Technical New one for me... Broken lift

Well, I got this story third hand, but it seems one of our club members' car has been trapped on an above-ground two-post lift for three weeks. The member is older and can't do everything any more so took his car in for a few minor repairs. The lift has broken somehow and they can't lower his car safely or so they're telling him. Supposedly they had a factory tech out, no help there....

 

Sounds like your pal is being flim flamed ( hoodwinked that is, bamboozled)

 

Sounds like a stick up job to me...

 

possibility even duped or taken for a ride!

 

Got left high and dry…

 

If it can’t go up to disengage safety lock’s then sure I guess.

 

theres usually a manual override

 

That’s what I was thinking as well.
Makes one wonder about the “factory rep”.

 

Are they still charging him by the hour?

 

Not on any of the lifts I’ve worked on, with the weight of the car sitting on the locks I’m not sure how you would pull the locks. We had to use a forklift once to lift a hoist with a car on it to release the locks to lower it.

Not sure what the scam would be here, a shop having a lift tied up for three weeks it’s costing them money.

 

Yup, years ago at a dealership I worked at a 4 post hoist got stuck with a car up on it. It was there for 3 or 4 days before they could safely get it down and about 2 weeks before it was properly fixed and safe to use again.

I'm not sure what sort of scam a shop would be pulling keeping a hoist out of service for any length of time.

 

I know on a ROTARY brand 2 post if the car is off balance it won't lower until you hang on the light end . Seen it more than once.

 

I had a 36 Cord stuck on a 4 post lift this spring. Raising the car up, got about 4 feet high and wouldn't go any higher, lowered it on the blocks and tried to raise it agin and no dice.
Ended up being the pressure relief valve in the reservoir went kaput. New part and all was good.

 

I'd say that the people who got called out to deal with the lift are the ones who are saying that they can't figure out how to deal with it. There are ways to do it and then there is the way to do it safely. The big problem is that if the hoist won't lift enough to unlock will it hold to let the vehicle down safely after it is lifted by other means and unlocked?
Anyone know of a flatbed truck with a bed that lifts like airports and some roofing outfits use in the Vancouver area?
Maybe just back a tall roll back or flatbed under it and jack the truck up safely so the car's tires set on the truck bed and then get it high enough to take the weight off the hoist.

 

This! Chances are if it won't raise on its own and you were to get it off the locks, It will slam down at high speed. Not a good situation. I would think its costing more to have the lift tied up than it would be to have repaired. There really is not a lot to them.

 

Had a truck cab on my lift for spell, went to let it down and cylinders had relaxed and doing so the seals on the rams had leaked all the fluid to the other side. Had to add a bunch of fluid to it and made a big mess when the fluid in the cylinders shot out the vents.

 

Lots of people without knowledge of how lifts work, the do not slam back down. The office that oil has to go through to leave the cylinders is small enough that it can’t slam down, it needs to be lifted up and release the locks and set down. Is it four post two post? It’s not the first time this has happened.

 

I own a rotary 2 post lift and a few years ago I got my roadster stuck on it. Not an issue with the lift, more of my lack of scheduled service. The release cables stretch over time and once they stretch too far, you cannot release the locks.

You lift the car off the blocks, pull the release lever, the side nearest the lever releases and the other side doesn't so when you lower the car the car tilts side to side and you have to lift it again until the lock is back under that side and set it back down. Sometimes when it is getting near adjustment time, you can pull the release lever a few times very quick and firm and you can get the other side to release. You only get to that once or twice before that trick doesn't work any longer. Adjustment needs to be done ASAP.

There is a cover on the pole opposite the motor that covers the two 1/2" adjustment nuts/bolts to tighten the cables. Grab the cable with a pair of vice grips, loosen the retainers, pull firmly down on the cable and wrench them back down. Pull it too hard and the locks will not operate. I have done it with nothing on the lift and in the lowered position but I had to grow a pair and adjust this one with my car in the air. I did not like it as I said, you can pull too hard and release the lock on that side! But needless to say it worked and without dropping my car.

 

That should be something that a hoist service tech should know if the shop even called one.

 

Yes, but with a customers classic car on the lift they may not have the insurance or the balls to do it.

 

Even though I was 79 at the time, I installed my own 4 post lift when the installer finked out on me. My 74 year old friend and I did it over several 3-4 hours days. The only piece of equipment we needed was my "cherry-picker".

It was the best thing I ever did, because I now understand completely how it works and how to adjust it to keep it in tip-top shape.

I highly recommend it for those purchasing these things.

 

I have had hoist cylinders fail catastrophically, the cable connecting and balancing each cylinder snap and the hoist goes all lop sided
Lock stick on locks stick off


And all has been repaired by the lift tech .

I have seen it multiple times where they will lift the hoist with chain falls and get the car up off the locks then slowly lower it down to the ground .

and experienced tech can do this somewhat easily .


At the end of the day , heck . At the start of the day . For them to fix whatever has failed the car will need to off the hoist .

they need to figure this out .


Only scam that could possibly of happened is the shop royal screwed something up on your buddies car and they are trying to hide it and get it fixed without you knowing .
But loosing a hoist for 3 weeks is almost bankruptcy for any shop . So not sure how plausible this scenario is .


Good luck to your buddy and keep us posted .

 

I agree, can't see them losing money that long.

I wonder if the building has low ceiling so using a fork lift would be a no go.

I also agree if the shop is being honest, they're afraid of damaging the car and or not enough insurance to cover the subsequent damage the car may incure if shit goes south in a hurry bringing her down....

..

 

Many ways to skin a cat ,
This just 1
I have walked them down with multiple Bottle jacks on each main arm ,
Raise to unlock , Slowly bleed down , Time consuming and thought,,

 

Sounds to me like someone is blowing smoke up someone else's heiny....
They need to get the car down and there are several mechanical disciples that can handle the job IF in fact they can't get a lift tech.... Riggers.. those guys can do some amazing stuff and have all the right tools to get it done. Mobile forklift repair companies... they deal with stuck loads quite often.
The final option would be someone with some common sense who isn't trying to pull a fast one on a customer!
A stand-up business would just call their insurance company and have them handle it. Insurance companies have contacts.
Good luck!

 

Factory tech ? If the guy was a real mechanic ,he'd figure out how

 

Where do you see any of those these days?

 

Once at my dad's shop, one of the cables broke on the two post when we had a 90's Chev 2500 half way up. We got creative with blocks, stands, and jack-alls to bring it down lock by lock. It was tough work and very nerve-wracking but it was done in a couple hours. Definitely not trapped up there for weeks. I've seen flatbed tow trucks used to rescue cars off lifts (building ramps to lift the tow truck up), etc. If they haven't retrieved the car in weeks, it's because nobody wants to put in the effort.