In-Floor, two post, fore-aft lift. Rebuild?

Hey gang.

My shop has a Weaver Fore-Aft lift in it's floor. It's an oldie.

No safety. Leaks. Settles in a scary fashion. It's time to either pull it, pump out the pits, and seal it up or rebuild it.

When I bought the shop (1948 Mobil Gas station) the previous owner said he put new seals on the cylinders. The original owner said he did the same thing 15 years ago. So obviously there is more wrong than just seals and pin holes (which the last owner said he had a shop roll metal and weld over the cylinders because there was some pinholes).

Anyone pull these and rebuild them yourself? Anyone ever add some form of safety to the cylinders like the newer Rotary lifts have?

Other than the obvious (shhh don't tell the EPA) environmental issues with the leaks I really need to make a decision soon so any thoughts are appreciated.

EPA issues aside, it's probably best to pull the lift just in the interest of safety. I could get you parts for replacement if you want, but you could dump a LOT of money into this old thing before you get it fixed to current standards. (ie. the air / oil tank may need replacement, the front jack assembly might need replacement, the rear jack assembly might need replacement, the control valves might need replacement). You're probably better off spending money on a good surface mount of newer electric / hydraulic inground.

EPA should never be an issue, unless you keep dumping oil into it and have no idea where the oil is going.The front piston and the air/oil tank should theoretically be contained in the front pit. If the rear jack is leaking down with a vehicle on it, you are leaking oil into the ground (not a good situation). If you take it out, it's always best to excavate that rear jack completely, the surrounding soil will need to be taken out and disposed of, but you SHOULD have a clean bill of health.

If you want to call and talk it over, I'll be around until 6 PM CST

Thanks for the advice Frank. At this point I must agree with you. I was just confirming my suspicions. I think a 2 post would be much better anyway.

I saved your info so if I have any questions I will give you a call.

I had one of those in one of my bays back in the day when I worked at a Ford dealership. I worked well for trucks but was a pain for front wheel drive cars and I always found it a little scary to use. The fact that the front and rear were controlled interdependently and (at least on mine) wanted to travel at different speeds was unsettling. On this particular one the controls were on the floor in front of the lift so it felt like you had the vehicle over your head while you were crouched on that floor trying to keep the front and back traveling at the same height while you were raising or lowering it

My suggestion would be to get rid of it and replace it with something more modern.