4 Post Lift Twisted on the Way Down

[danieldd]

This is a 9K Advantage lift...

I had one of our cars on the lift. It was high enough to park a 2nd car underneath. I pulled the car underneath out to retrieve the car on top as it had not been driven in about a month.

I jogged the lift upward to release the locks and proceeded to bring the car down. I was standing at the front of the lift near the hydraulic reservoir. As the car started going down, when it reached the 1/2 way mark, I started noticing the far two posts were no longer vertical but were canted about 10-15 degrees to the left. So much so that the base of the posts were no longer flat on the floor. This was only on the far end. The end that I was at the 2 feet were still level on the floor.

At this point the only thing I could do was to raise the car back up and when I did the 2 far posts lined back up level and I was able to bring the car back down safely. I have no idea what happened to cause this - but I sure don't need this to happen again.

Something must have caught on the far posts coming down because I remember when I was initially lowering it I heard a loud pop. I guess I should have looked at that point to determine what happened.

Anybody got any ideas? I assembled the lift myself.

 

[Old Man Roger]

Sounds like you may have a cable issue. That's assuming the locking mechanism wasn't the issue. I assumed it wasn't, because you were half way down before the issue appeared.

 

[Old Man Roger]

I think I would be paranoid till I found the cause..lol Probably be a good idea to bolt in down too. Imagine if you hadn't been paying attention

 

[Yankeefarmer]

I suspect one or two of the locks engaged on the way down without you realizing it. With the mechanical system these lifts use, you are pulling down on the lock release lever with one hand while the lever is moving down. All this time your other hand is busy with the lowering level on the hydraulic unit. It is easy to allow the lock release lever to drift upwards into a locking position with realizing it. This is especially true once the lift gets low enough to block your vision of the four individual lock fingers.

 

[scottmoyer]

I had something similar happen last year with mine. The far corner latch didn't release because the handle linkage screw loosened itself. The Advantage lift won't allow the system to drop as it binds when this happens and stops going down. I normaled the lift back to proper position and went back and tightened all handle release screws. I have not had issues since. It was definitely loose handle release screws on my end.

 

[ace10]

You need to recheck if your locks are still in synch.

I have several Advantages. It sounds like the locks on the far side posts weren't released.
Could be an issue with the linkages (tighten and adjust as necessary) or the cables.

You will definitely see what you described if one or more locks are not released.

 

[danieldd]

All of you are correct. There are several issues I have identified this morning..

1st - One of the locks was not adjusted properly. Looked like it had dragged on the way down and scratched the paint off the column. This has now been fixed.

2nd - When I was testing the locks this morning. I had raised it and then set it back down on the locks (car is on the lift now). I looked at all 4 locks and there are a couple of locks that are not connecting with the column (they are sitting on the column lock cutouts). So that means I now have a cable issue. I am going to have to unload the car off the lift and re-adjust all the column cables as it is apparent they are not aligned equally. I believe this is my problem. When I initially set up the lift, I did the cable adjustment. I then re-adjusted the cables a couple of weeks later. Either I did it incorrectly or the cables have stretched somewhat.

I probably can't get to it until tomorrow afternoon, but I will report back on my progress. I appreciate all you taking the time to provide feedback!

 

[Old Man Roger]

Make sure you aren't adjusting the cables to compensate for another issue. Cable routing, frayed cable, etc etc.

 

[Chuckster in NJ]

This "potentially dangerous" scenario is the MAIN REASON you have to watch all four posts and pay attention to what is happening while you raise and lower the lift.

TIP! Check ALL movable parts to make sure they are working properly and clean.

BTW! I have a Atlas 9K four post and have never had a problem with it in over 13 years.

 

[finn]

But you probably would have exactly the same problem with your Atlas lift if your lock release mechanism wasn’t properly adjusted.

Tnhis doesn’ Seem to be an inherent problem with any particular brand.

I had a minor issue with cable and lock adjustment on my two post lift of a different brand. It’s all about getting the installation correct.

 

[CraigStu]

Even w/ just 2 post lifts in shops I have worked in we occasionally had problems w/ the lock cables getting out of adjustment. Many of them had more than enough travel at the handle to release the locks even if one was lagging behind the other but eventually the lagging one doesn't release. I can only imagine this would be more of a problem when there are 4 locks. I am glad you seem to have it figured out.

 

[scottmoyer]

The biggest thing to consider between lift types is that a "C" channel type lift will allow the other 3 columns to continue lowering while the 4th is hung up, causing the lift to be unstable. The boxed channel will bind and cause the lift to stop lowering because it can't lower.

 

[BruceMc]

The biggest thing to consider between lift types is that a "C" channel type lift will allow the other 3 columns to continue lowering while the 4th is hung up, causing the lift to be unstable.

Had this happen once, because I got sloppy and was in a hurry to lower the car. No damage, but it got me back on track to take things slowly and carefully.

 

[danieldd]

Update. Everything is re-adjusted correctly. Noticed with nothing on the lift and raising it up seemed to be okay. However, on the way down, one of the columns seems to bind as it went down.

So I called Advantage and they advised me to wax all the columns. Apparently this seemed to fix the problem. Its too soon to tell if this will alleviate the issue. Would have never thought the columns needed waxing...