4 post lift problems

[Malaai]

I installed a 4 post lift (direct lifts) and was sucessful in getting together and operating. however, after a couple of short up and downs, I took it to the top....locking mechanisms all worked well...then, when I tried to get it to go down it would move maybe 3 inches. I did notice that the front (where the power unit is located) went down before the back...so it seems to me it's binding. I squared the posts thinking it was out of alignment and I also double checked the locks...and still only 3 inches down and the other side of the lift maybe 2 inches down and then it stops....
Any ideas would be appreciated....i would love to use it before Christmas,
Aloha
Al

 

[CarCrafter]

Call Greg Smith Equipment in Indy and ask them for help.

 

[Zeke]

And be careful! Do not go under it until you understand and resolve the problem.

It might be hard to find any help Friday, Christmas eve. Perhaps shoot some pics and post. Maybe lift owners can spot your problem. Even better would be to post a video on YouTube and paste a link here.

 

[dcovey]

Have you got any weight on it?

Seems mine had a hard time coming down when I first got it.. Put some weight on it and it worked fine..

Since the cable goes through a bunch of pully's and the cable is stiff it tends to hang up a little with no weight on it.

Dave

 

[Malaai]

thanks....i did put about 200 lbs of stuff on it......
my next attempt would be to try and control the way it lowers itself; since the front is coming down quicker, I will slow that down with another jack and see if I can get it to come down in equal increments.
thanks for the help.
aloha
al

 

[muncie21]

All of your locks may not have disengaged. This happened to me the first time or so I ran the lift up/down. One lock disengaged and the others didn't. When I tried to lower the rack the corner that disengaged started moving down, but the other 3 sides of the lift didn't. Gave me a bit of a scare for a sec or two, as I was fully up with a car on it at the time.

 

[mad57]

Def check your locks they might be out of adjustment... also not sure if those lifts use the teflon slides on colum but check to see if there in place or binding...lastly make sure your cables are adjusted the same. good luck be safe.

 

[Dangerman77]

agreeing with mad57, locks first. Same thing happened with my old man's lifts a few years ago. defiantly be careful man

 

[andymac]

Check to make sure the cables are still on the pulleys. When I moved my lift around using the castors, the cable came off the pulley when I was squaring up the posts. If this is the case, brace the cross bar nearest the column side that has the cylinder and pulleys then lower the lift to give the cables a little slack. Re-install the cable on the pulleys.