In reply to NOHOME :
Well, I'd imagine there's not going to be a charge for him to check his own work. If it checks out fine and he does charge me for the visit, that's a discussion I'll be having with the lift installation company and the company I bought the lift from.
It helps that he lives in the neighborhood across from mine, so dropping by at the end of the day isn't a big deal.
Cotton, it didn't look like it was hard to do, but definitely want a couple friends to help particularly with the deck that has the ram in it. The install crew was two guys and I had to come out and help them with that deck. It was too heavy for them to do alone. I wanted the HD9, but it's two feet longer than my HD7. It would've barely fit in the garage space I have for it, I wouldn't have been able to walk between it and the door with the door down. That would make working on anything when its cold out a no go...
Cotton, also note that the ramps that come with the lift aren't really meant to be put on/taken off. You can of course, but they're held in place with a large rod that you pin in place with cotter pins. They also hang down some when you raise the lift, so that impacts the height of what you can place underneath the lift when they're in place.
In my case, I need every single inch of height to get my SUV underneath the lift so the ramps have to come off. Since they're steel and heavy, that's a PITA. I'm ordering race ramps for the lift, they're longer so make it easier to load a low car onto the lift and also only weigh 10lbs each, so easy to deal with. They're held in place with a hook nose, so pop on/off as needed.
However (!!) you need a very specific Race Ramp for the Bendpak lifts and nobody has them in stock, not even Race Ramps. You want the rr-rack-hn20-5-8. Not cheap either!
This is an interesting read as I'm going to be installing a used/known good Bendpak in my home shop in the next month. I'll be doing it myself, so it's good to know potential pitfalls.
Keith Tanner said:
This is an interesting read as I'm going to be installing a used/known good Bendpak in my home shop in the next month. I'll be doing it myself, so it's good to know potential pitfalls.
Bring friends if you are going to install yourself. The main ramp with the hydraulic cylinder weights a solid 500lb's. It was not fun to get in place by myself. It can be done with a engine hoist like I did but it adds a huge amount of time. Also don;t bolt it to the ground until you are 100% certain that it is level and true.
Also check the stops on the sides are all at the same level when assembled. Number one issue. Also only use the holes to mount to the floor on the outside of the unit so you don't tear up a tire. Also find a way to get the hydraulic fluid into the motor that is not a funnel. Use something like a peri pump off the 5 gallon bucket of fluid you buy.
Yes, I'll have help. And it's a two-poster, which is not as hefty as the four post. We have installed a number of them here at the shop so far.
When we installed mine I bought beer and pizza and invited friends over. We had 3 people for most of it, with another 2 or 3 who dropped by at various points, it took about 5 or 6 hours.
The engine hoist works well for lifting/moving the ramps, but you're still going to want 3 people, one to move the hoist, the other two to stabilize the ends. If you have bridge jacks then the engine hoist is also really useful for lifting those onto the rails.
Other than being bulky/heavy, it was pretty straightforward. Basically it went like this: Tear down the crate that was on the trailer, take all the parts off individually. Lay down 2 pairs of posts and slide the cross pieces into them. Install the safety catch ladders, then attach a top to each post. Tilt the now-connected pairs of posts upright, and lift the cross pieces so they're resting a couple feet off the ground. Put the two ramps onto the cross-pieces (this is the heaviest part), bolt them down. One has the ram and goes on the same side as the motor. Install the cables and pulleys, the plastic air lines for the safety catch retractors, and the hydraulic lines. Fill with fluid, plug in, and it works. For the bridge jacks you basically just lift them onto the ramps, plumb in some air lines (the optional air line kit is really useful for this), and you're done. Mine came pre-filled with fluid.
It's good to have an inline oiler for bridge jacks and dessicant driers for the safety catches. No oil in the safety catch lines!
Good news! Lift works!! Electrician came over, he opened up the wiring box on the lift motor, stared at it for a second, then asked me if anyone had been into it since him. I wasn't sure if the lift installers had been or not. He flip flopped two wires and all is well, woohoo!
I also was able to find the Race Ramps I need, in stock and with a discount code! Order them from Reverse Logic, not only does the guy actually know which ones we need, he has 10% off and doesn't charge shipping.
I was told that the air line kit is really only if you have 2 bridge jacks, so I didn't buy it, not sure if that was the right play or not. I have a 4 line air manifold off my compressor, 1 line is dedicated to the lift locks, another line to the bridge jack a third one for air tools and the forth one is free right now.
They electrician who wired up my hot tub also did not understand how 220v works, I fixed it for him. Apparently more common than you'd like.
So, SWG nailed it in the first reply.
Glad it's working for you. You could also try some 2x10's or so at the cross lift thingie so that you drive the tires up on the 2x10's and it raises your car up over the cross lift thingie.
had the same thing happen with the construction company that was doing some drywall at my property. Somehow they decided to play with the outlets and converted a 220 to 120. I only figured this out after trashing a perfectly good dryer of course.
pinchvalve said:
They electrician who wired up my hot tub also did not understand how 220v works, I fixed it for him. Apparently more common than you'd like.
Not an electrician if he/she doesn't understand 220v.
docwyte said:
I was told that the air line kit is really only if you have 2 bridge jacks, so I didn't buy it, not sure if that was the right play or not. I have a 4 line air manifold off my compressor, 1 line is dedicated to the lift locks, another line to the bridge jack a third one for air tools and the forth one is free right now.
Hm, perhaps. The air line kit uses coiled nylon hose with access points at either end, and they don't really want to stretch much further than the middle of the lift, so I could see an argument for that. That said, it's really nice not to have to drag an air line over to the roller jack every time you want to use it.
docwyte said:
Good news! Lift works!! Electrician came over, he opened up the wiring box on the lift motor, stared at it for a second, then asked me if anyone had been into it since him.
Translation: he berkeleyed up the wiring then blamed someone else and fixed it
I'm not an electrician, but I've worked in power plants for 30 years and I've worked with everything from 5v signaling to 500kV switching equipment. The easiest thing to mix up is a 30 amp plug that can be used for 125V or 250V.
docwyte
SuperDork
5/7/18 11:21 p.m.
In reply to Patrick :
It's quite possible. Either he had a brain fart moment or the install crew did actually play with the wiring, which I find unlikely. Honestly I'm not sure that I care, I'm just happy that it was quickly and easily resolved.
Now I can get on to beating myself up for not asking the stack height of that bridge jack. Having to back onto the lift all the time, or use 2x10's so the car will clear the lift kinda sucks.
docwyte
SuperDork
5/7/18 11:24 p.m.
In reply to codrus :
I'm going to get some hose reels, so pulling the line over won't be quite as much of a PITA.
Patrick said:
docwyte said:
Good news! Lift works!! Electrician came over, he opened up the wiring box on the lift motor, stared at it for a second, then asked me if anyone had been into it since him.
Translation: he berkeleyed up the wiring then blamed someone else and fixed it
I don't see "blame", but wondering if it was really him that made the mistake. Did I do that or was it someone else?
Can't you just park the bridge jack all the way at the front unless you need it? Add a couple of 4' 2x12s at the front end of the ramps to get the lip over it when you go all the way to the front with the car? Otherwise, there will likely be a spot in the back of the lift where as you drive on with the back wheels still on the ground the angle of the car will get you a little more clearance and you might be fine with the Jack parked back there.
Good news! I stopped by the shop where the M3 is today and grabbed a tape measure. It looks like I'll clear the bridge jack by 1/2" or so. Whew.
Oldopelguy, the lift isn't all that long, so generally have the nose/splitter of the car at the very end of the lift deck, so basically right where that bridge jack would be. I'm going to put the bridge jack at the very beginning of the deck, so hopefully the nose of the car will still be higher than normal because I'm still going up the ramp to get on the deck...
docwyte said:
Oldopelguy, the lift isn't all that long, so generally have the nose/splitter of the car at the very end of the lift deck, so basically right where that bridge jack would be. I'm going to put the bridge jack at the very beginning of the deck, so hopefully the nose of the car will still be higher than normal because I'm still going up the ramp to get on the deck...
On mine, having the rollerjack right at the front helps with the nose, but then the car high-centers on it.
Keith Tanner said:
Yes, I'll have help. And it's a two-poster, which is not as hefty as the four post. We have installed a number of them here at the shop so far.
You will be fine. I was able to get mine up by myself just picking them up by hand. ~650lb's each but all the weight is at the bottom.
It makes a world of difference in the garage let me tell you.
Yeah, I've lived with lift access for 18 years. I'm looking forward to having it at home. I've done installs before too - but I've never had to deal with a screwed up install, so I find the troubleshooting suggestions in this thread quite useful.
I installed my 2 post by myself. For lifting the posts, I installed pipe outside of some all thread on the ceiling where the garage door opener was installed, then lifted them vertical with a chain hoist.
After that, I just kind of bear-hugged them and walked them into place. Like Weary says, all the weight was at the bottom, so that wasn't too bad.
The plumbing and chaining was pretty straightforward.
