Thoughts on a problem with a 4 post lift...

[Berg]

I have a bend pak sp-7x scissor lift and I am thinking about changing to a 4 post cable lift.
Good friend of mine suggested Cytech Doublepark which he has owned for 5-6 years. USA made as I recall. I had a question of the standard design of most 4 post lifts.
Twice now I have seen major problem with his lift. Several years ago the rotation of the cable on the pulley undid one of the large bolts underneath on the approach end of the lift. Car dropped approx 6 inches to the next block. The large pulley bolts are upside down and could actually fall out in an extreme situation as this. I believe this particular pulley gets most of the force when lifting. Kinda like a block and tackle I suppose.
With that fixed , the second time the same pulley just wore thru the bolt over halfway. The cast steel pulley also wore the center of the pulley to about a 2 inch hole before I noticed it. With new bolts and oil-ite bushings in place he tack welded a bar across the bolts to foil any unscrewing of the bolts. This will solve the turning problem of the bolt but the wearing thru of the oilite bearing is a concern. Does anyone actually use a true bearing for that application? Seems that would solve the issue to me.
His lift is probably used an average of 3-4 times a week in a home shop.
The Cytech looks to be well built and routine checking and mtc would have caught each failure I'm sure.

No lift is without problems...I almost dropped a pickup off my Bend pack when one of the saftey stops did not release on lowering a pickup.

Any thoughts on the pulley problem ...anyone else have a similar experience?

Thanks

 

[bravenrace]

I have a Bend Pak 4 post lift. I've been using it for about 4 years now. The only problem I had with it is that one of the bolts that attaches the ramps to the crossmembers sheared. Not sure why, but I suspect it was the result of putting my tractor on it. It was under the weight limit, but has a VERY short wheelbase compared with a car. Anyways, I replaced them with grade 8 bolts and have never had a problem since. Note that a failure like this isn't dangerous, as the ramps also sit on top of the crossmembers.

 

[mikeyr]

Cytech is the same lift as a Perfect Park I believe, if I am right and I pretty sure I am, then there was a "fix" for the bolt turning out.

One day I got a box from Perfect Park in the mail with a drill bit, 4 rusty bolts, and one rusty oxy torch rough cut plate and very poorly handwritten instructions with 1st grade level (maybe Kindergarden) quality drawings on how to install this "fix".

The reason I bring this up is, you might want to contact them and see the if kid can draw you some new drawings, he must be in 6th grade by now and it might be better. And they should ship you the kit for free, they did for me.

 

[nissan_crawler]

Couldn't you just drill the heads and safety them with .040?

 

[mikeyr]

good idea, since I never installed the plate they sent I think I will just drill it and safety wire it.

 

[Steve_S]

Isn't this the same type of lift that collapsed one Corvette onto another a few years back?

 

[Junkman]

Isn't this the same type of lift that collapsed one Corvette onto another a few years back?

What caused that collapse? Do you have more pictures of the event that you could post? thanks

 

[mikeyr]

Yes that is the lift, pulley seized up on pivot bolt causing the bolt to turn, bolt turned and the nut did not and after a few up and downs of the lift the nut came off causing the cabling to come apart and the lift to come crashing down.

The lift is a Perfect Park but its not made by them and there are several sellers of that lift by different vendors, they have since as I said earlier fixed by sending some **** to existing owners and changing the design slightly for the current builds.

I have the old style Perfect Park and no its not for sale, I like my lift.

 

[kool55]

Holy smokes,I have a perfect park 7000, since 01. I heard of no problems with this lift. I better go take a look. Otherwise it works great for me. I` have used it alot working on my 55 belair and 72 vette.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

What is wrong with doing a little preventative maintenance and inspection occasionally on a lift?

It seems that people seem to ignore them. With a new lift, you want to be inspecting it nearly every use for the first dozen times or so to insure everything is OK, and somewhere in there you want to re tighten and check everything. A little oil every six months or so on the moving parts would not hurt either. No different than oiling the wheels on your floor jack to make it roll better.

Also running it up and examining it, and playing a little "what if?" would eliminate many problems.

Does everyone ignore the lift maintenance wise? or do you folks really do periodic preventative maintenance and inspections on your lifts?

Charles

 

[mikeyr]

Holy smokes,I have a perfect park 7000, since 01.

If you got yours in 01, no need to worry since you got the new style after they "fixed" the problem.

And YES I do preventive maintenance on mine and regularly check the pivot points.