MaxJax - Won't Lower

[athomas732]

I'm hoping you guys might be able to help me! I have a MaxJax lift that has never really worked right. The lift raises and lowers perfectly fine without weight. With weight I have 1 side that will get stuck coming down. I've called Dannmar several times and they've walked me through some suggestions. Bleeding lines, lubricated the rails, and sanded on the paint of the column interior. Sanding seemed to help and I thought it was fixed until my car got stuck in the air.

At installation I upgraded my hydraulic hoses and mounted the assembly on the wall. The left side hose is maybe 6 feet long and the right side is about 15 because I ran the hose along the ceiling. I also upgraded to a better quality QD.

Could my problems be related to the unequal hydraulic hose lengths? I'm using the same diameter and rated line. Any ideas? I got my car down, but the lift won't lower at all currently. I tried calling Dannmar yesterday, but nobody answered and voicemail was full!!

 

[danny4327]

hi thomas,

check out this thread: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=149900&showall=1

I don't have a maxjax but i do notice a slight unevenness when using my lift (up or down) due to custom hose lengths. The flow divider is probably having an issue pushing the fluid through the extra 9 feet

 

[63spyder]

Length of hose doesn't matter ,same amount of fluid is pushed on both sides

 

[SJW]

There was a relatively recent discussion in the General Garage Discussion area, I think, about the MaxJax not descending with a vehicle up. I have difficulty with the search feature, so I couldn't find it. The gist was that the inside coating of the posts was preventing them from lowering correctly.

Once hydraulic fluid fills the hoses, then the same amount of force would be provided to each post, assuming the divider is working correctly.

Regarding Dannmar, they went out of business last month, I believe.

 

[humpty]

Bendpak bought Dannmar and some of their brands a couple weeks ago.

humpty

 

[Jagmandave]

Don't call Bendpak for help on your Danmar lift tho.....

 

[WVBrady]

There was a relatively recent discussion in the General Garage Discussion area, I think, about the MaxJax not descending with a vehicle up. I have difficulty with the search feature, so I couldn't find it. The gist was that the inside coating of the posts was preventing them from lowering correctly.

Once hydraulic fluid fills the hoses, then the same amount of force would be provided to each post, assuming the divider is working correctly.

Regarding Dannmar, they went out of business last month, I believe.

Here is one: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=427862&showall=1

 

[Kev-o]

LOL i had this problem literally last night. put the ol' jeep on the lift and it got stuck. i just finished installation of my new lift last night. i purchased the m6 version which has the rough paint. i didnt lift mine very high 16 inches to make sure all was level and would come down and sure as heck it didnt. i put a jack under my jeep and lifter a little so i could wobble the stuck side and then lowered the car back on to the arms. did this step 1/2" at a time until it was down. This could be quite precarious if the car is up high. I lubed the everliving s*** out of my columns. i then extended the arms out all the way and took some rides on the lift up and down about 15-20 times this put some wear on the paint.

i then put the jeep on the lift again and would raise in 2-3 inches increments over the previous level and lower it all the way down. this seemed to work for me and had no issues. my problem was not with flow dividers or bleeding air in the system, my lift bound in the column. in fact i held the lowering lever for a solid 60 seconds and realized the hydraulic rams had lowered themselves about 1/2 inch below flange in the lift armature. i could wobble the ram back and forth freely. this let me know that the armature was stuck.

this is my first post on this board.
-Kev.