WICruiser

Installation on mine was not hard, other than needing a lot of muscle to get the first column off the trailer and standing upright. A cherry picker or overhead hoist of some kind would have been a great help.

The columns are free standing to start with - starting on the motor side you position and then drill anchor holes into the floor using the base to locate the holes. Attach the top bridge between the columns and level the second column before you drill the anchor holes on the second column.

They said 4 hours to install but I took more like 8 hours.

6mil928

All I can say is HOLY CRAP

dr bob

Tony--

Will it be all back together in time for Sharktoberfest?


Looks like the bottom bits on the car are spotless, but there's some dust on the floor under the car. A little Pledge and a dust mop should take care of that. And you had to pull all that out to get to the broken supercharger belt?

Ted928

A friend gave me a free Benwil TP-7 (7000 lb two post symmetric). I helped him take it down. It has a GM Mr. Goodwrench name plate on it. VERY heavy. Each post must weigh over 800 lbs and the floor plate must be over 600 lbs. I can not find any installation instructions anywere. Does anyone have this unit? The posts bolt to the floor plate. The floor plate was held by 12- 3/4" anchor studs. The floor plate runs ~ 3' front to back on each side to give a large footprint. I don't know how long the studs/bolts should be since we drove them in flush upon removal of the unit.
I need new hardware to attach. Home depot sells 3/4" x 5&1/2" studs but I don't know if this length and grade is right. If I use studs should I cut them flush? Any suggestions as to length, brand, stud or bolt????
Thanks

dr bob

Ted--

Great find on the free lift! Benwil is/was a reputable supplier so instuctions should be available.

The guidance on anchor length is determined by the thickness of the slab. Min recommendation I've read is for a 4" thick slab 3000 PSI minimum. Most also recommend drilling through the slab and using cinch anchors rather then the drive-in wedges. That way you can drive them flush if/when you remove them. You can use the Red-Heads that H-D sells, no problem. If your slab has a waterproof membrane under the concrete, you'll undoubtedly puncture that while through-drilling. You can cut the studs off, but leave a few threads showing for strength. You may find some acorn nuts to finish the look, but they go on top of the regular hex nuts/washers/lockwashers. Also, the spread footprint of your lift will make the fastening a bit less critical than those with clear-floor models and smaller baseplates.

Get the armuffs on when you light off the hammer drill!

dr bob

Ted--

Here's a PDF of the parts for your lift. From the look of those little ears in the drawing, it's doesn't look like the anchor bolts do much more than keep the thing from sliding around on the floor.

http://www.panzittasales.com/PDFs/BENWIL/TP7.pdf

Ted928

Thanks for the input Dr. Bob. I will go with the H-D anchors. It does look like the studs do little except provide lateral support. It looks like the design is very forgiving of less the ideal concrete floors. I am looking forward to having the unit operational. At the age of 45 with active kids, I find little time and drive to mess with the cars - except keeping them moving. I am hoping that the lift will rekindle my enthusiasm.

Ted928

Another question: I need to replace the traditional garage door opener. What type/model do people recommend?

Thanks

dr bob

I have a sloping 'cathedral' ceiling in the garage with a sectional door. I use a standard screwdrive opener mounted to the ceiling, with tracks that follow six inches below the actual ceiling. The opener is a Chamberlain that I grabbed at Costco for under $200. Others are using some of those drives that sit at the end of the spring shaft, available from places like Lowes and H-D IIRC. When I did mine, the end-of-shaft drives were considered relatively unreliable. The end-of-shaft drives have an advantage where there's no connecting link to worry about between the door and the opener.

Ted928

Completed the install. I was glad we drilled through the slab because one bolt got a little mangled so we just drove it down and put a new one in. Did not need to cut any of the bolts. If they stuck-up too high, simply loosen, drive down and retighten. These anchors bolts are really handy.

There is one cylinder that lifts the master carriage via a chain. Two cables run from the master carriage via pulleys to the slave carriage. I greased the bearings and sprayed the chain and the two cables with WD40.

Safeties automatically lock the master carriage when pressure is released. It looks like the safeties on the slave carriage only engage if a cable breaks. This is a little unnerving. It lifts the van just fine but I am hesitant to go under it (or put the 928 on it) until I can verify that this is in fact operating correctly.

Is anyone familiar with this type of lift?

Thanks

dr bob

Ted--

Find a better lube than WD-40. It's mostly solvent, just a little oil mixed in. There are good chain lubes available. I use a Clark spray grease intended for forklift mast bearings/chains/slides. Amazingly similar to the way your lift works. The riggers also use a spray lube specific to the cable task, penetrates the cable rather than just sitting on the outside.

Speculation: The cables should adjust so the tension allows the slave carriage to drop onto the safeties same time as the master side. It's a little tougher with the master/slave setup and long cables to the slave side. You may want to have new cables made just because of old age and unknown wear. They will stretch initially then should be good for years after that. Again, speculation since I don't know your specific lift.

----

When I get home, I'll be laying out a lift foorprint with masking tape to make sure there's room around where I think it should go. Looking hard at the Bend-Pak 10k wide assymetric. Anybody with a standard one wish they had selected the wide-footprint option? I really don't want the away-from-the-wall post to interfere with other stuff in the garage bay.

Ted928

Dr. Bob,

The lift is fully functional and it is wonderful. I replaced motor mounts and pan gasket and I did not swear - even once. I got a stool with wheels and work while sitting. I slide in and out as needed to get tools. It was a big job but the lift made it enjoyable.

I was able to verify that the safety design on this older model is obsolete. The master carriage has safeties that engage unless the operator manually retracts them via a handle. Two cables are used to support the slave carriage. The slave side safeties only engage if a cable breaks. I did not like this feature so I modifiied it (famous last words). There is a small spring that defaults the safeties to the retracted position. I hung a small weight that overpowers the light spring so the safeties default to the engaged position. To lower the car, I first disconnect the weight and slightly raise the car so the safeties can then retract. Then I can lower the car.

Regarding the garage door opener, I modified it slightly so I can raise it up when I want to lift a car. I attached a light weight wire cable to the opener, ran it up to a pulley, over to a pulley mounted on the garage wall, and down to a spring and attachment hooks. I unbolted the opener's vertical supports that hang the unit from the ceiling and notched the ends instead. The cable and spring keeps the opener tight against the notches so it is supported when opening and closing the door. When I want to raise it up to the ceiling, I first pull the release rope so the chain drive is disconnected from the door (or remove the "L" bracket if you want to open the door). Then I unhook the spring from an attachment hook and allow the opener to lower a couple of inches. This disengages the notches so I can swing the vertical supports out of the way using a stick. Then I pull down on the spring, raising the opener up 3' and attach the spring to a lower attachment hook. The opener stays attached to the header so it simply pivots up. It takes less than a minute to raise and lower it.

I love the lift!

Thanks

blown 87

Mohawk and Wheeltronics are both very good lifts, They are the only ones I will let in my shop.

I had a Wheeltronic (they were the ones that built the Snap-On lifts, good enough that Snap-On bought the company) and got a popular brand name as a second lift, it stayed less than 3 weeks before I took it out and put in another Wheeltronic, that I ended up having to tear the floor out and repour the cement because the pad (6+inches thick) had holes in it from the first lift.

After I had a lift try to kill me a couple of times, I got real **** about them.

The three things I want in a lift.

ALI certification, is a must, I will never buy another one with out it.
Single point safety catch release.
hydraulic equalization is a must for me

Don't buy a lift that does not have ALI certification.

For what it is worth.

trialattorney

I have two Bendpaks; one in the garage, and one on the side of the house. I chose 4 post lifts because both are used to store a vehicle on the lift and one under the lift; to have more room in the garage, I installed a true rollup, not a sectional door; It gives me much more room in the garage. I've built jack plates for the lift so I can use a floor jack when needing to free up wheels; also have designed cross-bars to rest drip pans so any fluid leaks won't hit the floor or car below (but, of course, we all know 928's don't leak any fluids....). Room restrictions both in the garage and on the side of the house precluded an asymetical 2 poster, but with the modifications, the 4 post lifts work great. I like Bendpak; they are located just on the outskirts of Santa Paula, so I took my car trailer and picked up my lifts; they are great when you need parts and were the cheapest 4 post lifts I could find. The outside lift has a much higher lift capacity than the inside so I can work on my trucks and 4runners, and my friends motorhome, etc... anyway, having a lift makes working on my 4 928's much easier...

jcorenman

Another Bendpak, great lifts and great folks.