Bendpak HD-14T 4-pos lift problems

[ggeh]

Hi every one
My name is Gary, I'm new to this forum and this is my first post.

I have a HD-14T lift and I'm concerned about the columns having a twist in them.the worst one measuring from the back side of the which has a 1/2 inch difference in the 6" in width. I measured that by using a string around all four columns. I strung the top of the columns and the bottom of the columns. At the bottom a had no gaps in the string to the columns. at the top of the columns I have a 1/2inch gap being the most twisted and the others where less. I have pictures but don't know how to put them in this post. I have been emailing Bendpak and their suggestions were to check the mounting bolts for correct torque and grease the column sliders with out any explanation on why this is happening. I rechecked the columns for being level with a rotary laser and they are all the same. When the lift is not loaded the locks snap in all at the same time. I'm at a loss at this and don't know what to do next.
Thanks Gary

 

[DerStig]

Wow, I thought I had it bad, but you have it worse. I dont know what to say. I'm speechless.

 

[ggeh]

Bendpak sent me one new column and requested more pictures of the rest of the columns. I asked for my money back and told them the can have their lift back and the response I received was they wont give me a refund because they didn't sell me the lift I would have to go to the dealer I purchased it from. These are the pictures I sent them. The one that's the worst now is the column with the pump on it. Not only is it twisting its starting to bend/buckle in the middle. The caliper pictures shows the difference from the bottom to the mid section where its bending/buckling. I use this 14k lift personally, not as a business to change oil in mini van and my 7,500lb Chevy dually and minor repairs on them.

 

[DerStig]

Wow, this is so bad. I would not use this lift. Mine is bad but not to a degree where safety is compromised like this.

I'm all for global economy but they seriously need to ban companies using china and the like countries to build and sell completely subpar quality products. Its fine to cut costs, completely understandable, but while doing that quality suffers dramatically.

So if a made in KY lift costs $6000 and the same costs $2800 in china, they should instead find a better factory there or skilled workers and charge $3800. Yes it will be more expensive but who wants to deal with this level of problems? I know I would be happy to pay more for a better product.

I just packaged my old rj45 as it will be picked up and while doing that I realized there were multiple components not welded right, and its terrible. There is also rust everywhere inside the tubes. This thing costs $1200 considering the lift itself costs $2800, its outrageous to charge this much money and have this level of quality. I bet it costs $200-300 produce it at the most.

 

[kbuhagiar]

Bendpak sent me one new column and requested more pictures of the rest of the columns. I asked for my money back and told them the can have their lift back and the response I received was they wont give me a refund because they didn't sell me the lift I would have to go to the dealer I purchased it from. These are the pictures I sent them. The one that's the worst now is the column with the pump on it. Not only is it twisting its starting to bend/buckle in the middle. The caliper pictures shows the difference from the bottom to the mid section where its bending/buckling. I use this 14k lift personally, not as a business to change oil in mini van and my 7,500lb Chevy dually and minor repairs on them.

WOW...That is disconcerting, to say the least...it would appear to go above and beyond mere assembly issues.

This should raise some serious red flags with the BendPak folks; I hope they stand up and take notice.

 

[ggeh]

I paid $4995.00 for the lift and I added two 7,000-lb rolling jacks and had it professionally installed by a contractor recommended by Bendpak to do the install for another $700.00 so I have a little under $8000.00 invested in this lift. I haven't any complaints with the performance of the lift and or the Jacks. The lift raises my 2005 silverado duramax long-bed dually just fine, it doest even grunt. I just have problem with the columns twisting and I don't know why or if they all do this. Am I'm worrying about something that's normal for this lift. I never owned a lift before and that's why I'm on this forum to get some insight from all you out there that have experience with a four post lift and what my expectations should be on whats normal and whats not. I used a micrometer to measure the thickness of the columns and steel is .1125 that's a few thousand more than 12 gauge steel. The columns have three sides, 6-inches wide on the back and 5-inches wide on the two sides. The front is open for the crossbeam that travels up and down. So there is three sides at .1125 thick and 99-inches tall to support 14,000-lbs. Any structural engineers out there? Are these columns strong enough to support that kind of weight? I just don't want this to fall on my head.

 

[lakeroadster]

A simple 4 sided rectangular column made by forming steel plate/sheet has very poor torsional resistance. And that's a good thing for you since the columns are twisted.

Does the twist begin to go away when the carriage / slider sub-assembly is lifted?

The concern is there will be premature wear of the sliders... BendPak knows that, and it's the reason they told you to "grease the column sliders".

They should supply new parts and they should swap out the new for the bad at their cost and at your convenience.

BendPak has a serious QA problem with their outsourced fabrication facility... bad reflection on them.

Does the lift have an ALI sticker on it? It's a gold label, looks like this: http://www.autolift.org/auto-lift-institute-vehicle-lift-certification-program/

I didn't see the HD-14T listed as a certified lift: http://www.autolift.org/ali-directo...roductbrand=All&rateload=&searchsubmit=Search

Mention this thread to them next time you talk to them...

Good luck to you, and keep us up to speed as this progresses....

 

[DerStig]

I paid $4995.00 for the lift and I added two 7,000-lb rolling jacks and had it professionally installed by a contractor recommended by Bendpak to do the install for another $700.00 so I have a little under $8000.00 invested in this lift. I haven't any complaints with the performance of the lift and or the Jacks. The lift raises my 2005 silverado duramax long-bed dually just fine, it doest even grunt. I just have problem with the columns twisting and I don't know why or if they all do this. Am I'm worrying about something that's normal for this lift. I never owned a lift before and that's why I'm on this forum to get some insight from all you out there that have experience with a four post lift and what my expectations should be on whats normal and whats not. I used a micrometer to measure the thickness of the columns and steel is .1125 that's a few thousand more than 12 gauge steel. The columns have three sides, 6-inches wide on the back and 5-inches wide on the two sides. The front is open for the crossbeam that travels up and down. So there is three sides at .1125 thick and 99-inches tall to support 14,000-lbs. Any structural engineers out there? Are these columns strong enough to support that kind of weight? I just don't want this to fall on my head.

While the quality of the lifts are not so great, I can tell you their customer service is great. They have on site technician available for 1 year and they never give you trouble for replacements parts.

This is what I would do:

A) Call them and tell them to send someone and replace every defective piece at their cost to your satisfaction and guarantee that lift will not fail due to this issue.

OR

B) Call your credit card company and file a complaint and charge back

OR

C) Take them to small claims court. You dont need a lawyer for this and any judge seeing those pictures will side with you. You will keep the lift (because I m sure they wont go through the trouble of picking it up) and get your money back and then some (for damages).

 

[DerStig]

A simple 4 sided rectangular column made by forming steel plate/sheet has very poor torsional resistance. And that's a good thing for you since the columns are twisted.

Does the twist begin to go away when the carriage / slider sub-assembly is lifted?

The concern is there will be premature wear of the sliders... BendPak knows that, and it's the reason they told you to "grease the column sliders".

They should supply new parts and they should swap out the new for the bad at their cost and at your convenience.

BendPak has a serious QA problem with their outsourced fabrication facility... bad reflection on them.

Does the lift have an ALI sticker on it? It's a gold label, looks like this: http://www.autolift.org/auto-lift-institute-vehicle-lift-certification-program/

I didn't see the HD-14T listed as a certified lift: http://www.autolift.org/ali-directo...roductbrand=All&rateload=&searchsubmit=Search

Mention this thread to them next time you talk to them...

Good luck to you, and keep us up to speed as this progresses....

The certification process should take into the fact that the lift is now being produced in another location using a completely different production process after the certification was issued. My certification is from 2011, there is a clear indication that Bendpak's quality went down the hill in the last 2 years. I bet they wouldnt pass the certification now.

BTW my lift does have that sticker - HD9.

 

[ggeh]

A simple 4 sided rectangular column made by forming steel plate/sheet has very poor torsional resistance. And that's a good thing for you since the columns are twisted.

Does the twist begin to go away when the carriage / slider sub-assembly is lifted?

The concern is there will be premature wear of the sliders... BendPak knows that, and it's the reason they told you to "grease the column sliders".

They should supply new parts and they should swap out the new for the bad at their cost and at your convenience.

BendPak has a serious QA problem with their outsourced fabrication facility... bad reflection on them.

Does the lift have an ALI sticker on it? It's a gold label, looks like this: http://www.autolift.org/auto-lift-institute-vehicle-lift-certification-program/

I didn't see the HD-14T listed as a certified lift: http://www.autolift.org/ali-directo...roductbrand=All&rateload=&searchsubmit=Search

Mention this thread to them next time you talk to them...

Good luck to you, and keep us up to speed as this progresses....

No it doesn't have the ALI sticker on it. I didn't realize that until recently. I wanted a 14000-lb lift because I thought twice the weight of my truck should be plenty good. and I went with the tall one because I use it to park a vehicle on it to save space. So when I was looking I seen some of the bendpak 14k lifts were ALI approved so I guess I just assumed that all of the bendpak 14k lifts were ALI approved. My mistake the BendPak HD-14T is not on the list. As the carriage passes by the twist it does straiten some but returns after it has passed. I could take a video of this, you can actually see it twist and untwist as it travels, but I don't know if I can post a video. I think if it didn't flex when the carriage passed something would snap. If you look closely at the fiber slider only one side is touching in the twisted area as the carriage passes. I did stop at the ford dealership in town before I purchased mine and looked at their lifts. They use Rotary. I would have went that direction but they didn't offer the height that bendpak did. I guess buyer beware.

 

[walrus]

China is why I bought a Rotary. Thats awful and I can't believe Bendpak or whoever sold you that piece of **** isn't doing anything. I'd want it gone

 

[polizei1]

Yea thanks, that answers my Bendpak vs. Rotary question...GL man, that's garbage.

 

[DerStig]

The issue with Rotary/Challenger type of lifts is that they have no HD9/HD7 counterpart. They are huge. Their smallest 4 post lift is 4 feet longer than Bendpak's, the columns themselves are about 2 feet wider. They are not really meant for residential applications unless you are one of those people who have the custom built dream garage. A typical garage bay will not be able to accomodate that length and width.

For me money was no issue, but Bendpak was the only one that would fit.

 

[asm154]

Hope you can get that straightened out to your satisfaction ASAP. Also appreciate you posting this. Was considering getting a BenPak.

 

[kwschumm]

I planned to get a Bendpak but after the recent stories here they are no longer an option for me.

 

[asm154]

I'm still interested in the one from this thread but maybe clearance would rule it out for you (14 ft)?:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=357539

I planned to get a Bendpak but after the recent stories here they are no longer an option for me.

 

[ggeh]

Hi guys

I just received an email from Pat Henthorn at Bendpak. This is the Bendpak Representative that's been taking care of me. So you all know, he has all the same pictures that I posted here on Garage Journal. the exact same pictures you all have looked at. This is the email I just received.

(Thank you again for the photos Gary,

The post that you are not bad at all. Even the space in the opening of the power unit power aren’t near saver enough to interfere with the operation of the lift. I know you called back in regards the lift skipping when a load it on it but that is just a simple fix of putting heavy baring grease or lithium on the rubbing points of the slide blocks. Is there any performance issues that the lift is going though? I am not trying to frustrate you. I am trying to put your mind at ease. Your lift is in good condition. I would like to however send you a gift for the time spent going back and forth. I have a list of some good I would like you to pick from for your troubles)

I looked back at my first email I sent to Mr. Henthorn dated 11-28-2016 that's when he received the first set of pictures along with a picture of my name plate on the lift that he requested. I don't know where this guy is from but his English in the email that I copied and pasted is pretty poor for being a Representative for a Major company like Bendpak. At the end of his email he offers some gifts for my wasted time. Pictures of two jack stands, a rolling work seat, or a 9 gal upright oil drain. I could pick any one of those. Such a deal, more junk from Bendpak. I probably should have taken the Jack stands It might be safer than using the lift. Tell me what your thoughts are.

Thanks Gary

 

[lakeroadster]

My thoughts are to go up the corporate ladder at BendPak and keep referring to this thread in all correspondences. They don't want bad reviews hurting their bottom line.

Ask them to set-up and pay for an ALI Certified Inspector to come out and do an on-site evaluation of your lift and that you want a written document signed by a BendPak representative stating that the lift is ok-as-is and safe to use.

Here's a link to ALI Inspectors... Directory of ALI Certified Lift Inspection Providers

BendPak sells ALI Certified Lift.. they bought into the quality that is suppossed to be inherent in ALI lifts... Participant Code of Ethics

 

[ggeh]

Thanks John
My lift HD-14T to the best of my knowlage is not ALI certified. So could it be why they are saying just put some grease on it the lift is safe to use. I am miffed with Pats response on this issue. Pat sent me one coulmn after he seen the first set of pictures. The second set of pictures to me show all coulmns twisting better than the first set and now he says they look ok and I should not worry. Again with out an explanation on why this is happening. Thanks for the quick response and Im going to call for an inspection myself.

 

[dnschmidt]

I have found illiteracy to be greatly on the rise here in America. It appears our people can no longer read nor write. People in positions of authority seem incapable of putting together the most simple of sentences. I blame it all on George W. Bush who frankly was embarrassing when speaking at joint news conferences with Tony Blair, but, it probably isn't all on him.

 

[kbuhagiar]

My thoughts are to go up the corporate ladder at BendPak and keep referring to this thread in all correspondences. They don't want bad reviews hurting their bottom line.

Ask them to set-up and pay for an ALI Certified Inspector to come out and do an on-site evaluation of your lift and that you want a written document signed by a BendPak representative stating that the lift is ok-as-is and safe to use.

Here's a link to ALI Inspectors... Directory of ALI Certified Lift Inspection Providers

BendPak sells ALI Certified Lift.. they bought into the quality that is suppossed to be inherent in ALI lifts... Participant Code of Ethics

^^^^^

What John said.

It sounds as if BendPak quality control has taken a turn for the worse...they need to be called out and take ownership of it.

 

[DerStig]

I have interacted with several different people at BendPak, and besides couple who were really great, I have had similar issues. Just general lack of knowledge, and overall the experience has been very poor. "Grease this" and "hammer that" and "dont worry about it" is all I heard. The fortunate thing in my case was, 98% of my entire interaction with Bendpak was with those 2 people who were good and not the rest. Thats why I keep saying their service is good, and thats probably because I was lucky.

I think this company is just trying to cut costs everywhere including the staff they employ. Thats my read.

OP, if I had to guess (and I think I might be right), the reason why you are having this buckling (and you are saying it is now getting worse - so it appears to be an issue that is regressing), is probably because either your runways or your crossbars are not straight. Assuming you did everything correctly, i.e. the baseplates are fully perpendicular etc, the only explanation is those two pieces are not straight. So if you take a top down view of your entire lift, the runways and the crossbeams are not where they are supposed to be. Something is pulling/pushing/twisting the entire system. That's bad news because unless you get a brand new lift, its highly unlikely to go away. It's very unfortunate.

If I had to guess, they dont take AMEX for a reason because if you complain to AMEX - no questions asked they will refund your money and they will have the company pay for return shipping (and if they refuse, you essentially keep the goods and the money). Unfortunately with VISA/mastercard, thats not how it works unless you have one of those elite cards.

 

[ggeh]

I didn't install this lift I called bendpak and I went with their recommendation for a lift installer closest to my location. What I did do after I noticed the twisting was recheck the floor plate torque 35 to 40-flbs but then I noticed that the 3/8 floor plates were flexing when I put vehicle weight on the lift. I looked closer the shims under the floor plates didn't extend under the column where the weight was being applied. So I have a CNC plasma cutter and cut new shims that extend under the columns. Instead of a level to get the post all the same Height I used a rotary laser, which in my opinion is much more accurate and I then used a level to check the columns for plumb. They are not perfect but very close. The bubble may not be dead nuts in the center but they are in between the hash marks. Its my thought that the floor plates shoud have been much thicker maybe 5/8 or 3/4 plate and the shims should have extended under the plate where the load is being applied.

 

[lakeroadster]

It's my thought that the floor plates should have been much thicker maybe 5/8 or 3/4 plate and the shims should have extended under the plate where the load is being applied.

Look at the installation manual, it should specify how to handle this.. it's design driven.

On my Rotary it says to shim the columns, then apply non-shrink grout if the shims exceed "x" amount of thickness.

 

[ggeh]

My bendpak must not be design driven like yours cause it doesn't say anything about what your rotary manual says. Step 3-talks about maximum shim thickness and step 15 talks about Anchoring The Columns, nothing about the possible plate flex problem or how to remedy it.
http://www.bendpak.com/HD14-Series-Manual-REVC.pdf

John whats your rotary's weight capacity? Do you know how thick the steel is of your rotary columns and how thick is your floor plates? My columns are .1125" and the floor plates are 3/8"

 

[Z2V]

It's obvious English is not his primary language

 

[lakeroadster]

John whats your rotary's weight capacity? Do you know how thick the steel is of your rotary columns and how thick is your floor plates? My columns are .1125" and the floor plates are 3/8"

My lift is a 2-post so it's a whole different animal than your 4 post.

10,000 lb capacity, Columns are 1/4" thick, Base Plates are 1/2" thick.

 

[rnscustom]

I think you can put some of these 4 post lifts on wheels and roll them around , out to your driveway and use them , shimming and leveling should not be the issue here , this should not have twisted unless it's a structural issue with the lift itself . IMO

 

[ggeh]

I think you can put some of these 4 post lifts on wheels and roll them around , out to your driveway and use them , shimming and leveling should not be the issue here , this should not have twisted unless it's a structural issue with the lift itself . IMO

You're correct some 4 post dont require bolting to the floor, but this one does,Why I do not know. Its hard to get a photo that shows the extent of twisting. I will keep trying.

 

[ggeh]

I worked fire watch for a certified welder at a power plant many year's ago putting a dry fire system in the coal plant. That required welding brackets on structural I beams. If I remember correctly the welder informed me that on a vertical beam you weld vertical. On a horizontal beam you weld horizontal it wasn't permitted to weld horizontal on a vertical beam or vertical on a horizontal beam. When taking these pictures I notice a bracket where this column is twisting is welded horizontal on a vertical beam. The bracket is in about the center of the twist. I also noticed the bracket is not square with the Beam. At the generating station they had a Q.C. department, Quality Control. Their job was to inspect all work was being performed to spec. I question if they have a Q.C. Dept. at Bendpak.

 

[rnscustom]

Yes , always install as instructed or better . Point was if a 4 post can sit on an uneven surface and not twist why would a professionally installed and shimmed lift twist . If you were to bolt it to the floor without shimming the bed might twist but the posts shouldn't .

 

[ggeh]

Yes , always install as instructed or better . Point was if a 4 post can sit on an uneven surface and not twist why would a professionally installed and shimmed lift twist . If you were to bolt it to the floor without shimming the bed might twist but the posts shouldn't .

Great point, I never thought about it that way.

 

[lakeroadster]

Its hard to get a photo that shows the extent of twisting. I will keep trying.

Clamp a 4 ft level on the face @ the top of the column.

Clamp another 4 ft level on the face @ the bottom of the column.

Drop plumb bob lines from the ends of the top level down to the bottom level.

 

[ggeh]

Clamp a 4 ft level on the face @ the top of the column.

Clamp another 4 ft level on the face @ the bottom of the column.

Drop plumb bob lines from the ends of the top level down to the bottom level.

I'm a little slow John but I think I finally got it. As soon as I can get that done, I will post. Thanks, Gary

 

[ybnormal70]

Bendpak emailed me inquiring about my interest in purchasing a lift from them. I told them that I had already ordered another brand of lift and I referenced this post & posts like this one in part of my decision making. They replied to me today:

Kevin,

No worries. This has been one of the cases where the unit may have been manufactured incorrectly but we as a company are taking care of it right away. I know it has been passed to the VPs of the company. I can assure you that we do stand behind our product and when things like this happen, which is not too often, we do what we could to make it right. I have not seen any issues like this on our smaller units such as the HD-9 series. I know that the HD-14T is not ALI certified because of the way that it is designed and has not been put through the testing yet. The other 14K lifts are certified though.

Best regards,
N** M**
Sales


No idea if it helps or not for your situation OP but I figured I would try to help shine some light on your issues as best I could.

Kevin

 

[48548]

Bendpak emailed me inquiring about my interest in purchasing a lift from them. I told them that I had already ordered another brand of lift and I referenced this post & posts like this one in part of my decision making. They replied to me today:

Kevin,

No worries. This has been one of the cases where the unit may have been manufactured incorrectly but we as a company are taking care of it right away. I know it has been passed to the VPs of the company. I can assure you that we do stand behind our product and when things like this happen, which is not too often, we do what we could to make it right. I have not seen any issues like this on our smaller units such as the HD-9 series. I know that the HD-14T is not ALI certified because of the way that it is designed and has not been put through the testing yet. The other 14K lifts are certified though.

Best regards,
N** M**
Sales


No idea if it helps or not for your situation OP but I figured I would try to help shine some light on your issues as best I could.

Kevin

That was cool of you to help the OP. Nice. I hope they make it right.

 

[lakeroadster]

That was cool of you to help the OP. Nice. I hope they make it right.

X2...

Thanks Kevin.

 

[ybnormal70]

Now we know what puts the "Bend" in Bendpak! HA

Kevin

 

[ggeh]

That was cool of you to help the OP. Nice. I hope they make it right.

Thanks Kevin for the support

April 8th I emailed Big boys garage toys, the business I purchased the lift from, and to refer to this post for info on what was going on with the lift and Bendpak. Long story short; Cagney Reed, Cust. service Rep. at Big boys garage toys said he would look into it. April 10th Cagney said he just talked to Henthorn and Henthorn said he just talked to me and the issue was resolved and Cagney asked if I was satisfied with the conclusion. I told Cagney that Henthorn is either mistaken or hes not being truthful because that conversation never happened. The last time I heard from Henthorn was the email that he said there's nothing wrong with the lift just put some grease on it and Insulted my intelligence by offering me some junk for my wasted time. About a half hour after that, I received the email below from Henthorn.

Gary, I am sorry about your HDS-14T column issue and any communications from me that was not clear and concisely written. Of course, I’ll have the other 3 posts rushed to your location regardless if they actually needed replacing or not. We understand that you are concerned about them and we want to address that for you. I will have a service center coordinate with you for the swap of all 4 posts once we QC them for perfection. I do apologize for the time and trouble resulting from the post concerns. It’s possible that this is from the original install not being square and forcing the posts into a twist. If that’s the case, sorry for that and we are happy to fix it for you at no charge regardless. If it was due to a manufacturing error and our QC missed it, then shame on us and we will get with our production and QC about it. Either way, you will be safely using your lift in no time. If we can somehow make this up to you any further please let us know.

Pat H.

Like I said before, If the post were not twisting I would be pleased with the lift, but I'm also not a fool that be-leaves grease can fix a structure that is failing.

So its a wait and see if Bendpak follows through or not.

Thanks to all for your support
Gary

 

[48548]

Looking better. Glad to hear.

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