Bendpak XPR-9F Install

[saabman]

Got the call from the frieght company yesterday that my Bendpak XPR-9F lift was in. So this morning a headed to the dock with my car trailer where I was met by a friend. I was a bit surprized to see how the unit was packed. I knew it was 48x17x130 inches, but I figured the 17 was the height. As you can see by the photo below it was the width. Anyway, a forklift loaded the lift on the trailer and my friend and I lashed it down. The 20 mile trip back to my house was uneventful. Note the pipes (between the lift and the trailer) , these allow the "load" to be rolled off the trailer. I frequently use this technique for moving heavy items.

We managed to seperate all pieces and move the columns inside. Tomorrow I hope to install all the comoponents and on friday run the electric.

Chris

 

[FastEddieG]

Nice! Looking forward to pics! I'm jealous of all of you that can install lifts in your places. My 3 car garage has 10' ceilings, but a nice I-beam running across the middle of it which drops the height a good 12-16". One of these days....

 

[saabman]

Yeah, this is my 5th house and the first one that has a garage that a lift could be installed in. The factory attached brackets to each end of the lift columns binding them together and creating a unitized shipping item. The photo below shows the bottom bracket in place and at this point the top bracket has been removed (but the columns have been lashed together). The engine crane was used to slowly slide the columns off the trailer and in to the garage. Once in the garage the columns were seperated and placed on roller dollies. The crane looks positively tiny compared to the columns.

Chris

 

[e-tek]

That the nicest wrapping paper you'll ever see!!! Good luck with it - have fun!

 

[Matti]

Looks like a monster lift!

 

[saabman]

Got the columns upright, measured, and square (with the help of two friends). Going to make a simple jig to keep the hammer drill square and anchor them tomorrow. Only wrinkle was a bump in the concrete (might have been an intentional "crown" to promote drainage). I had to move the lift 1 ft closer to the garage door (double checked the clearance needed for all my vehicles before locking in that choice) to get a reasonably flat mount point.

Chris

 

[saabman]

Must have been a former "road" engineer that poured the floor in my garage. It has a double slope (crown) from the center left and right, and from back to front. Perhaps the previous owner planned on washing down the floor a lot (but is a garage not a slaugher house)

Certainly made shimming interesting. I am surprized Bendpack did not give tolerances on the columns "gap". Even a shim of minimum thickness causes quite a displacement at the top of an 11 ft column. I got within 1/32 on an inch which I feel is close enough in this context.

Manual was also lacking on how to route the hydraulic lines. But those are in too.

Electric is done. Ran 10/3 SO from the ceiling to pump. At the pump I added a twist lock plug. I feel it prudent to have a quick way to cut power should the "up bottom stick" or some other emergency situation arise. I especially didnt want to have to walk under car or climb a ladder to disconnect it.


ITS ALIVE. Ran the carriage up and down. Now it is time to put the arms on. And balance the qualization cables. Yahoo.

Chris

 

[saabman]

Finished the install late last week. Here is a picture showing the lift situated in the garage in operational condition. Also visible, chassis dyno on the left and oil forced air furnace in center (back)

Chris

 

[Piper]

thanks for the write-up Chris. Can you tell me more about your floor? I'm in the process of installing a mohawk 2 post lift right now. My floor is 6" 4000psi with no rebar or any other reinforcement. Mohawk says 4.5" is minimum so "I'll be fine" but I'm just wondering what other guys have.

Piper

 

[saabman]

Bendpak instructions call for drilling a 4 1/2 inch deep hole. Based on anchors I had installed for my chassis dyno, I new the floor could tolerate this. I did not build the garage so I am unsure what the exact depth of the floor is (dont really want to penetrate the bottom to find out) or what the psi rating of the concrete is. Typical garage mix is at least 3000 psi. I know the former owner planned to run commericial service out of the garage before the town put a kabosh on it. So I figure a lift was in his plans. You will see 4 anchors on the back edge where clear floor models have 2. It would not be hard to add a brace between the columns at the top but most of my cars are under 3000 lbs so I am not really worried. Bendpak gives no torque figure for the nuts, sigh. I went with 150 ft/lbs which is something I found in Rotary's 10k installation instructions.

Good luck with your install. Be sure to shim it square. This slope of my floor was a surprize.

Chris

 

[pattenp]

...... I went with 150 ft/lbs which is something I found in Rotary's 10k installation instructions.

You may want to double check the torque. My two post called for 150 ft/lbs to set the anchors but then called for the anchors to be finially torqued to 80 ft/lbs. The anchors were 3/4" X 6".

 

[saabman]

Bolts are capable of 165-175 ft/lbs based on the WeJit doc that came with the anchors. From what I understand the bolts should be pre-loaded so that they do not stretch under the load from the lift. I will check with Bendpak to make sure though. Thanks for the heads up.

Bendpak does not give a torque spec for the anchor. They say they have been advised by WeJit that the torque capability varies based on the concrete. 2-3 Turns once hand tight say Bendpack. I have backed off the torque (columns are still square). As "pattenp" suggests, the high torque set the anchor and now the operating torque need is much lower.

CHris

 

[saabman]

Here is a picture of Yellow Thunders (my autocross car) maiden voyage on the lift (camera lens aberation making the near column look bent)

 

[Piper]

man Yellow Thunders is a poster child for Bendpak lifts!! I'd be sending that to Jeff and asking for some sort of "freebie". Looks great!

 

[saabman]

Here is my daily driver, a Saab 95 Aero Sedan on the lift. It was a challenge to find the center of mass and the location that allowed the arms to pivot under the car. Note the small elevators on each lift pad (these and a taller set are supplied with the lift. Also visible is the top of my new oil drain pail. Made quick work out of changing the oil and filter.

Where my Sonett weighs around 1800 lbs, the 95 is about 3400 lbs and more evenly distributed front to rear. I had a 6 ft level against the column to measure column lean, and I am happy to report there was none.

 

[KingMotorsport]

Bolts are capable of 165-175 ft/lbs based on the WeJit doc that came with the anchors. From what I understand the bolts should be pre-loaded so that they do not stretch under the load from the lift. I will check with Bendpak to make sure though. Thanks for the heads up.

Bendpak does not give a torque spec for the anchor. They say they have been advised by WeJit that the torque capability varies based on the concrete. 2-3 Turns once hand tight say Bendpack. I have backed off the torque (columns are still square). As "pattenp" suggests, the high torque set the anchor and now the operating torque need is much lower.

CHris

They must have updated the installation manual. I have just received my Bendpak XPR-9 and the installation manual (2011) provides the following instruction:

"With the foot guards, shims and anchor bolts in place, tighten by securing the nut to the base then tuning 3-5 full turns clockwise (90 ft-lbs.). Do not use an impact wrench for this procedure."

Interesting that it does not say anything about using a higher torque to "set" the anchors. One concern I was thinking of would be cracking the concrete. I have this concern in part because my installation will be near an expansion joint.

One specification that I saw missing was the minimum distance from an expansion joint. I have an expansion joint in the area where I will be installing my lift. I have had to adjust my location to provide a one foot separation between the expansion joint and the base of the lift.

I will post pictures of my install.