The last one tracked 8” out of line in 26 feet length. I toured the factory and saw that they used fixtures to align the axles to the frame in the welding process. Supposedly making it impossible to happen. With a simple measuring tape I found that the axles were welded out of square to the frame. I hope that fella has better luck than I did with Haulmark. I ended up cutting the welds, placing the axles square, and welding in place myself. The trailer ran straight as an arrow after that.

Again, In today’s world I feel a heck of a lot safer working under a lift that has an ALI/ETL third party Certified label affixed to it than one without.

 

[jcs_in_ky]

Oldcar guy, Does your new Bendpack 2 post have a ALI/ETL certification label on it? If you look closely I bet that it doesn't. I looked at your pictures and I don't see one. Bendpak still says certification is "pending". I bought a HD-12 four post in January. I was told by the company that I bought from that I should rest assured that I was making a good purcahse because the list was ALI/ETL certified and I should only by one that was. When I got the lift there was no certification label on it. I called directly to ALI/ETL and had them look my lift up and it wasn't on their list. It turns out that Bendpak let the certification expire the year before I purchased so it was not a certified list when I purchased it. The reps at Bendpak did not know that and still tried to tell me it was certified until they found out what happened. For those of you that don't know what an ALI/ETL certification label looks like you can see what on the left side of their home page (gold label). ALI says that any lift receiving their certification must list the country of origin on the manufcacturers data plate.
http://www.autolift.org/

For the most part I'm happy with my Bendpak lift but I wish they'd be a little more honest about the certification. I've still got one issue with my HD-12, hopefully I can get someone at Bendpak to help resolve that issue. I'm not sure if their lifts are made in the U.S. or not, you get a different answer depending who you talk to at Bendpak. One person their told me that about 40% of their lifts are made in the U.S.. You have to wonder with the issues of incorrect parts being shipped to customers if these lifts don't come in from overseas and go right to customers without being inspected in our country. That would explain why they don't know what lifts are shipped out with the incorrect parts and do something about it prior to shipping to the customer.

John

 

[e-tek]

jimval - good to see you took my advice! Now that you got your own thread, better titled: "Let me try and sully BendPak's reputation", you are getting lots of replies defending them! This is from people who have paid out good money, spent time setting up and then using the product.
Many had perfect experiences. Some had problems. Regardless, all said they'd buy another and had good customer service experiences. It's not like we owe them anything. Do you owe them a beating? I wonder what's under your bonnet?
As well, BendPak lifts are ASI certified. It's in their literature and advertising. Again - for whatever that means to people. Personally, I go for the word of others who've owned the product.

 

[jcs_in_ky]

e-tek, Not trying to pick a fight with you but all of their lifts are not certified. If they don't have that gold ALI label on them then they aren't certified. Lots of people have the impression that when they are buying from Bendpak they can be assured they are getting a certified lift and that's not the case. Just like dealing with any other company it's buyer beware and you have to do a little research to make sure that you are getting what you think you are getting.

I've had experience with Bendpak customer service, some good but that hasn't been the case with all of it. Some of the service poor. Some of you have also had great luck with Jeff Kritzer getting things done for you, that honestly hasn't been the case for me. I've been waiting 11 days now for him to email me some information that he promised and he hasn't followed through with that, even after contacting him a second time about it.

Bendpak makes a decent product but there are other companies out there that make the same or better quality. They certainly are not the be all and end all of automotive lifts. I initially went with Bendpak because of the great luck a couple of people I knew had with their products. One guy I used to work with bought a lift from them about 15 years ago, used it every day in his shop and never had a bit of trouble with it. That lift was probably built better than the current production models, I know it had quite a bit more steel in it but that was back when steel was cheap and lots of companies overbuilt their products. I'm happy with my lift and am buying a second lift from them. To be honest the main factor that came into play with purchasing the second lift was that I had over $1000.00 credit with one of their dealers that I could put towards it. Credit or not I wouldn't have purchased from them again if it was a poor quality lift but if i hadn't had the credit I may have gone with another company this time around.

Hopefully Bendpak will work on improving their quality control so that lifts are shipped out with parts that go together correctly. Even though they do seem to take care of the problem quickly it still results in some frustration and also costs them money in getting the new parts shipped out.

John

 

[ovilla]

I bet if we took a poll we would find that in the last 12 months BendPak has sold more lifts to members on this site than any other manufacturer. It's not hard to figure out that folks are seeing that they can get a great product at a fair price.

Also, with volume, just like anything else, I would expect for there to be different experiences. Jimval, I think a grand total of TWO issues from members on this site (please do correct me if I'm wrong here) does not mandate a product recall or suggest that they make an inferior product. I'm sure if we started a new thread titled "What went wrong with your lift install?" we'd get an idea of other isolated issues with other lifts.

Also, I'm sure if folks had elected to not have to deal with any grinding, welding, plasma cutting, etc. they could have just waited a bit for updated replacement parts. Keep in mind that most folks would not have wanted to or even been equiped with a welder, plasma cutter, etc., and would only be able to simply assemble their lift. A lot of folks, like most of America, would also have feared doing some kind of damage to their very expensive lift. Members who did take these additional steps are obviously not the norm and were comfortable doing these modifications and didn't think they were stuck and had to take action or end up with a 2,000 lb paper weight. Come on, it's not like BendPak would have had to send out a whole new lift each time - just the updated parts. Even then, do you think a customer would have been charged for replacement parts or shipping? Read all the threads, nobody is being charged for anything. BendPak even covered the additional expense that someone had incurred with labor charges, as part of their retrofit.

Finally, who has ever heard of a friend or coworker ever buying anything from a company simply because they are ISO certified? Sorry, but this has got to be the dumbest selling tactic that I've ever heard of (and it obviously never caught on). Do you see any other lift manufacturer (or tool company) other than gregg smith equipment toting this? No! Simply because nobody even knows what this means anymore. It's definitely not recognized as a sign of quality by any means. Maybe the US gov't cares about this and it helps some companies get sought after contracts. However, most educated consumers shop by brand name/loyalty or word of mouth. Seriously, even if Snap On or Craftsman was or was not ISO ceritified, millions of people would still buy their stuff because they make great products.

 

[OldCarGuy]

Oldcar guy, Does your new Bendpack 2 post have a ALI/ETL certification label on it? If you look closely I bet that it doesn't. I looked at your pictures and I don't see one. Bendpak still says certification is "pending". I bought a HD-12 four post in January. I was told by the company that I bought from that I should rest assured that I was making a good purcahse because the list was ALI/ETL certified and I should only by one that was. When I got the lift there was no certification label on it. I called directly to ALI/ETL and had them look my lift up and it wasn't on their list. It turns out that Bendpak let the certification expire the year before I purchased so it was not a certified list when I purchased it. The reps at Bendpak did not know that and still tried to tell me it was certified until they found out what happened. For those of you that don't know what an ALI/ETL certification label looks like you can see what on the left side of their home page (gold label). ALI says that any lift receiving their certification must list the country of origin on the manufcacturers data plate.
http://www.autolift.org/

For the most part I'm happy with my Bendpak lift but I wish they'd be a little more honest about the certification. I've still got one issue with my HD-12, hopefully I can get someone at Bendpak to help resolve that issue. I'm not sure if their lifts are made in the U.S. or not, you get a different answer depending who you talk to at Bendpak. One person their told me that about 40% of their lifts are made in the U.S.. You have to wonder with the issues of incorrect parts being shipped to customers if these lifts don't come in from overseas and go right to customers without being inspected in our country. That would explain why they don't know what lifts are shipped out with the incorrect parts and do something about it prior to shipping to the customer.

John

I couldn’t find an ALI Certification label anywhere on my new BendPak lift. I did receive all the ALI guides though.However it was one of the first newly designed lifts that they manufactured. And has the serial number 2. I remember that Jeff mentioned that they are waiting for the Certification process to be completed. I wonder if I will receive the certification label once it’s issued?

This is the ALI Certification Label on the side of my Mohawk. Plus the handy optional weight gage that I purchased for $75.00.

 

[Junkman]

How does the weight gauge work? Do you think that it would be adaptable to a 4 post lift... Bend Pak of course..

 

[OldCarGuy]

How does the weight gauge work? Do you think that it would be adaptable to a 4 post lift... Bend Pak of course..

I see no reason why a weight gage wouldn’t work on a four post lift. Though it may not be as accurate because of all the cables and pulleys. Looks as if Mohawk has them manufactured for them. It’s a 2 1/2" diameter liquid filled hydraulic gage. With a face calibrated from 0 to 10,000 pounds. And is mounted on the top of the lifts hydraulic manifold.

I’d imagine you could take any similar gage with the maximum capacity that the pump puts out. And mount it in line off the pump. Lift several vehicles of known weight, and mark your own graduations

 

[e-tek]

OK, so now that everyone's bored with jimval's original topic....let's get on to that hydraulic weight gauge from OldCarGuy!!
Are you saying it's a hydraulic Oil Pressure Gauge and you use it to approximate the weight it's lifting?

 

[Vicegrip]

My Bend Pac showed up right on time with all parts accounted for. The parts all fit as and where intended and I was able to read and follow the complete and well laid out step by step directions. It works as expected and I have had no issues with it. It has the fancy gold sticker as well. I would purchase another one and have recommended the brand and type to others that have purchased them as well.

I deal with 151 lifts. 150 at work and one at home.

 

[jcs_in_ky]

Old Car Guy, You mentioned your new Bendpak came with all of the ALI literature but not the label. When I first got my 4 post I opened up the envelope with the instructions and found the ALI information. That information being there led me to believe that it was ALI certified, especially since at that time I did not know about the requirement for the certification label, etc. When I called ALI to inquire about my lift being on the list I told them I thought sure it must be because their information was included with my lift. The gentleman I spoke with at ALI told me that part of the requirements they have for the manufacturers that get certification from them is that the ALI safety information be included with every lift they ship out even if it's not certified. So finding the ALI information enclosed with a lift doesn't tell you anything about whether that particular lift is certified. Just curious, does your new lift list the country of origin on the data plate that contains the serial number?

 

[OldCarGuy]

OK, so now that everyone's bored with jimval's original topic....let's get on to that hydraulic weight gauge from OldCarGuy!!
Are you saying it's a hydraulic Oil Pressure Gauge and you use it to approximate the weight it's lifting?

Actually the optional weight gage that I purchased indicates a rather accurate weight of the vehicle you’re lifting. However you need to read the pressure before you rest the vehicle on the mechanical locks.

Old Car Guy, You mentioned your new Bendpak came with all of the ALI literature but not the label. When I first got my 4 post I opened up the envelope with the instructions and found the ALI information. That information being there led me to believe that it was ALI certified, especially since at that time I did not know about the requirement for the certification label, etc. When I called ALI to inquire about my lift being on the list I told them I thought sure it must be because their information was included with my lift. The gentleman I spoke with at ALI told me that part of the requirements they have for the manufacturers that get certification from them is that the ALI safety information be included with every lift they ship out even if it's not certified. So finding the ALI information enclosed with a lift doesn't tell you anything about whether that particular lift is certified. Just curious, does your new lift list the country of origin on the data plate that contains the serial number?

There is only one place on the BendPak lift that indicates where it is manufactured. That is on the Emerson’s motor plate that indicates it was assembled in Mexico.

There are four places on my Mohawk that say “Made in United States.” additionally the Baldor motor and the Monarch Hydraulic Dyna Pack hydraulic pump assembly have “Made in the United States” on their nameplates.

.

 

[dawg]

quote"There are four places on my Mohawk that say “Made in United States.” additionally the Baldor motor and the Monarch Hydraulic Dyna Pack hydraulic pump assembly have “Made in the United States” on their nameplates.quote"
but all are assembled in Mexico.
just like 90% of the automobiles.
10%in canada

 

[jimval]

"Greg Smith Equipment Sales is excited to share some important information about our four post hobbyist lifts. We now offer the lowest priced certified hobbyist four post lifts sold in the USA and Canada.
The Direct Lift PP-8 S...the Direct Lift PP-8 Plus...and the Direct Lift PP-9 Plus have all been third party tested and have passed these stringent tests with flying colors."

http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/Articles.asp?ID=299

 

[Junkman]

"Greg Smith Equipment Sales is excited to share some important information about our four post hobbyist lifts. We now offer the lowest priced certified hobbyist four post lifts sold in the USA and Canada.
The Direct Lift PP-8 S...the Direct Lift PP-8 Plus...and the Direct Lift PP-9 Plus have all been third party tested and have passed these stringent tests with flying colors."

http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/Articles.asp?ID=299

the rest of the story..............

From the Greg Smith Equipment website...

At this time, we believe that the three Direct Lift models are the ONLY off-shore hobbyist four post lifts that are third party tested. The Direct Lifts are made off-shore to the exacting standards of THE DOVER CORPORATION. That's our story; and we're sticking to it!

This further validates that the Bend Pak Certified Lifts are not made off shore...

Greg Smith Equipment has hundreds of these four post lifts in stock at their three convenient locations. ALI/ETL testing was performed on the Direct four post lifts that were in-stock at the Indianapolis location. The ALI gold certified label is not affixed to the Direct four post lifts presently in stock at the three Greg Smith Equipment Sales locations. The Gold ALI labels will be affixed to the four post lifts that will arrive at our locations in about 60 days. The Direct four post lifts (presently in stock) and the Direct four post lifts with the Gold ALI label are identical.

ALI will not provide the ALI Gold label for the Direct four post lifts that have left the factory and are currently in stock at Greg Smith Equipment.

Here is the deal:
The Direct four post lifts that are presently in our warehouses and the Direct four post lifts that will have the ALI/ETL Gold Label are identical. You can wait on the Gold Label lifts (about 6 weeks) and pay a higher price...or buy now and receive the exact same quality lift in about 5 business days.

Greg Smith Equipment Sales and THE DOVER CORPORATION are NOT charging extra for the THIRD PARTY CERTIFICATION of the four post lifts. The reason you will pay more is because fuel and steel continue to escalate in price, so those lifts we receive in six weeks will cost MORE than the lifts we now have in stock.

Now, I have no gripe with Greg Smith Equipment, and I have even made a purchase from them them in the past. Just want to point out that they don't have these certified lifts in stock at present, and when they do have them in stock, they will cost more then than they cost now. How close the newly certified lifts will be in price to the competitors lifts is yet to be determined. Also, when comparing price, consider the cost of shipping is included in the Bend Pak lift, and the Greg Smith lift is FOB at the location that you purchase from. $2795 plus shipping of $290 = $3085 (Delaware). The Bend Pak HD9 certified lift today is $2685 and includes shipping. I got the Greg Smith price today directly from Greg Smith himself. I got the Bend Pak price today from www.asedeals.com website today. To be totally fair in this evaluation, you need to add the drip pans, casters, and jack tray to the Bend Pak lift price, since they are included in the price of the Greg Smith lift. When you add these items into the equation, the Greg Smith lift is slightly less expensive than the Bend Pak today, but it still isn't ALI certified, and the Bend Pak is. When the certified lifts arrive at Greg Smith Equipment, they will be more expensive.

 

[jimval]

This further validates that the Bend Pak Certified Lifts are not made off shore...

This is funny. From the new 2008 Bendpak catalog:

"component manufacturing is offshore"

"Our overseas manufacturing facilites are ISO 9000 and 9001 accredited."

"Bendpak is a member of the automotive lift institute"

I can't see anywhere in the catalog where it states that Bendpak lifts are ATI/ETL certified. What I do see on almost everypage is this little logo indicating that Bendpak is a <b>MEMBER</b> of the Automotive Lift Institute.

So now that the three Greg Smith lifts are ATI/ETL certified you are going to pick on the price? What are you going to pick on next the color?

This is hilarious. How much is Bendpak paying you to post?

Just to refresh, my Greg Smith lifts went together without ONE single modification.

 

[e-tek]

Well, hasn't this become the lift-******* match of the year?? Everyone go to their respective corners and change your oil or something!!

This just in:
Earleir today, after posting a scathing rebuttle to comments made about his GregSmith affections, JimVal was working under his lift of the same name when the rubber bands (certified) let go and he was caught by his size 43 boots. Luckily there was a BenPak lift nearby and he was able to lift the lift off himself and is today recovering at home.
Film at 11.

 

[jay50]

It appears that the use of "certified" is used pretty loosely in the lift industry. So much for so called lift standards and certifications.

I guess joe chen does not have to worry about making bendpak parts....

 

[PhantomPark.com]

Lately there seems to be a lot of posts regarding Bendpak lifts — specifically quality issues. Holes not lining up. Components warped from welding. Short studs on the ladders. Pulleys installed incorrectly by Bendpak. Plasma cutting/grinding/modifications required to actually assemble the lifts. Poor assembly instructions. (I am not making these up. They are all on the posts here from real customers).

I suspect that once all the assembly issues are ironed out and the lift is together it works fine but this has got to be very frustrating for those who buy these lifts. There is nothing worse than having fit problems when assembling a new purchase whether it is a $300 gas grill or a $3000 vehicle lift. Quality is not only about design — it's also about how it' is manufactured.

Seems like there are some quality issues in Bendpak's foreign manufacturing facilities. With this being said, I have one and only one simple question:

Are these lifts manufactured in an ISO certified facilities?

To all those concerned about BendPak lifts:

Hello. My name is Brad Davies, owner and operator of American Custom Lifts. First, I'd like to say that I was very disappointed to read the negative thread posted regarding BendPak lifts. These issues have happened to every lift manufacturer in the world. I've been in the lift business for 15 years and BendPak is one of our largest competitors. They're a good company, and Jeff Kritzer has taken their company to levels that many of their competitors would like to go to. You can't take a company to their level without providing quality product and service. BendPak lifts may be manufactured in China, but they're built to their high standard specifications. American Custom Lifts products are manufactured in the United States and quality control is most important to us. Nevertheless, issues such as what was posted can happen to the best of us.

Brad Davies

 

[e-tek]

The Phantom-menace knocks one out of the park!!! Finally someone comes on and plays the "adult card". I for one applaud your efforts, but you'll have to do better than handing one to your competition to look good to the crusty pessimits on this board!!! (jimVal will think you're a double agent - working for both BendPak and American Custom!!!)

 

[JSK]

Wish I had more time to write but am running late today and headed out of town tomorrow for vacation. Aloha!

Brad Davies - thanks for the kind words and support. I’ll do the same if an AC lift issue ever arises - you have my word.

BendPak Fans – as always, your patronage and support is very much appreciated.

Garage Journal Admin – I promise to provide useful and informative information and appreciate you allowing us to express opinions without interfering. Must be why you have such a large following. Keep up the good work.

jimval - your comments are warranted and should be a wake up call for all of us at BendPak. We regret that the whole misalignment was not identified earlier and that it caused hardship for some of our customers. Six weeks of production can literally account for almost 3000 lifts of various designs and capacities - within a blink of an eye we had shipped dozens of the HD-9 series with a 3/16” clearance error.

The production error had originated in our drafting facility where the 3/16” misalignment issue was overlooked. The factory processes and assembly line produced the exact product as drafted. The engineers bad, and not easily noticeable.

jimval is expressing his concerns like he should. This is a source of information for all and BendPak must be willing to take the good with the bad. It’s how we handle the bad that maintains our brand and reputation.

Yes – the HD-9’s are certified. Go to www.autolift.org to validate. Other BendPak models have been tested and are pending listing. The ETL mark was omitted off the latest brochure because we were unsure when all of our other new models will be listed – some that were tested as far back as 2005. If you use the ETL / ALI mark incorrectly they can issue a cease and desist making you throw all in the trash - not a calculated risk I was willing to take. All ALI member companies use ETL so there are some delivery problems due to the skeleton ETL crew. But when they do finally deliver the goods, they can’t be beat as far as credibility in the marketplace.

Jeff Kritzer
BendPak

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I couldn’t find an ALI Certification label anywhere on my new BendPak lift. I did receive all the ALI guides though.However it was one of the first newly designed lifts that they manufactured. And has the serial number 2. I remember that Jeff mentioned that they are waiting for the Certification process to be completed. I wonder if I will receive the certification label once it’s issued?

They wanted to make you feel good ,so they provided all of the ALI guides, wonder what ALI would think about that? Retroactive certification! I doubt that.

Charles