Anyone see the picks on FB where a 55 Chev was laying on its side from a 4 post lift failure? Looks like the post was taken off. One op said it was at Mecum.
Looks like one of those parking lifts that are on casters. Wonder if they tried to move it with the car in the air?
Sucks it happened, but good it happened before the show, that could have smashed some peeps. But like posted above maybe it was being moved with the car on? or some safety not locked in? I hope they had some Hagerty Insurance?
According to the Op on FB it happened at Mecum on Tuesday. Obviously a vendor display. Could of been a real disaster if someone was standing next to it when it fell.
Most 4-posts don't need the posts mounted to the floor to lift a car. If they had it on the racedeck I wonder if the racedeck gave way or one post moved enough to destabilize the whole thing. Every one I've seen you have to lower the lift onto the casters to engage them with the floor, so moving it with the car up isn't a thing. You can't move them with the car up, they're not designed that way. You may be right on a safety not being locked in.
I wonder if the locks weren’t in and a hydraulic failure happened. Edit: seems that idea was mentioned before!!!
Lots of possibilities. Only they know. Did a cable swedged end let go? Cable pulley break or come loose? Weld break ? Looks like one corner (LF?) let go and the whole mess laid over. Did somebody run into the right side posts? Thankfully no one was killed or injured. Poor 55! Poor caffe/latte/espresso vendor! That’s why I am glad to have Back Yard Buddy.
4 post lift at Carlisle last Aug. broke a cable with a corvette on it but they were able to bring in a rollback to rescue the car off of it. only 1 side dropped completely and bowed the other 3 legs in but they still held it up but it looked like someone ringing out a wet rag. another guy I went to school with had his car on his 4 post lift and without warning it broke a pulley but again they were able to prop it up and save the vehicle that was on it.
No shit. Those places can be packed with people, lucky no one was under that Chevy. Could you imagine something happening like that in your garage?
WAY back, many moons ago... I worked at an unnamed automotive manufacturer in SoCal. I was an Engineer working at my desk on a new project, when one of the other Engineers came running in for my help...white face and all. We went back to the shop where a car was on an old, two post hoist. One post for the front, one post for the rear of the car. The rear post had a "U" shaped cradle to hold the (solid only) rear axle, and the front crossmember. There was a SMALL trick to using this lift...DO NOT...leave the air/hydraulic-pressure handle on the "down" valve when raising the car ! The guys went to lunch. Someone...yes, left the pressure handle on the "down" valve on the front post. During the lunch hour, the front post leaked it's air/hydraulic pressure, so that the post...was fully retracted and in it's socket in the floor. The front of the car was on the ground, resting on its front bumper, while the back of the car was fully in the air, while the axle cradle rotated off of the axle, the car fell a few inches, and the axle cradle grabbed the fuel tank, putting a large dent in it, that dent was the cradles...new home holding the back of the car high in the air ! The car was at about a 50° or 60° angle, nose down. This car had some damage, but not nearly to the extent of the 55 Chevy shown above. I feel for the 55's owner, and would not like to be there when he showed up to see the mess. Mike
Someone pointed out that it was a two layer storage lift; you can see the two platforms under the car. The '55 on the top would be really high with the lift sitting on what looks like rubber tiles, sure looks less than stable or wise to do.
A nephew has a 53-55 ford pickup that fell off a service station lift back in the day, & wedged between the lift & the station wall, the fenders were flattened but still operable, at some point, it was parked until he purchased it & the last I heard drives it daily with damage still evident.
I worked at an old Midas shop that had lifts like that, it was a trick to rise or lower a car on it. The front cylinder was movable for and aft to match the wheelbase of the car. The rear had a cradle that could be engaged to pick the back up by the tires or disengage and the saddle would catch the rear end axle tubes.
Probably a Weaver twin post. Many people didn't use them properly. There were three levers, one for the front post, one for the rear post and one for air. To raise the lift you had to turn the air lever on and move the post levers up. You had to watch because the rear tended to raise faster than the front so you controlled the rate with the levers. Once the car was at the position you wanted, you were supposed to move both post levers down and that locked the lift in position. Many people would leave them up or leave one up. If you lost air, the lever that was up would allow that post to come down. I came to work one day and found a Torino all the way up in the back with the front post down and the car resting on the transmission jack. I got it down without a problem but it was a little hairy. I was service manager and the mechanic who did this got a stern warning that this would never happen again.
The most important thing is NO ONE was injured. I don’t see any reports of anyone injured thankfully.. The rest of it, I’m sure there will be a very thorough investigation as to responsibility and pay out OR not depending on design / use and negligence. Car insurance, Mfg’s Product Liability, etc etc. This will be expensive and complicated, any way you look at it. But, as I said, the most important thing is no one was injured.
If you look closely all 4 posts are at the top. Something made the top go sideways and the whole works collapsed. Maybe something ran into it?
A friend had his 57 Chevy on his four post and one leg collapsed. Fortunately the back of the car wedged against his overhead door keeping the damage to a minimum. He had bought the lift from the widow of a friend and had it moved on a rollback so it was never taken apart. Turned out that the cable nut on that leg had backed off and released the cable. Now they are double nutted. He has just had his wife in the car helping bleed brakes before they went in for dinner. They were very lucky.
The Jalopy Journal
