Another 2 post lift question

[volaredon]

most of the 2 post lifts I have ever used had the "safety locks" pertaining to the swinging lift arms; the ones on the Rotarys at my last shop were plum wore out, and never seemed to hurt anything by not "holding"

at my present job we have ALM symmetricals and on one of them, the release don't quite release on the side opposite the pump and motor; I gotta stick a screwdriver under the arm pivot point to release it so I can swing the arms under, what a PITA.

I bought a used 2 post that has the "ears" on the columns and arms for some kind of swing-prevention on the arms but the swing prevention is long gone. I want to take a whizzer wheel, and lop the ears off.
Once the weight of the chassis is on the arms they can't swing anyways.. what is the purpose of the arm locks that prevent swinging of the arms?
do I really need them?

these are NOT the safetys that hold the rack from falling should the cylinder/hydraulics fail that I am talking about, those I definitely see a need for.

 

[devoncoolman]

I know what ur talking about that lift wpuld of had a rod with a ratchet with another rod inside that one with slots. Last shop i worked at had benwils with same mechanism and we took them off because the would jam. (Lifts were 30+yrs old) never had an issue but they are a safty mechanism in case u set the lift improperly on a slop or a trailing arm thats slops the arm could posibly rocket out from under the car and fall. That same shop i worked at somebody did that exactly and the arm fell out from under the car and the car fell and the arm bounced back in to the car window as the car was falling and blew the window out and caught the car on the headliner it pretty much destroyed the roof and interior. So just warning it will be ok just becarfull setting the vehicle up. Set it up properly and ull be fine

 

[volaredon]

thanks... I was thinking it would be OK without them.... I see that SVI shows the swing arm safety lock "assembly" available for my Weaver, I'm just not so sure I really "need" them

 

[shurik06_83]

IF U GET really rough with pulling and pushing on the side of the car the arms will let the car wobble side to side i have one ford smith that the locks are gone they used to jam up and u couldn't move the arm so one guy got mad and cut them out . i was using a slide hammer to pull dakota bearing out and the truck was swinging like mad and when u set the car up and its not perfect and it settles the arm can swing one way or another

so if ur missing one its not so bad but all 4 is not safe

 

[oilslick]

I used to not care but after having a grand am squirm sideways I fixed them on my at work hoist!

 

[volaredon]

wow were you trying to pull the opposite wheel bearing all the way thru the tube, the pumpkin and then thru the 2nd tube? man, I have done lotsa rear wheel bearings on Mopar 8-1/4 and 9-1/4 rears and can't ever remember having that much trouble with them...

 

[sberry]

I would say they are pretty much on there for a reason.

 

[Bikes&Bowties]

Yeah I definitely wouldn't feel safe without them. And I always set them up properly and am careful in every aspect... I like coming home at the end of the day... Not on a stretcher under a blanket...

 

[volaredon]

yeah I get ya about going home every day and all but I never saw the point in these arm lock dealies. guards on saws? lowering locks on lifts? tire cages? Belt guards? yeah. I see what they are meant to do.
but never saw the point of these arm locks.... worked on many a hoist with them stripped, worn out, missing, and never an issue from them being missing or not working right.

 

[NHBandit]

A few years ago at a used car dealership I was service manager at we had one lift that had most of the safety features disabled. After losing a Honda Accord off the lift and almost crushing the mechanic working on it I forced the cheap Greek boss to allow me to repair all the safety stuff. One of the arms kicked out from under the car and the car fell off the lift sideways. Fortunately it was one of his cars and not a customers.

 

[Ign]

yeah I get ya about going home every day and all but I never saw the point in these arm lock dealies. guards on saws? lowering locks on lifts? tire cages? Belt guards? yeah. I see what they are meant to do.
but never saw the point of these arm locks.... worked on many a hoist with them stripped, worn out, missing, and never an issue from them being missing or not working right.

I think the point is that if your pad is contacting the vehicle in a less-than-ideal situation, such as on a leaf spring eye (maybe not centered on the eye fore/aft) or at or near a sloped portion of framerail, the locks keep the pads from sliding along that sloped area and eventually allowing the vehicle to fall.