2 post lift lock question

[wit2003]

Hey everyone, I have a question about my rotary 12k pound two post lift. My question is regarding the safety locks.

When the lift goes up, it goes up level and you hear a single click versus a click click. This shows me that everything is good with the arms and locks etc.

Now once I've reached the desired height and I go to set it down on the locks to begin whatever work I'm doing, one side stops before the other. And it appears that the car is slightly tilted(side to side). If my posts were off then it wouldn't go up in sync right?

One thing I did notice recently is that one of the cables seems looser than the other. Would this cause the delayed lowering?

 

[Wadd2]

Yes it would and in fact you may be a whole notch behind on the one side and that's why it's tilted. Try tightening the side that is loose a little bit and see how it effects the timing of the latches. My bet is you'll have to take all the slack out on the loose side and then maybe a little more to get it caught up to the other side. You only hear one click so they're latching at the same time but probably at different levels. After installing my Rotary 9000 Tuesday we had to make the same adjustment on mine however it wasn't as far off as yours apparently is but clicks were definitely at different times. Another thing to think about is if this problem just showed up all of a sudden you'd better check the cables and everything very closely to see why it just happened all of a sudden.

 

[Shadowdog500]

Swing and extend the arms on both sides of the lift so that they touch in the middle of the lift. If all is well the arms should touch at the same level. Then run the lift up and down to make sure they stay lined up and that the locks click at the same time. Adjust from there.

I numbered the holes on the safety system on both columns starting at 0 at the bottom so I can easily see if they are both at the same level on my lift. The far column can be raised and lowered independently on my Mohawk, so I use the numbers just to make sure I have everything in sync.

I also visually confirm that both locks are fully engaged on both columns before working under the vehicle. I used to think i was wasting my time with this step until i found a safety that didnt fully engauge because I didnt raise the lift high enough for the safety to engage before lowering it to fully set the safeties. It was hanging on like a sear on a hair trigger.

Chris

 

[Bob C]

Hey everyone, I have a question about my rotary 12k pound two post lift. My question is regarding the safety locks.

When the lift goes up, it goes up level and you hear a single click versus a click click. This shows me that everything is good with the arms and locks etc.

Now once I've reached the desired height and I go to set it down on the locks to begin whatever work I'm doing, one side stops before the other. And it appears that the car is slightly tilted(side to side). If my posts were off then it wouldn't go up in sync right?

One thing I did notice recently is that one of the cables seems looser than the other. Would this cause the delayed lowering?

Verify the posts are level side to side. The best way is a transit, however you can lay a straight edge accross the 2 bases of the columns, then put a level on it. If it is off by anything, it will translate that difference to your lock height positions and will directly affect the vehicle being level.

If columns are level AND EQ cables are adjusted for equal clicks on both sides, the vehicle will sit level on the locks.

The locks can click at the same time EVEN THOUGH you do not have level columns. This will put undo stress on one of the EQ cables and cause it to strech prematurely.

Having a loose EQ cable will allow the carriages to decend unevenly. This adds friction to the carriage sidebearings causing a slow decent.

 

[wit2003]

Yes it would and in fact you may be a whole notch behind on the one side and that's why it's tilted. Try tightening the side that is loose a little bit and see how it effects the timing of the latches. My bet is you'll have to take all the slack out on the loose side and then maybe a little more to get it caught up to the other side. You only hear one click so they're latching at the same time but probably at different levels. After installing my Rotary 9000 Tuesday we had to make the same adjustment on mine however it wasn't as far off as yours apparently is but clicks were definitely at different times. Another thing to think about is if this problem just showed up all of a sudden you'd better check the cables and everything very closely to see why it just happened all of a sudden.

This lift I bought used and it's done this since I've been using it(only a few months and not every day). I'll check to see if the right side is one click off

Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[wit2003]

So i tightened up the loose cable a little bit so that it was snug. Not sure if that helped or hurt the situation.....With no car on the left it goes up and down just fine. When i went to lift a car today to do a brake job it was going up fine, but then when i just about had the wheels at waist height, the motor seemed to struggle lifting the car(never did this before i adjusted the cable today).

Did i adjust it wrong?

 

[Charles (in GA)]

How tilted? an inch difference? a foot? My locks are so far apart that it would be impossible to get the lift off by one lock from side to side, and not know something is wrong. Mine do the "clack-clack" as it goes up, starting out a little further apart and becoming almost one "clack" when all the way up.

I have a 9000K Challenger.

Charles

 

[wit2003]

Id say its probably an inch or so difference on the pad heights.

I did raise the lift all the way up with no load and the arms seemed to go up together and just slightly different coming down onto the locks.

Id say when i have a car on there and i lower it onto the locks, one lock catches and then maybe 1.5-2 seconds later the other lock catches. It doesnt put a dramatic lean on the car but it certainly doesnt sit perfectly level.

 

[KCXLT]

I don't have the same lift, I have a 4 post so I don't know how applicable this will be. On my lift I have air cylinders that push the lock out so you can lower the lift. I found one sticking out, so when you lowered it and wanted to stop at a certain height 3 posts would lock and the one with the sticking air cylinder would keep going down until the slack cable lock caught it.

 

[wnstwolf]

I am with Charles. bend Pac 10k and I have an almost instant Click Clack no real tilt. No weight lift I can have a 6' level on the arms as it goes up and it is almost dead on. Cables are by no means tight, they have some slack and adjuster nuts are about equal on both sides about 1" up the threaded end..

 

[Herb67SS]

Have you called Rotary? What do they suggest?
These are dangerous devices.
They would be my first source of technical support.
jmho

 

[Wadd2]

Better yet, maybe contact someone local that installs and services them. I just had my used Rotary 9000lb installed a week ago and the guys that put it in were awesome. They made sure everything was perfect. My locks engage at exactly the same time all the way through the range of motion and it's a used lift. The guy installing it made some adjustments to the cables when he installed it and I notice that it took very little change in the cable to affect the engagement points and timing.

 

[wit2003]

I had the lift installed by a certified rotary installer. He did not wire up the motor, so he only checked to see that lift raised and lowered and locked on the stops(using 110 with no arms on the posts). He did mention that the cables would be due for replacement within the year. Had I known that he wouldnt have set up the electric, I would have had it ready to go to give the lift a real time test.

Unfortunately he is on the other side of NH and so it costs a few extra bucks for travel time. Im not trying to cheap out by any means, but if i can figure it out id rather not pay a ton for travel time. I do plan on getting a quote from him to replace the cables once and for all.

 

[pattenp]

Do you have the install manual? The manual should tell you how to adjust the equalization/leveling cables. The manual for my Challenger 2 post had very straight forward instructions for adjusting the cables to get the carriages to travel evenly.

 

[pattenp]

Checked my instructions on the Challenger and it says to lower the carriages on the lower lock and adjust the cables to equal tension being sure the carriages remain seated on the lock stops. Then cycle a few times to check that the locks engage simultaneously.

 

[wit2003]

Just an update for everyone. It seems as though one of the locks wasn't engaging. I went to use the lift today(one click up to start) and decided to look at the locks.

One didn't seem engaged so I lifted the arms slightly above the locks and pushed the lock in and then lowered the arms....perfectly level.

One thing to note here also is that at time of install that same lock didn't disengage. We sprayed some wd-40 on it and then it disengaged. Seems like this is my issue.

I will definitely be triple checking that lock whenever the lift gets used.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I uploaded a video to Youtube of my 9000 lb Challenger two post raising my Ranger up and lowering it. You can hear for yourself what the locks do. I don't think that adjusting the cables will make any difference that matters.

Charles

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KqMcroE_Knw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[pattenp]

Charles, why are you hiding behind the column? I was expecting a movie debut.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Charles, why are you hiding behind the column? I was expecting a movie debut.

Didn't want to distract anyone watching the video.

Charles