Bendpak caster kit...

[maxxpower]

I'm looking for some imput as to others experience using caster kits. I have a Bendpak HD-9XW purchased this summer along with the caster kit from Bendpak. My plan was to load my corvette on it and move the lift into a corner with the car on for winter storage. Because of where I want to put the lift I cannot load the car once it is into place.

My problem... when I use the caster kit with the car on it, as soon as I put the lift down to lift the posts off the ground the rubber on the casters squish to the point you cannot move the lift. (ever tried to push a car with 4 flat tires??!!) I had 2 friends with me to move the lift and with the 3 of use pushing we could literally not move it an inch! This is also on a perfectly smooth epoxy coated floor with all casters pointing in the same direction.

Is this common? Do I have defective casters? I'm totally confused as I see many of you move your cars around on the lift and according to Bendpak this is something I should be able to do. I will also be contacting Bendpak, but am curious whether this is a one of, or a common problem?

Thanks for any and all replies!!

 

[dirttracker18]

I will be following this one as the caster kit and it's performance would be a primary concern for me when I buy my four post.

If this is normal then I would have to figure a way to set up a two post.

Please let us know what Bendpak says about this.

Thanks

 

[SMLDONZI]

I've not moved the lift around with a car loaded on the lift yet--I have a HD9-ST. However, our caster "tires" are different in appearance. The profile of mine is alot lower than yours and have a very rounded shoulder which limits contact area with the floor. Your looks to have a sharp shoulder and the higher profile. Perhaps BP can send you a different set of wheels.

 

[Old Moparz]

I've not moved the lift around with a car loaded on the lift yet--I have a HD9-ST. However, our caster "tires" are different in appearance. The profile of mine is alot lower than yours and have a very rounded shoulder which limits contact area with the floor. Your looks to have a sharp shoulder and the higher profile. Perhaps BP can send you a different set of wheels.

Same with mine, the photos posted show a much different style wheel compared to the set I have. Mine roll perfectly with almost zero effort. In fact, the slope of my garage floor is 2 inches over 24 feet & the lift with the car on it almost rolls on it's own.

 

[x2twister]

Maxxpower,

Thanks for taking the time to post here about your BendPak products. I have brought this to our production team and we will get on this immediately. I will post a response here as soon as I have more. Please allow me to get you a prototype set built right away to get you up and running until then. I will make the exact set the other members are posting about. Sorry for any issue. Please email me at [email protected] with your shipping address for this new set.

Thanks,
Gary

 

[maxxpower]

Weeeell, I spoke with Bendpak customer service and told them I am having trouble moving the lift with my 3300 lb. car on it and he agreed, it would be very hard to move the lift with a car on it! I told him I was under the impression that this is how the lift and caster kit was meant to be used and have even seen youtubes of the bendpak lift being easily moved around loaded. I then commented the information and youtubes are misleading. The rep. told me "the old style" wheels were a lot easier to move the lift around while loaded, but the "new" wheels flattened and are much harder (I say virtually impossible) to move it loaded.

I told him I was very dissapointed that Bendpak had cheapened their product as when I purchased it, I did so believing it was a premium product and was willing to pay the extra $$ thinking it was. Afterall, the caster kit for the bendpak is realitively expensive considering other lifts included caster kits at no charge.

Anyways, he said he would look into it and possibly source some new casters for me. I look forward to hearing back as my garage is torn apart to make this move and I'm now parking outside now which is not what I want to be doing in the winter. Either they need to get me decent casters ASAP or I will need to source proper ones capable of doing the job and install them myself. Either way, I had a plan on how I intended on using this lift when I bought it and it needs to be portable with a car on it.

Stay tuned...

 

[maxxpower]

Weeell again, it looks as I typed my update Gary @ Bendpak answered me through the Garage Journal. Great to see there are still some manufacturer's out there that care about customers and I have always heard good things about Bendpak. I look forward to receiving these new casters and will update everyone once I get them and take them out for a test spin.

 

[dirttracker18]

maxx

Did your order within Canada or out of the US?

I have found Babco to be competitive with US prices and want to see how you made out with your purchase.

 

[maxxpower]

Hey Johnny,

I purchased my lift and extras through Babco Sales and was happy with the service they provided... although it took about 2 months for me to finally get all the pieces I ordered (HD9XW, drip pans, caster kit, ramp stops, RJ-45, jack tray) at the end of it all I was happy. My only other complaint (I never followed through with it) is the ramp stops let the ramps sag about 3", not the 1" I was told, so I have to still be careful with the lift up as that couple of extra inches is enough to hit my head on.

Anyways, if I were to do it all over again I would still order the same lift and from Babco... I think that says it all!

Cheers... Greg

 

[Cryptic1911]

Hm, weird that they changed it.. Mine have the older solid wheels that are polyurethane or something

 

[NXGTS]

My wheels are the same "older style" with the rounded edges. I can't believe they would be old though. I just got the lift a month ago. This would have to have been a very recent change.

 

[rwhite692]

I have a BYB lift and the wheels are about 10" in diameter and are made of a phenolic (or similar) material which does not compress like what you have shown in your pictures. I have moved the lift around with a car on it a few times, though I haven't had many occasions where I needed to do that.

I think that the caster setup that you have, was intended to be used for movement of only the lift itself.

To be able to move the lift + a car you need much more cowbell in the caster dept, LOL

 

[c39er]

I cannot even move my unloaded Hd 14 lift at all with the castor kit. I even used 2X4's to try to wedge it around-still couldn't move it. My slab is mirror smooth too. The wheels are too soft. The wheels need to be much harder material. So I guess I don't move the lift

 

[Lakeozark]

Please keep us updated as to what Bendpak did to rectify this - I am within day of purchasing the same hd9XD.
I also was given a link to the video of a guy moving a car loaded onto it and he moved it across the garage floor with 1 arm.
I would be EXCEPTIONALLY pissed if I couldnt move the lift - that's the reason for going with the caster kit

 

[Cryptic1911]

Even with the older casters, it isnt as easy as it may seem in the videos. For one, its hard to get something that heavy to change direction, so you pretty much have to aim the casters and then push it that way, and even then it wont be a one handed push.. It takes some effort

 

[jhelrey]

Replace the wheels with steel ones from Northern...

 

[James E]

My HD9 has the older, rounder wheels and it's no picnic moving it, whether it's loaded or unloaded. This has been discussed on previous posts. The video of the guy moving his BendPak around is misleading. His floor must have been greased.

With softer casters, there's no way you could overcome inertia and get that thing moving.

I find the biggest problem with mine is that the caster kit doesn't raise the posts high enough off of the floor. If the pivot hole was a quarter to a half inch lower on the post, it would work much better.

My natural inclination is to push one of the posts to move the lift but when I do, the post tips slightly and it's enough for a corner of the baseplate to catch on the floor. The other posts also will sway while it's in motion and drag on the floor.

 

[Old Moparz]

I was curious, so I found this youtube video of someone moving a complete car on a Bendpak lift without much effort. The casters on this one are similar to the ones on mine. The video is not faked when it shows how easy the lift with a car on it moves, I know I can roll mine just as easily.

Anyone who's having trouble rolling theirs needs to get Bendpak to swap the junk casters for the ones that work.

 

[James E]

That's the video that I remember. My HD9 is NOT that easy to move. Not even close.

My casters are from BendPak and they are hard, not soft like the OP's.

 

[Old Moparz]

That's the video that I remember. My HD9 is NOT that easy to move. Not even close.

My casters are from BendPak and they are hard, not soft like the OP's.

I agree, & the OP's casters look like they have flat tires.

The floor in my garage is extremely smooth, almost like glass. That could make a huge difference, too. I forget offhand what year I bought mine, maybe late 2004? It could be that they've changed suppliers, or they decided to use a real cheap-*** wheel to save themselves money at customer expense.

 

[Tim_in_NC]

Wow ... that ***** ... I'm actually getting ready to purchase and install an HD-9 with the caster kit ... This needs correcting before I jump in ... I was actually sold by the youtube video ...

 

[Junkman]

I spoke to Jeff yesterday about another matter, and I brought up the subject of the casters. He was aware of this, and they sent a complete new caster set out, by next day delivery to the customer. I don't know why the person that had the problem didn't post about it yet, but I do know that the problem has been resolved. In fact, they have no idea how the wrong casters got shipped, and the shipping department has been alerted to check to make sure that it doesn't happen again. Bendpak stands behind their product 100%, and you will never have a problem reaching a human to discuss your concerns with. They bend over backward to make sure that everyone that purchases one of their products is 100% satisfied with the purchase.

 

[Kev442]

I do not have a Bendpak, but I have a couple other brands of 4 post that came with caster kits. This fall I had occasion to use the wheel kits extensively. The first ones I used were the plain steel wheels on an unloaded lift. It rolled OK, but I would fight the wheels kinda wanting to go anywhere they wanted sometimes.
Then I used those plain wheels on my loaded (4400 lbs car + lift) lift. Holy Moly. Even using a come along, two of wheels resisted going the correct direction and marked up my concrete. I was not amused.
So I got to thinking that another one of my lifts came with polyurethane coated steel wheels. I had set them aside as: chicom+plastic usually = pure ****.
I tried them. Night and day difference.
The poly not only adds some grip so they are forced to steer, but I also believe the greater diameter of these helps too. I could push the lift + car by hand. These are what you want on smooth concrete.

 

[maxxpower]

Ok, here are the results...

Bendpak is an amazing company and their response and "attempted" solution to my problem was immediate. They made a new set of casters for me within 2 days and shipped them air freight (very expensive) N/C to me so I would have them for this past weekend. I can't say too much about their efforts in a day and age that customer service is the exception, not the rule. Kudos to Bendpak!!!

Now for the reveiw... I received the new casters and they were the same as shown by c39er. Although they were much better as you can see in the pictures, they still flatten somewhat and are very hard to roll loaded. I also agree with James E that the posts need some extra lift so I added a piece of 1/2" conveyor belt to the top of the caster frame to give me a little more lift that kept the base plates from scraping when moved. I also used straps to pull the lift which helped with both leverage and keeping the base plates from gouging my epoxy floor. I'm not sure how Old Moparz moved his as easily as on the video, but I did notice those wheels had a red coating which may be a much harder polyurethane or maybe even a phenolic material which seems to be the best for heavy loads.

Anyways, I installed the new casters and tried to move the lift myself on Friday evening (again with my 3500lb. max car on it). I moved it about a foot and almost busted a nut doing that. For those wondering, I'm no lightweight.. 6', 220 lbs and I work out. I can assure you at least 90% of the population couldn't exert more force to move this thing than I could. So, I had a couple of friends over yesterday to help move it and we were able to BUT, it was not easy and every time we had to make a direction change the weight had to come off the casters and the casters had to be pointed in the direction we wanted to go before putting weight back on them. After about 4 direction changes and some more gunting it was done.

In conclusion, I am impressed by Bendpak and their efforts but this lift is still too hard to move and requires too many people to move as is. I will be purchasing some good phenolic casters over the winter and I think that will make another huge improvement. They are expensive though ($200 ea.) which is why I'm sure Bendpak doesn't use this type. There is always a price point and people often don't appreciate the costs involved when complaining things don't work, I'm sure for an $6-800 upgrade many would complain of gouging and virtually none would be sold. Anyways, that's it for me, my summer vehicles are now stashed and I'm happy. Good luck, and to all... have a very Merry Christmas!

 

[rwhite692]

Those casters are still really not large enough if the intention is to be able to move the lift w/ a vehicle on it.

this vid at around the 12:00 mark shows what is possible, w/the right type of wheel.

Not trying to let this degrade into a lift-brand ******* contest, we are just talking about the wheels here, and what is needed to do the job.

 

[Old Moparz]

Ok, here are the results...

I'm not sure how Old Moparz moved his as easily as on the video, but I did notice those wheels had a red coating which may be a much harder polyurethane or maybe even a phenolic material which seems to be the best for heavy loads.

Sorry to hear that the new replacement casters you received still haven't allowed you to move the loaded lift any easier. If my garage wasn't packed right now, I'd set up the casters to show you how easily it rolls. I can however, get one of the wheels out to take a photo & post it so you can see which type I have. It's also different in appearance from your replacement set, so there is still a chance you can pressure Bendpak into a better set.

The car I moved on mine was the '71 Barracuda I had. I don't know the exact weight, but I'd be willing to bet a big block car with A/C is between 3500 & 3800 pounds. If I couldn't move the loaded lift I'd have returned the casters without hesitation. I bought a cheap, $80 set of car dollies similar to the Harbor Freight type years ago, that won't roll with a stripped shell of a car on them. I had to buy another set of decent, larger diameter casters, redrill some holes to mount them to get the dollies to roll.

By the way, I watched the Backyard Buddy video posted above & that one rolled the same as mine.

 

[maxxpower]

Hey Bob,

If your garage is too full I'll help you out by dumping that old mopar on me. My first car was a 71 'cuda 383 magnum 4 speed that I bought out of a scrap yard in 1976 when I was 15. It wasn't really in too bad of condition, the frame was supposedly bent but it turned out to be OK. (It helped being a neighbour at the time) Anyways, it went on to be a 440 six pack with a hemi 4 speed and was the car of my youth. Loved that car and have fond memeries whenever I see one, especially a '71. Anyways, I just wanted to say thanks for the input and... nice car.

 

[Tim_in_NC]

Would love to see the casters you have Moparz, so we can have a comparison b/n the two and hopefully a response from our local Bendpak rep as to what's changed ... and if they can go back to they way the casters use to be ...

 

[Old Moparz]

Hey Bob,

If your garage is too full I'll help you out by dumping that old mopar on me. My first car was a 71 'cuda 383 magnum 4 speed that I bought out of a scrap yard in 1976 when I was 15. It wasn't really in too bad of condition, the frame was supposedly bent but it turned out to be OK. (It helped being a neighbour at the time) Anyways, it went on to be a 440 six pack with a hemi 4 speed and was the car of my youth. Loved that car and have fond memeries whenever I see one, especially a '71. Anyways, I just wanted to say thanks for the input and... nice car.

You're not the first person to offer to help me make room by taking a car.

I sold it a few years ago in hopes of scaling back on unfinished project cars, but it was in solid shape. Originally a 318, it ended up with a 400 before I got it. I sometimes wish I kept it, but I knew I'd never get to it with everything else I need to finish.

This was when I bought it.....

This is it on the day I sold it.....

And this is what replaced it.....

Sorry to hijack your thread, I'll take a caster photo later.

 

[akdiesel]

I also have the HD-9XW for a few years now. I have moved my lift + a 2002 GMC crew cab short bed diesel truck (7400# truck only) with the older style casters. I also have painted floors with a very slight slope to the center drain. It is not easy and I do not recommend anyone move these even unloaded alone. This should be a two person job due to the size and weight.
When in transport mode it clears the floor approx 3/4" even with the legs angled slightly. Not a lot of room but enough to do what is needed.
Even a fully loaded Mac tool box is not easy to maneuver around by ones self.
The metal casters for the most part would be the best choice but there are those that have alot of money invested into their floors and those would start to destroy the floor covering not to the little pebbles that you may encounter.
Bend Pak has again shown their customers support. I am firm believer that Bend Pak makes great products and will correct any problems that are addressed to them.

 

[Old Moparz]

I took a couple of photos of the casters I have, but won't be able to post them until this afternoon since I forgot the USB cable for my camera.

I can tell you that the casters are all steel, a silver-gray color, & without any type of rubber or polyurethane tire on them. The ball bearing plates also have a grease fitting on the underside to lubricate them. I'll add the photos later, but figured I'd at least mention the difference that they are all steel.

 

[Cryptic1911]

Every video I see they make it seem so easy to push these things around.. I think it's a bit deceiving though. My toolbox weighs probably half what the lift weighs, and even it's a bear to move. Figure the lift weighs ~2000lbs, and put a car on top, roughly 3000lbs additional, so you're trying to get ~5000lbs moving by yourself. I just don't see that being a two finger push on the post like they make it seem.

 

[Old Moparz]

Here are the photos of the casters that I have for my Bendpak lifts. One is an overall view while the other one with the red arrows, point to the grease fittings. These roll extremely easy with a complete car on the lift, & as I posted earlier, the lift actually rolled too easy & scared me. I never expected it to move like that & it almost rolled into the wall because it got a way from me for a second. I thought it would be much more difficult to move because of how the cheap car dollies worked with the crappy casters on them.

As for the videos of how easy the loaded lifts roll, they do not appear to be exaggerated in my opinion.

 

[ixlr8]

I am also getting ready to put in an order for a BP HD9 4 poster. Due to storage issues, like OP, I need to be able to move my lift with a car on it, so casters are required. I am following the outcome of this thread with interest.
Old Moparz--- what is the diameter and width of the wheels on your casters?

 

[Old Moparz]

I am also getting ready to put in an order for a BP HD9 4 poster. Due to storage issues, like OP, I need to be able to move my lift with a car on it, so casters are required. I am following the outcome of this thread with interest.
Old Moparz--- what is the diameter and width of the wheels on your casters?

I'm not at home so I'll have to get the size for you later tonight & see if there is a part number somewhere on them, too.

Just wondering now if all dealers for Bendpak sell the exact same accessories? The place I bought my lifts from is here:

http://www.e-autolifts.com/

Their website shows a small photo of the casters, but you can still see some kind of rubber tire on the wheel so they are not the same as mine.

 

[mossy66]

First time poster on this forum.

I just assembled my Bendpak HD9XW and I'm having the same problems with the casters. I can barely move it empty, but with the car on it, it's almost impossible. I read with great interest on this thread about the wheels being too soft, which is a problem, but I think there are other issues that need to be addressed. On my lift, the plastic sliding blocks that slide into the columns seem to be too narrow, and that allows a lot of slop in that joint between the columns and the cross beams. I have about a 3/8" gap on one side if I push it tight to the other side. This slop allows the post to tilt, especially when pushing real hard, which in turn allows the caster assembly to tilt (Which tilts more than the post because of the slop in the caster pins).

A picture is worth a thousand words. Can you imagine the force that would be required to turn that caster to steer it in a different direction? Also, the post tips over enough that the base plate drags on the floor.

Look at the flex in the caster bracket. There is a 3000# vehicle on the lift in these pictures.

I was so disappointed that I lit off a message to Bendpak (They better be wearing asbestos) I really hope that I got a defective unit. I paid extra for the Bendpak because of their reputation. I'm pretty sure it must have been engineered better than this.

 

[James E]

You should probably start another thread, you've got issues way beyond the casters.

No way the crossbar should rotate that much--you're going to bend or break the platform mounting bolts. Plus, your caster frames are tweaked something awful.

 

[mossy66]

You should probably start another thread, you've got issues way beyond the casters.

No way the crossbar should rotate that much--you're going to bend or break the platform mounting bolts. Plus, your caster frames are tweaked something awful.

Actually, the crossbars don't rotate at all. If the crossbeams were wider, the caster frames might not tweak. When the wheels axle moves out from under the cross beam, it is enough to torque the caster frames like that and torque the posts over. Now when you go to push the post, it tips over even farther and causes the caster frame to slide over and make it worse.

 

[EOC_Jason]

I realize this thread is kind of old, but it seemed to die abruptly. I was looking into get a Bend Pak lift and was really interested in the casters. However after reading this thread I kind of feel like I'm back at square one.

Since this past winter, has Bend Pak addressed the issues with their casters? While I *probably* won't be moving it around with a vehicle on it, I would rather know that I could than find out later that I can't when I need to...

I've pushed around hoppers full of metal shavings that had to of weighed *at least* a couple thousand pounds with no issues on bare concrete. Those have steel rollers with grease fittings (very important to keep them greased). I'm wondering if using those style on a lift would make a difference.

 

[jomobco]

I realize this thread is kind of old, but it seemed to die abruptly. I was looking into get a Bend Pak lift and was really interested in the casters. However after reading this thread I kind of feel like I'm back at square one.

Since this past winter, has Bend Pak addressed the issues with their casters? .

Bumpity bump. Just bought a HD-9XW and don't want to pull the trigger on some casters without updated info. The recent pictures I've seen online tend to indicate what's probably a red PU material:
http://www.garybloomsales.com/product_info.php?products_id=140

Any updates?