Bendpak RJ-45 Safety Brackets

[swedish_chef]

I finally got around to putting in my RJ-45 this morning. The install instructions show the installation of these safety brackets like so:

However, on my lift (a Bendpak HD-9) the runways are close enough together when fitting the roller on the utility rail, the adjustable arms of the jack are all the way in. Consequently there is no room for the mounting screws for these safety brackets to fit in between the roller assembly and body of the jack.

Also, the above figure shows the safety bracket orientated with the circle cuts on the bottom, while the engineering drawings for the jack later in the manual show them orientated withe the circle cuts facing up:

So, does anybody actually use these safety brackets? Is it worth it to move my runways apart and re-adjust everything just to get these screws to fit? I assume these brackets are primarily concerned with tipping since I don't think the jack is going to be flying up out of the lift.. Is that a real concern if one pays attention to the jacking points?

 

[Gerald O]

I didn't use them on mine. Couldn't figure out how they could possibly be attached.

 

[a52-830]

am i the only one who doesn't see your images?

other than this, how do you (both) like the rj-45? worth the money?

 

[LXCam]

No pic for me either. But my RJ45 didn't have anything like you're describing. Mine has a internal swing toothed brace that catches on a cross brace for the upright. Did they do away with this?

 

[MrBalll]

am i the only one who doesn't see your images?

No, it's because he used imgur.
GJ hates imgur.

 

[Gerald O]

He's talking about these:

Looking at that picture, I think the trick is to slip the bolts into the holes from the track side before setting the jack down onto the tracks. I'll have to take another look at mine to see if that will work.

 

[Gerald O]

am i the only one who doesn't see your images?

other than this, how do you (both) like the rj-45? worth the money?

I like it, but mine has a hydraulic leak at a hose fitting because it is impossible to tighten the fitting enough and still have it pointing in the right direction. It's a pipe-threaded 90 deg elbow that must point in a particular direction. Not a bad leak though.

It's kind of noisy and slow to lift, but it works. Yes, too expensive, but I can't think of any other available option that would work better.

 

[swedish_chef]

am i the only one who doesn't see your images?

Whoops. Apparently imgur links don't work (or only work sporadically) on garage journal. Gerald O posted one of the images I was trying to post. I'll see if I can make the others work.

other than this, how do you (both) like the rj-45? worth the money?

So far I like it. I only purchased one and did not purchase the integrated air line kit. Only downside to only having one (besides only jacking one side up at a time) is the controls will be under the vehicle when I roll it to the other position. Not really a big deal, but not very convenient. Overall I would say worth the price so far.

 

[swedish_chef]

Looking at that picture, I think the trick is to slip the bolts into the holes from the track side before setting the jack down onto the tracks. I'll have to take another look at mine to see if that will work.

That was my hope, and I monkeyed with that strategy this morning, but there is not enough room to back the bolts out to install the bracket when the jack is in place. In fact on one side the bolts hit the inside of accessory rail before the wheels even when the screws are backed out as far as the frame of the jack will allow. (i.e. the jack was sitting on the two bolts instead of the wheels). The other side had enough clearance to lower onto the wheels but no way was there enough room to back the bolts out enough to get the bracket in.

I'm thinking these brackets might have just been an afterthought that Bendpak threw in the package without actually trying to put them on, or somebody decided to switch to longer bolts without checking the clearance. I guess I can always just use some shorter bolts than what they provided with it.

 

[a52-830]

is there room to attach the plate with the nuts just started so that it flops around, and then put the jack in place, move the plates into position, and then tighten it all up?

when i put my bendpak together, i decided the directions had been written by the people who designed it, but not vetted by someone who had actually put it together. there were a lot of subtle things missing, which is a problem for me, because subtle is not one of my attributes.

i thought about taking careful notes, and submitting them to bendpak so that they could update the directions, but i decided that they had been selling them a long time, and likely didnt care enough to update them (read: i decided it sounded too much like work).