Hello All -
Please check out our newest video with TV host Sam Memmolo of "Two Guys Garage" & "Shade tree Mechanic"!
The video will answer to a lot of the questions regarding our lift, locking system, among others questions that have been asked here.
www.backyardbuddy.com/BYBV.html
U.S. Steel prices have gone down and so have our lifts prices. If you want to find out more about the price or have questions regarding our lifts give us a call at 800 837-9353.
Thanks,
Backyard Buddy Team!
Great video! I've always liked watching Sam and his numerous product endorsements. Also, glad to see that you finally updated your sales video and removed the one with Jason Woods (your old sales manager - now turned competitor) and replaced him with Sam.
Listed below are just a few observatinos from your video.
Lift comparisons.
Why are you still comparing a BYB lift to an outdated import lift with welded on lock tabs on a formed channel post? Other than craigslist, who even sells one of these anymore and who would buy one nowadays? Why not compare to a comparable certified 4 post lift product that's around the same price point, or at least close to it, from any of today's leading MFG's (like BendPak, Rotary, Challenger, etc.)? Be like every other commercial on tv that shows the name brand of the competitor that they are comparing their product to.
Rolling hydraulic jack.
Cars/trucks have various lifting points at the front/rear, with some being within the boundaries within the inside of the ramp width and some being placed even as far as the middle of the ramps themselves. Some vehicles, like a Jeep liberty, even mandate that you lift under the rear axle. Without pull out side bars to accommodate different widths, how would this jack ever lift anything beyond a hot rod with a dropped beam axle (as shown in your video)?
Plastic cable guides.
Is this even relevant anymore? What MFG's even produce a lift with a plastic guide?
Certification
Sorry, but the continued reasoning given to not participate in an organization like ALI that has helped to ensure continued product safety improvements (like secondary locks and centralized point of locking/unlocking), which has been adopted by numerous competing MFG's that have been in business a lot longer than BYB, and which even offer commercial grade lifts (which BYB doesn't) is totally WEAK.
How about an updated side by side comparison test against an imported certified lift that incorporates secondary safety locks? The likelihood of someone's 4 post lift being rammed by a forklift or another car are just not that common of a concern and not something that most folks worry about. The only real tests would have to address issues that can occur as a lift is being operated, in either an up or down position. Things like a burst hydraulic line (which you did address), a frayed cable that breaks, or even cable slack (due to improper maintenance/adjustment or a hung up cable), are more real world situations.
Certification testing (to squash the need for certified lifts)
Why not perform this test and squash all of the certification concerns once and for all? Put a car on a BYB lift and raise it to say 5' in the air and purposely leave it hanging there without engaging the locks into any of the columns. This now simulates a lift "in use" as it's going up or down. Now put the exact same model car onto any competitors certified lift (like a BendPak HD-9) and lift to the exact same height, and adjust the height as needed, to ensure that the locks are also not engaged at any of the columns.
Now take a grinder and purposely cut through half or 3/4 of the way through the cable at any one column (to simulate a frayed cable that breaks apart or a cable that has come off a pulley and is caught up and cut, and is now compromised). Do this first with the certified lift and watch as that particular column's wire totally unravels itself, since it can't support the weight of the vehicle anymore at that column, and the vehicle starts to drop (only at that column) and then almost instantly the secondary safety locks engage and lock the ramp to the next lower locking point on that same column. Notice how the lift has addressed this cable scenario and has ensured that the vehicle did not fall off the lift or even damage the lift itself (since the ladder bar design does allow for some sway within the column).
Now do the same thing with the BYB lift and watch how there is no seconday safety feature to be engaged (since BYB lifts only come with the ONE primary lock design). Hence, the lift's structured square steel column design is compromised as it no longer supports the weight of the vehicle. Now the car's entire weight shifts toward the compromised column, bending that column along with the other three columns, as the lift collapses and damages the car and the lift.
This (the scenario above) is the reason why you gladly pony up the fees to join an organization like ALI that allows MFG's to jointly bring up concerns that transition into certification standards. If you still don't think that this scenario can ever occur, then you are simply in denial. The weakest point of all lifts is during use of the lift, not when the locks are fully engaged and the vehicle is stationary. You have 4 cables holding the weight of a car during use (just like every other MFG) and yet you are doing nothing to address this concern, and are instead hoping that the only failure that can occur will always be hydraulic related. Why not make a safer lift, especially when the method is already widely known and in use?
P.S. What happened to the affordable 2 post ifts that BYB was coming out with? Still no pics or mention on the site.
