HD9 Bendpak lift problem/question. The lip on the runway is bending. All lips had very slight bend when new (about 7 yrs ago) but didn't think much about it (just a hobby lift). Now I noticed one is very bent. Sent photo to Bendpak and they said to stop using lift. Customer service said "quality control" dept. never encountered this problem and did not know cause. They finally suggested selling me a new ramp for $1200+ shipping. (it is the "power ramp). I offered $500...never received an answer. I contacted someone on this forum who works for Bendpak and never received an answer. Lift is used rarely, and only on British cars, and MiniCooper (all under 3000 lbs). Never had a truck, or heavy car on lift, and only used 2-3X month, it looks brand new. What is cause of this???Was thinking to have it straightened and rewelded. Any suggestions??
BendPak Problem
- Thread starter phildb4
- Start date
TarheelMechanic
Banned
I'm going to get a big refill of popcorn, another case of ice cold beer, and sit and watch this ****-storm come to life
[email protected]
Active member
Plaster it all over social media then send the link to bendpak
WhiffySpark
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Are there broken welds or anything?
I don’t blame them on a 7 year old lift. What do you expect?
I don’t blame them on a 7 year old lift. What do you expect?
58Yeoman
Well-known member
It's a hobby lift. I wouldn't expect it to bend if it was used for business. I often thought that a lift would be nice to have, but after seeing all the problems people are having with home lifts...no thanks. For the couple times a year that I have to change oil or work under a vehicle, I'll use my air jack and jack stands.
firebirdparts
Well-known member
If I was going to bend a lift like that, I would do it by lowering the lift onto some object, so that it hung on that. That would be the best way, I think.
Lift was never lowered onto any object. The welds are not broken, only the lip (which is welded to rest of ramp) is bent. I'm disappointed that Bendpak is blowing me off, and doesn't seem concerned about the cause of this problem. Their offer of a ramp for $1200 is not very generous, considering the entire lift sells for about $3K. However,this is the only problem/complaint I have had with this lift. I wonder if other lift owners have this problem, or perhaps didn't notice the lip bending...anyone out there with a bent lip.?
zkdiesel
Well-known member
Only have rotarys so not familiar, but is that where you drive on ramp would pin to and you have it removed for this picture?
baba louey
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I just checked my 7HD (2015) and the lip is perfectly straight. I noticed on mine that the weight is taken up by two heavy duty horizontal bolts that attached the track to the cross piece. From the picture I don't see those bolts on yours. I would be surprised if the flange (lip) was designed to take the load of the track and the vehicle. Am I missing something here?
Baba Louey
Baba Louey
baba louey
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Thinking again. Could that bend in the lip happen when the ramps were in place and a vehicle (while driving on the lift) some how forced the ramps to put pressure on the lip causing the lip to bend up. From the picture the track doesn't appear to have dropped any amount which may suggest the bending force came from ramps.
Baba Louey
Baba Louey
wssix99
Well-known member
Are both sides like that? That pin joint isn't designed to resist any upward force. I would think that the only way a bend like that could happen is if the ramps aren't attached as intended.
ducatithunder
Well-known member
I dont understand how that is happening. If it was failing the ramp would not be level with the cross beam anymore. It also looks like the ramp caught something on the way down that could have bent it up but would have destroyed the ramp in the process, and been very noticeable.
It looks like when they unloaded it with a forklift they hit the edge with a fork. The these are packed in the shipping case that edge is exposed and very easy to hit and bend. Same thing happened to mine when I picked it up at the freight depot. I used a BFH to bend it back no problem. No issues since.
It looks like when they unloaded it with a forklift they hit the edge with a fork. The these are packed in the shipping case that edge is exposed and very easy to hit and bend. Same thing happened to mine when I picked it up at the freight depot. I used a BFH to bend it back no problem. No issues since.
stingry
Well-known member
I just went out to the shop and looked at my lift (same model) and the ONLY way that I can see this bending has to be related to the ramps. Possibly they are catching under hinges and bending the flange upward when the lift is lowered to the floor?
WhiffySpark
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I’ve seen that happen on rotarys as well
Are both sides bent?
I don’t know why y’all are “monitoring” a 7 year old lift thinking bend pak should fix this. To be it looks like operator error
firebirdparts
Well-known member
It does. And it looks harmless too, but I am assuming a bit about how it’s made.
slowTA
Well-known member
As mentioned above, the bolts should be holding the runway to the crossbar and there shouldn't be much force on that tab.
That said, BendPak sent me crappy bolts in 2009 that stripped while trying to reach the torque spec. After a few choice words for their 'tech', who told me the lift could be used with no bolts since all the force was straight down (completely ignoring the fact that this lift is designed to be rolled around on casters and everything would fall apart... and when you're really fighting with a stuck bolt and forces can be sideways), I replaced the bolts with good bolts from the local hardware store and moved on with life.
My point is that if those bolts stretched a bit then the runway might be resting on those tabs which could bend them up. So check/replace your bolts as needed and monitor for further bending.
That said, BendPak sent me crappy bolts in 2009 that stripped while trying to reach the torque spec. After a few choice words for their 'tech', who told me the lift could be used with no bolts since all the force was straight down (completely ignoring the fact that this lift is designed to be rolled around on casters and everything would fall apart... and when you're really fighting with a stuck bolt and forces can be sideways), I replaced the bolts with good bolts from the local hardware store and moved on with life.
My point is that if those bolts stretched a bit then the runway might be resting on those tabs which could bend them up. So check/replace your bolts as needed and monitor for further bending.
Thanks for all the advice. Probably the bolts were defective, or were not torqued properly by the installation tech. I will straighten the lip, install new high strength bolts to correct torque,and observe if this happens again.......your collective advice and observations were more insightful and helpful than I received from BendPak. Thanks again