Hot Rods 4 Post Failure

Something else that hasn't been mentioned unless I missed it, is that the cables stretch and need to be re-adjusted from time to time. So that it is lifting level and the locks are all in sync and latch at exactly the same time when the deck is going up.

 

You guys better not ever see my four post, I have a gravel floor. I’m honestly amazed sometimes that anyone manages to work on cars with all of the hazards.

 

C'mon man....

 

I think you have the wrong idea about how it works. You lower the car and there are wheels on the lift that as you lower further, the corner posts raise off the ground. Essentially you just have a big cart that resembles a 4 poster bed . The majority of all the weight is down low with only the posts sticking up at each corner. As long as the car and ramps are not all the way down, the lift can't roll. The video below shows how a lift must be lowered to lift the posts so the wheels can roll.

https://www.bing.com/videos/rivervi...E70626B8B6866A42CEF2E70626B8B6866A4&FORM=VIRE

 

I'm with you my friend, being careless and get you hurt or dead. HRP

 

My thoughts exactly. It may be 100% psychological, but it is what it is. And he is right about once you get that much weight in motion.

 

Not relevant to the car in the OP's first post, but we can easily roll my dad's Wildfire 4-post lift around his shop on its casters with his '64 Galaxie on the lift (not raised), and he can roll the lift around the shop with no car on it by himself (He's 69).

 

I'm sorry to hear that your father lost his life in an industrial accident. Certainly caution needs to be exercised when working on and driving old hot rods and each person should decide what is acceptable to them personally. I don't see how anyone can engage in this hobby though without engaging in a certain amount of personal risk. Just getting underneath any vehicle that has been raised even a little presents a risk. When I raise a car on jacks, I usually put several wide Corvette wheels/tires under the frame just in case it slips off the stands or the pneumatic bumper jacks fail. If I place a heavier than normal vehicle on my 2 post lift, I have tall stands that I place under the corners. So Yes, we all have our perceived limits of risk that we take.

 

In my Dad’s gas station that he built in 1959, he had a single center post air/hydraulic hoist that was used when he bought it. Over time it started to leak from the center post seal and lower itself. The solution? A single 4x4 expertly measured, and placed under the rail very near the post. Then when you’re done lubing the car or truck, give it some air to fill it back up, and you could tell by the sound of it when that happened, remove said 4x4, lower vehicle, collect the money, done. Never had a failure, never replaced the seal or 4x4, and it was still in use when he sold the station in 1982.

 

Back in the 1990's there was a local guy here who had a beautiful '59 Chev wagon that was a very high end build. He showed me pictures of a failure of his 4 post lift with one post going up under driver's side rear quarter panel and sticking through the side of the quarter panel near the top!
I don't recall what caused the failure, or if he ever found out, but he did say he had the locks in and it shouldn't have failed.

 

4000 lbs on a lift with ramps at 14” from the floor doesn’t give much of a moment of inertia such as to collapse a leg.

Remember, the ramps have to be lowered for the casters to work.

Math is your friend.

 

I have had a four post lift for 30 years in two different garages. Never bolted down , but on solid concrete floors. Never an issue but common sense should always be used. I would not put car all the way up and then jack it up on the lift. Always make sure car is centered and lift level etc..

 

Should rephrase that to say he THOUGHT he had the locks on.

 

I didn't think the lift would be fully raised. My garage floor is sloped slightly towards the door for drainage. Trying to control a lift on casters with an extra 3-4,000 lbs on it ( weight of my cars I use on the lift) is not my idea of a good time. It would be fine until as long as it didn't get away from you. That's a risk I wouldn't be willing to take. Not in my plans to try it

 

I think 2" is the max I've seen on residential in OK. And, I've never seen a parking lot that was close to level enough for a lift to set on. And, an out of level condition can overload one corner badly. Warm asphalt will flow away from the load over time, how much depends on the mix. Anyone remember what happens to it on interstates with heavy truck traffic? Yep, little ponds that hold water in the tire tracks and cause hydroplaning .

 

Shims made from plywood can do a pretty dood job of leveling things out.

one of my lifts has a shim to level it at the corner nearest the floor drain.

they’re quite forgiving. Not a Swiss watch by any means.

 

Did you notice the two sets of cross tubes and runways. A type of triple stacker? Must have been a loud crash because the runway position seems to have been at full height. Looks like similar cars? https://www.roddinaz.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_5237.jpg

Feel sorry as they must have spent a lot to attend this show.

Not sure what happened, but it does highlight the fact that car lift safety should always be considered and practiced. Not sure if it was operator error or component failure but scary, nonetheless.

 

8’ wide and 12’ tall, to the top of the posts would certainly raise my eyebrows, especially if the base is asphalt of unknown quality. 12’ is approaching twice the lift height of a typical lift.

The 55 Chevy didn’t look like it fell from 12’, though.

 

So from the picture it's a Champion lift.

 

Another site reported that the lift company owner also owns the cars.

 

Just think, looking at the picture BPK65 posted above you have 9 people standing behind it not paying attention in between the 2 lifts. the outcome could have been worse if it happened during peak show hours.

 

Or he just bought it.

 

Champion is just a brand name stuck on another one of these cheaply made offshore lifts. The welds are horrible on most of them and who knows what the steel has in it. I learned my lesson years ago. If your shopping for a Auto lift make sure it is ALI certified. I personally will never trust my life or anyone I know with any of the Chinese lifts on the market. For those of you that have them and think they are great. I pray your right. But some of the fails I have seen they are not for me. If your life or someone you loves life is worth the difference in price between a lift like this or a good quailty built ALI inspected lift. Then there is nothing more for me to say to you. Just my 2 cents worth

 

Not to interrupt this circle jerk but assembly error seems far more likely than any sort of real failure here.

There's a million online pictures and testimonials about lifts staying up just fine with a broken cable or failed hydro both the fancy pants brand name stuff you guys are lusting over and the cheap import stuff that tons of people buy. They're all designed and built with both cable and hydraulic failure in mind. A lift somewhere like that is gonna be brand new or nearly new and it's not gonna have any owner performed quick fixes compromise it's design.

 

You must have a real nice floor in there.

 

Nope. He told me he always checked to make sure the locks were in place.

 

Since you said both "ALI certified" and "ALI inspected", I wanted to clarify the distinction. ALI does not inspect every lift manufactured. They examine and test each lift model and confirm the design, documentation, and lift itself meets ANSI/ALI standard. They overload them and look for visual deformation, and the manufacturing facility must meet quality control requirements from ALI. That's the certification process.

It's no different from certification of some kids products, an independent agency ensures that the product meets whatever standards that apply. My daughter's playpen has such a certification printed on its base.

 

When I was a teenager working at the Singer Plant making upright vacuum cleaners, obviously the plant made Singer Vacuums but we also made the Sears brand Kenmore, Montgomery ward, J.C.Penny, Hoover & many more, the only difference was the stickers.

There are thousands of manufactures that make a product for other companies to sell.

Something like this accident is not a everyday occurrence, I would think there are thousands of four post lifts out there and probably less than one percent have a failure rate.

I hate the accident happened and someone has a damaged car. HRP