Installing Bend Pak HD-9 - 4 Post

[Old Moparz]

I'm almost done assembling this one, (one more to go) & one thing for sure, it's FRIGGIN' HEAVY!! I could have paid an additional $175 each to have them installed, but a few reasons I decided to do it myself were:

1) I saved some money.

2) More importantly than saving the money, is if I know exactly how it goes together & it breaks, troubleshooting it will be much easier.

3) I like to do things myself as much as possible, & putting this together is more exciting than wet sanding.

My advice though, is don't even consider doing it without an overhead hoist or at least 3 or 4 other people to help. Most of my friends are not nearby, & any family members are all out of state. (I'd rather they stay away anyway.) The overhead chain hoist worked out great, & I don't think a floor standing cherry picker would get adequate height to lift it. All the components such as the posts, cross supports, hydraulic pump & reservoir & hardware can be handled, but the 2 runways must be hoisted.

Unpacking it from the steel frames on each end was a learning experience. This one has the runways bolted to the frames & forms the top & bottom of the package. The rest of the parts are inside boxed, wrapped with cardboard, stretch film & banded to the runways. Definitely a minor engineering feat in itself. Once I had the parts inside unbanded & removed, I chained the runways, hoisted them & lowered them onto a moving dollies. The second one will be easier now that I know what to expect.

All that's left on this one is to install the air lines & the casters, tighten up some misc. items & plug it in. It's a Bend Pak, HD-9 with a 9000 pound rating. I ordered the drip pans for both & one set of casters, but held off on the jacking tray. I figure for the amount of times I need to get the wheels up in the air I can do it from the floor, or place the stands on the runways.

Here's the place I bought them from, & they discounted each one $100 because I bought 2 of them.
http://www.e-autolifts.com/index.html
Shipping is included with the price, & that alone was over $500 for one from another lift company. They can deliver to your home, but since there is limited access to my house for a truck, I decided to pick them up at the local Yellow Freight terminal with my trailer.

I decided on the 4 post because I needed the portability inside the garage. One will be dedicated for parking, & the other will be used for parking & an occasional under the car project. This weekend the first one will hopefully be operational, so I'll post back & let you know how it works & how much I like or dislike it. If I really hate it, I won't put the second one together.

Bob

 

[byrdman]

Thanks for the writeup Bob. I'll be tackling this project one day and it's always good to get some perspective.

 

[OI812]

Thanks for the info. I plan on getting one some day and its good to hear what you came across.

 

[Old Moparz]

It works! I got the remaining items all together on it today, & ran it up & down several times empty. No major problems, just a few minor headaches that were corrected. I'll put a car on it tomorrow to see how it operates under a full load & post back the results. If I weren't so tired, I'd post the details now, but it'll have to wait.

Overall it seems like a decent lift for the price. There are a few things I'm not thrilled with, but I'll be able to live with them.

 

[Rollman]

Looks real nice , when you get a chance give us the pro's and cons on it .

Do you permanently attach those posts to the concert ?

 

[Old Moparz]

I have to apologize if this is long winded, but I tried to be thorough.

Since the lift is now operational, it was time to test it with a full load. I was very tempted to test it out with my wife's car in case I assembled it wrong, but she wasn't home. The vehicle I tried it out with was my '69 Satellite ragtop, about 4000 pounds. I pulled up onto the ramps & runways without any traction problems or bottoming out, so the light grit applied to the paint, & the approach angle of the 24" long ramps are fine. It could be a problem with something like an AC Cobra, but I wouldn't know for sure. They do have longer ramps available though.

My 5 year old son was just as excited to see the lift go up & down as I was, so I let him have first crack at raising my favorite old car. (I was excited that something I assembled actually worked.) He pushed the button & held it until the car was up about 2 feet. I asked him to stop so I could check on the cables & pulleys to see if all looked well, & it did. He raised it some more, but got bored & went outside to play in the snow. I lowered it & raised it again to 2 feet a couple more times before I decided to raise it all the way.

With the step ladder handy, I brought it up & checked to see where the roof of the car was in relation to the opened garage door. The overhead doors I installed had the optional high lift track. This brings the doors closer to the ceiling to take advantage of the height. If anyone has the ceiling height for a lift, don't forget to check the garage door tracks. It would be nasty to see what would happen if the car was up & you opened the door into the tail lights or grille.

With the lift raised almost to the very top, I have 2 to 3 inches from the roof of the car, to the lowest point on the backside, face of the opened door. All the other items near the ceiling like lights, beams & fans, are much higher & not an issue. The lift wasn't quite at the top with just a few inches left, but definitely high enough to park or work under. With the overhead door closed, I could get the last 3 or 4 inches out of it if I needed to.

Raising & lowering the lift from the floor to the top, takes about one minute. The lift seemed extremely stable with the load on it, & actually much more stable than when it was empty. I tried to rock it to simulate what might move it while working on a car, but it had very little movement at all, & nothing that creates a scary feeling. Lowering this model requires an air compressor to release the safety locks. All that is needed, is to connect the hose to the fitting on the valve, & push the button to flow the air to each post.

I'll be moving this lift to a more semi-permanent spot in the garage, but I have no intention of bolting it down. I have one set of casters for both lifts & will move them around occasionally. The casters are a very good quality, & the lift rolls effortlessly. I haven't tried to move it with the vehicle on it, but will at a later date. The fit & finish is fair to good. I had trouble locating & mounting the bracket that holds the air release valve-button in a spot that didn't stick out. After bending the bracket in a vise, I found a more suitable angle to mount it where I wanted it.

My only other complaints are the way the approach ramps mount, & the quality control of the mounting locations. You have the option of letting them pivot downward as the lift rises, or to add a pair of included brackets, to keep them in a semi-permanent, horizontal position. The quality control here is terrible, because I can just about get the ramps mounted the way they are supposed to be. The slots on the ramps & the slots on the end of the runway don't line up perfect. This made sliding the metal rod through difficult, & mounting the ramps a wrestling match.

There is no easy & convenient way to install & remove them without unbending cotter pins, removing rods, & then removing each ramp. I may try to devise another method because the ramps in either position will be in the way & hazardous to your head. For me, the corner lines up with my face. I may not be pretty to look at, but I sure as hell don't need poked eyes, a broken nose, or other lift inflicted rearrangements to my mug.

So far, I would say it's a decent lift & a good value for the price, which included delivery. Aside from the weight of some parts, putting it together was not any more difficult than some old car repairs we've all done. It comes with directions & a parts list, as well as the anchors & shims if you decide to bolt it to the floor. If anyone has any questions or needs more details, just ask & I'll be glad to answer.

Bob

 

[Rollman]

Excellent review Good luck with your lifts . Thanks

 

[firstgear]

I understand that it uses air to release the locks, is it electric going up and down? what voltage did you get if it is?

 

[Old Moparz]

The one's I have are 110V & only use the electricity to operate the pump when raising the lift. The air lines have a simple connection that you attach a hose to just like any other air tool. You need to buy the correct fitting/coupler size to match what you have. The pump is not on when lowering, just the constant air flow from the compressor to hold the locks open so gravity lowers the lift.

I didn't have a 220V line near where I wanted to place the lift & asked what the difference was if I got the 110V instead. I was told the 220V raises the lift quicker & recommended for anyone using the lift regularly like a repair shop. I don't use mine often, so they either remain up for parking, and only occasionally I'm using them for a repair. I think the speed difference was 45 seconds compared to 60 seconds to raise it.

I'm not in that much more of a hurry where I'd run more 220V outlets to save 15 seconds.

 

[bmwpower]

What are the dimensions of the lift? Sounds interesting...

 

[Old Moparz]

If you go to the link I posted above, the dimensions are there for all the lifts. There's too many to list here, so you're better off going to their site & seeing which type you want to look into.

 

[McVicker]

Bob,

My friend and I are trying to put together the same lift. However tonight we ran into a problem when we were trying to mount the runways on. Is there any way I could give you a call and ask you a few questions? BendPak won't be open until at least monday and we'd like to get this installed!

Please send me a private message, thanks!
Dan

 

[Truck Guy]

Bob,

My friend and I are trying to put together the same lift. However tonight we ran into a problem when we were trying to mount the runways on. Is there any way I could give you a call and ask you a few questions? BendPak won't be open until at least monday and we'd like to get this installed!

Please send me a private message, thanks!
Dan

Dan, Did you remove the cable pulleys that are mounted in the ends of the runways?

I just put together two (2) BendPak HD-9ST's in a friend's and my garage a couple of months ago.
We couldn't get the ramps seated on the crossbars and realized that the pulleys were not seating in the cutout slots.

We loosened the set screws and pulled the center shaft and pulley and reinstalled them after the ramps were in place.

Russ

 

[McVicker]

thanks so much, thats exactly our problem.

we looked at the pulleys but didnt think we could remove them, we'll try tomorrow morning.

thanks Russ!

 

[McVicker]

Just to clarify....we have to put this ramps on with the cross beams on the 4th safty lock down from the top and install all the cables and air hoses with the ramps up in the air. All of that is correct, correct?

-Dan

 

[Truck Guy]

Yes, they have you do all of the ramp, cable, hydraulic and air lock work while the cross bars are on the forth lock stop so you can get underneath the ramps to get all of this work done.

I should have clarified that the ramp end pulleys are attached to the ramps with large center spindle shafts that are locked in with a big set screw.
You need to remove the set screw to get the pulley shaft out to remove the pulley itself.

Once the pulleys are out the ramps just drop right on the crossbars.
Then you can reinstall the pulleys and get to the rest of the items to install like
the cables and hydraulics.

Go slow and watch the cables as the hydraulic ram pulls them tight for the first time. That all the cables are on the pulleys and not wedged somewhere.

Good luck!

Russ

 

[McVicker]

We got everything assembled except for the air lines, which we will probably work on tonight or tomorrow, depending on if we have time.

We actually did use a engine hoist to pick up the runners and it worked great. The cherry picker gets the runners more then high enough to clear the cross bars.

I'm assuming once we raise and lower the lift a few times it will stable out, but as of right now it's still pretty wobbly.

 

[Truck Guy]

Glad you got it all squared away

The air lines take about 15 minutes to install, easy stuff.

We used my 2-ton folding engine hoist too!
There is no way two guys are picking that ramp up and placing it on the cross members without it.
Especially the ramp with the hydraulic ram cylinder

Did you get the newer model that has the safety stop "ladders" inside the posts?
I talked to BendPak about the change in design and they said to use wheel bearing grease inside the posts and not
WD40 like it says in the build manual. The grease make for much smoother operation.
Also the NyLok nuts that you use at the cable ends at the top of the posts take the place of the old Double-Nut setup.

After you raise and lower it a couple of times, it does tend to align itself. Just make sure you shim under the posts
to get each one level.

 

[McVicker]

My lift did come with the safety ladders, i thogught they all did...What did yours come with?

We were looking in the instructions where it said to double up the nuts and then we looked at the packing slip and it had 8 crossed out and 4 written in, so we were like ughhhh. After a little while we figured you didn't need two on each. Anyway thanks for the advise and the damn electrician didn't come today so this baby won't be opperational for at least another day.

 

[Truck Guy]

Dan,

We got the new design too with the separate ladder style safety stops.

It was the main reason I called BendPak. It was a different style that what we thought we were getting. We must have ordered right when they were changing it.

We ordered the 110v models, so they got plugged in right away......sorry

Here's a bad shot of mine in action

 

[mdshore348]

are there any other 9k lifts out there that someone can say is better than the bend pak ? it is the only one for the money i can see that is ALI certified...

 

[mdshore348]

are there any other 9k lifts out there that someone can say is better than the bend pak ? it is the only one for the money i can see that is ALI certified...

 

[McVicker]

Dan,

We got the new design too with the separate ladder style safety stops.

It was the main reason I called BendPak. It was a different style that what we thought we were getting. We must have ordered right when they were changing it.

We ordered the 110v models, so they got plugged in right away......sorry

Here's a bad shot of mine in action

Electric is getting run tomorrow as well as a heater installed. I should have a few pictures to show off in a few days. Nice Vettes btw.

 

[Stucazz63]

I'm almost done assembling this one, (one more to go) & one thing for sure, it's FRIGGIN' HEAVY!! I could have paid an additional $175 each to have them installed, but a few reasons I decided to do it myself were:

1) I saved some money.

2) More importantly than saving the money, is if I know exactly how it goes together & it breaks, troubleshooting it will be much easier.

3) I like to do things myself as much as possible, & putting this together is more exciting than wet sanding.

My advice though, is don't even consider doing it without an overhead hoist or at least 3 or 4 other people to help. Most of my friends are not nearby, & any family members are all out of state. (I'd rather they stay away anyway.) The overhead chain hoist worked out great, & I don't think a floor standing cherry picker would get adequate height to lift it. All the components such as the posts, cross supports, hydraulic pump & reservoir & hardware can be handled, but the 2 runways must be hoisted.

Unpacking it from the steel frames on each end was a learning experience. This one has the runways bolted to the frames & forms the top & bottom of the package. The rest of the parts are inside boxed, wrapped with cardboard, stretch film & banded to the runways. Definitely a minor engineering feat in itself. Once I had the parts inside unbanded & removed, I chained the runways, hoisted them & lowered them onto a moving dollies. The second one will be easier now that I know what to expect.

All that's left on this one is to install the air lines & the casters, tighten up some misc. items & plug it in. It's a Bend Pak, HD-9 with a 9000 pound rating. I ordered the drip pans for both & one set of casters, but held off on the jacking tray. I figure for the amount of times I need to get the wheels up in the air I can do it from the floor, or place the stands on the runways.

Here's the place I bought them from, & they discounted each one $100 because I bought 2 of them.
http://www.e-autolifts.com/index.html
Shipping is included with the price, & that alone was over $500 for one from another lift company. They can deliver to your home, but since there is limited access to my house for a truck, I decided to pick them up at the local Yellow Freight terminal with my trailer.

I decided on the 4 post because I needed the portability inside the garage. One will be dedicated for parking, & the other will be used for parking & an occasional under the car project. This weekend the first one will hopefully be operational, so I'll post back & let you know how it works & how much I like or dislike it. If I really hate it, I won't put the second one together.

Bob

Hi, I'm putting together the same hoist. I find that the instructions that came with the hoist to be not so good. I have a question about the safety ladders installation. Are they suppose to be hanging from the top nut?

Mariano

 

[tonyvlx]

Im also installing the HD-9ST. Have you figured out if the ladder bars are suppose to "hang"? How many nuts are suppose to support the ladder bar from the top? The cables just came with one nut and no washers. Seems very odd to me.Instructions say to double the nuts on the cable ends, but i never recieved anymore in the parts bag. My autolifters had a huge washer and 2 massive nuts. Anyone install this hoist??? Any help would be appreciated. THANKS

 

[carguy123]

Now back to the 2 post vs. 4 post issue. Now that you have it up and have used it how much in the way are the ramps?

I will never use mine to park a car but I do appreciate the quickness of just driving on and lifting plus the mobility factor. I poured my floor thick enough to mount the 2 post so installation isn't an issue.

BUT I like the openness and not having to find a way to jack the car up off the ramps to do any wheel removal/work that the 2 post gives.

 

[Stucazz63]

Hi, I have just finished assembling my bend-Pak HD-9 hoist and now need to fill it with hydraulic oil. I went to purchase some today and they only hade two types, AW32 and AW48. In the manual it says to use 10W Hydrauloic Oil. Does anyone know which one is the correct oil? Nobody I talked to can answer the question and it's too late to call Bend-pak.

Thanks

 

[Stucazz63]

Im also installing the HD-9ST. Have you figured out if the ladder bars are suppose to "hang"? How many nuts are suppose to support the ladder bar from the top? The cables just came with one nut and no washers. Seems very odd to me.Instructions say to double the nuts on the cable ends, but i never recieved anymore in the parts bag. My autolifters had a huge washer and 2 massive nuts. Anyone install this hoist??? Any help would be appreciated. THANKS

Yes the safety ladders are suppose to hang. You must have at least 1/4" of thread showing above nut. I called Bend-Pak and that is what they told me.

 

[TNToy]

Now back to the 2 post vs. 4 post issue. Now that you have it up and have used it how much in the way are the ramps?

BUT I like the openness and not having to find a way to jack the car up off the ramps to do any wheel removal/work that the 2 post gives.

It depends. If your use is at least 2/3 oriented toward parking issues (fitting 4 cars into a 3-car garage) then get a 4 post.

If you do a lot of work on your own cars (wether it's engine swaps and clutch jobs... or oil changes and brake pad replacement) and only ocassionally plan to park a vehicle under the raised one, then absolutely get a 2-post.

I couldn't stand to make my only lift a 4-post if I had one... but most of the guys in here have immaculate garages and primarily show their vehicles. They don't have a project in need of having the body lifted off the frame for some heavy restoration work... or a tube chassis getting some cage work re-done.

 

[carguy123]

Thanx TNToy

I thought I was sure I wanted a 2 post lift, but so many of the posts on this forum tout the advantages of the 4 post. I can see the benefits of both but the 4 post just seems like too much is in your way to do any real work. I want a lift to make my work eaiser, not to move the obstacles up with the vehicle.

My garage is large enough I should never have to park a car there, BUT the mobility aspect sure made the 4 post a serious contender.

 

[TNToy]

Yeah, I get it... without any decent amount of experience you get worried because everyone else has X, even though Y makes more sense in your head.

In all likelyhood, I'll never own a 4-post - but I DEFINITELY want a 2-post at home someday. I doubt I'll ever have a garage full of immaculate classic cars. But I'm always turning wrenches on something come saturday afternoon.

The drive-on lifts at work are GREAT for lifting a vehicle up, jouncing it, and finding suspension noises. Or changing oil, but that's about it. I hate lifting a vehicle on the rack... and then having to lift it OFF the rack in order to work on tires or brakes or something.

 

[tonyvlx]

Problems With HD-9 Assembly
Guys problem im having, is the lift comes down to slow, with no weight on it. It comes down so slow that 1 or 2 of the cable slack safety locks ingage. The cables are all adjusted correctly from taking measurements from the top plate to the cross bars. Measurment is exactly the same on all 4 sides. I managed to lower it completly to the floor by having some friends stand on it. I than drove my car onto it and raised it up and down. With the wait of the car, it lowered perfectly. Any ideas, this hoist got me so frustrated, i should of kept my autolifters

 

[blissj]

Buy some heavy duty flat washers to distribute the load from the Nylock nut and keep from galling the top plate. You can find them at Home Depot. Also, lubricate the threads and the Nylock nuts before adjusting the locking ladders.

 

[thadru2001]

Hopefully tonyvlx wasn't waiting 7+ years for someone to respond to his question. Regardless, good looking out, blissj!

 

[Old Moparz]

Hopefully tonyvlx wasn't waiting 7+ years for someone to respond to his question. Regardless, good looking out, blissj!

Forgot about coming back to this thread, glad someone else stepped in...... sorry.

 

[rayzsurfer]

Hey I realize this was an old post but I just bought one of these and I am trying to get the cables and ladders set up. Per the instructions I leveled the ramps using the ladders and then worked on synchronizing using the cables. I had everything all set up until I put my car on it. Then my synchronizing was off. Should I try to synchronizing again? If so using the ladders or cables?