Stentor

Just had my Rotary Revolution lift installed yesterday. Unfortunately, I wasn't home to talk with the installers when they were here. Couple issues that I was hoping someone on this board have encountered:

1: they say the lift doesn't have to be anchored to the ground, but i'm surprised by how much wobble can be induced with some moderate nudging of the columns. Should I still feel comfortable having a 100k+ auto 5 feet off the ground on this thing? Would anchoring it make the wobble go away or make it any safer?

2: I can't get the lift to come down. I'm pulling the lock-release lever as hard as i can, and it's still getting caught in one of the lock points. Any ideas?

Obviously, I'll have to talk to the installer too, but i was hoping to get some insight before the shop opens back up after the weekend

JR944

try raising it a fraction of an inch to release the load from the locks.

Carrera GT

The four post hoists or lifts don't need to be anchored (and are even covered by insurance in the event of a quake, unlike two post units) but they are a bit "wobbly." I'd rather have it anchored, but it's not a safety issue. Instead of having anchor "studs" come out of the floor, you can have recessed female thread anchor and run a bolt down through the foot of the hoist into the floor. This means the floor is smooth when the bolt is removed and the hoist is relocated. You can then even put a cap into the anchor hole or a short length of threaded rod with a screwdriver slot in the end to insert and remove it (to keep the hole and threads clean.)

By the way, what voltage supply do you have to the hoist and what's the actual working time to raise a car to the maximum height? On 110V, it's painful, so I'm arranging for a 220 circuit.

Stentor

I've tried raising it up a little, and every time I lower it, it stops at the same point.

I'm not wild about anchoring it, because I may decide to move it a few feet here or there, depending on how things work out. I only want to anchor it if I have to. Sounds like the wobbliness is "normal"?

I have the 110V version, and it seems to take about 2 minutes to go up (without a car on it). Not too bad. I'll only be storing the car up there in the winter.

Thanks

Bill996

Determine which locking pin/arm is binding, then adjust it via the threaded rod coming out of the top of the post. There are 2 rods per post. One rod is for the locking pin/arm that rests on the square holed, floating support plate, the other rod is for the cable(do not adjust this one). By doing this adjustment at each corner, you can actually level the platform. Will hellp with stability. Once the weight of car is on the lift, the lift will not wobble.

Carrera GT

Still sounds a bit like RTFM? If all four corners are locking at the same level, I wonder if there's a secondary lock-out detent or the release lever isn't being moved to whatever fully unlocked position. Some new "safety" mechanics (read "annoying") require both operator hands to prevent pinch/crush injuries. The only fun thing with a four poster is when one corner "catches" and then the other three corners of the platform starts descending and the car wants to roll/slide off. Some four posters have an "anti-crush" safety rail (something that hangs below the ramps, like a garage door safety, to prevent the ramps being lowered onto a car/jack-stand/person.) Those anti-crush devices could be malfunctioning on a brand new hoist. Otherwise, it's an incredible simple machine. You'd like to think the installers got it level and calibrated, so it's probably time to check the user manual / safety placard or whatever.

Stentor

thanks for the replies.

I'll let y'all know what the installer says when I call them tomorrow.

I'm trying some shims tonight to see if that helps the wobble (my garage floor slants towards the center drain, so the feet of the 4 posts don't quite sit flat)

G car

I put some heavy rubber matts under each post for wobble

Stentor

I put some wooden shims in, and that got rid of 80% of the wobble. The heavy rubber mats sound like a great idea! Where would I get such a thing?

BTW, I finally figured out how to get the lift to descend. I was not using the lock release lever properly, but not it's all good

Carrera GT

That's all good news.

I'm still curious to know the time to lift a car from ground level to max height off 110V ... maybe you can use Sport Chrono to measure it? : )

Stentor

I'll put the stopwatch to it tonight (I don't have the wart on my dash )

Stentor

Without a car loaded, it takes about 2 1/2 minutes to go all the way up. Haven't yet had the occasion to put a car up there yet. Gonna install some mirrors on the front wall to help guide myself onto the tracks.

Carrera GT

Mirrors are great. Ikea has cheap full length dresser mirrors. A useful trick is to mount the mirror with a half inch rod flexing it (slightly) into a convex shape and making a sort of "wide angle" mirror -- the field of view of a normal mirror is pretty limited. Get two mirrors -- one down each side to be sure you can see anything that you might have forgotten as you got in the car to back off. Otherwise, you'll find yourself getting in the car and getting straight back out again because you're not 100% sure that air line or that jack stand or whatever was removed from the ramp on the passenger side ... : ) Those two mirrors are worth their weight in clutch material and nerves!

As for the laden time to raise to max height, no urgency, just something I'd like to compare. I'm the impatient type and debating spending money to drop 220 into the garage ... though the excuse to then get a better air compressor and maybe a lathe or a mill are all muy tentador