That's really scary I've seen lifts fail a few times over the last 40 years & damaged a few cars but no one ever got hurt in the process still scary.

 

My engine hoist has a safety pin that you can place to prevent the boom from dropping the motor in case of a cylinder failure. Do those lifts not have some sort of safety lock out to mechanically stop the lift from dropping?

 

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Yes, it has air locks at each post and one failed.

 

Glad you're ok.......scary stuff. I'd probably have PTSD for a while after that.

 

I feel very lucky to have escaped feeling very sore today. I was lucky the HF roller chair I was sitting on collapsed.

 

Wow, very happy to hear you did not get seriously hurt, but I bet your underwear are un-repairable.

 

In 60 plus years I have never been so scared in my life, I am never going to complain about those 2 manual locks on my older Eagle 2 post again.

 

Glad you weren't seriously injured. Weird that chair failure helped minimize your injury. I am going to check my cables four post lift carefully before next use.

 

I was pinned screaming in pain and thought I was done for until it bent and slid out from under me.

 

Glad to hear it worked out , getting scared is a lot better than getting injured or worse. I think we will all double check our lifts for safety after hearing your story. Rob

 

That is scary. Wow, I'd go buy a lottery ticket if I were you. 100% chance of winning being so lucky. Glad you are ok.

I have a 2 post lift and if has safety locks and a lot of time I release them and lower the car just a bit to get the height I want, but then I just rely on the hydraulic cylinders to hold it up. Yeah, not smart especially after reading what happened to you.

I will rethink how I use my lift now. I don't want my wife to have to sell all my toys just yet.

 

Crazy scary! Glad you missed the bullet and you aren't seriously injured.

 

Sounds like double failure: first the chain, then one of the backup locks.

 

I had Mechanical locks on my 2post, and 4post. I also use NAPA semi truck jack stands...to support cars on 2 post.

 

super happy to hear you are ok........as is everyone else here.......take it easy and recoup.......cheers Alan

 

I had a Bend Pak with air locks as well. Mine also dropped one day and the air locks kicked out. Sold the lift a week later, and bought a new 11,000 Advantage 4 post lift with MECHANICAL LOCKS that lock every time without fail. Much better situation.

 

Good to know, brother looking for lift. I had a HD Forward lift, commercial grade, had mech locks..

 

Holy cow! That is really scary! Really happy to hear you are safe and uninjured.

 

I can heartily recommend the Advantage 11,000. Very HD - I used it for my2017 GM 3500 CC 4X4 Dually Denali with 140 gals of fuel in its tanks and a bed full of tools, and now for my as my 2020 GM 3500 CC 4X4 non-dually. No creaks, wiggles, nor nada. Also put a large backhoe on it. Also, I bought it substantially cheaper than my earlier Bend Pak 14,000.

 

My buddy is going to try and repair the BP-12, I don't believe that I will be working under it again. I found out this was the second failure first failure was the same as one you describe when lowering a 2003 F350 . It was about 6 inches from floor that time.

 

I don't have a lift. I depend on jacks, jack stands and wooden blocks. I always have a back up in place. While the car is on jackstands I slide a tire up under the frame. I skotch the wheels to keep them from rolling and use parking brakes or the drive train to keep it from rolling. I always put a wood block on top of the jack stand so there won't be metal-to-metal contact with the frame. My jackstands are tubular and use a through pin to set them, no harbor freight stuff. I still check the situation out before I slide under the car. You can't be too careful.

 

Firstly hope your not seriously injured, you can count your lucky stars someone above was looking out for you, equipment can be repaired/replaced but your life is precious, make a full recovery before your doing any more repairs.

 

That is scary. Wow, I'd go buy a lottery ticket if I were you. 100% chance of winning being so lucky. Glad you are ok.

I have a 2 post lift and if has safety locks and a lot of time I release them and lower the car just a bit to get the height I want, but then I just rely on the hydraulic cylinders to hold it up. Yeah, not smart especially after reading what happened to you.

I will rethink how I use my lift now. I don't want my wife to have to sell all my toys just yet.

I had a Bend Pak with air locks as well. Mine also dropped one day and the air locks kicked out. Sold the lift a week later, and bought a new 11,000 Advantage 4 post lift with MECHANICAL LOCKS that lock every time without fail. Much better situation.

Interesting, I thought Bendpak was top of the line entertainment. Glad that it is not mine 12000 pound rating fails at 4500 pounds. I will never complain about having two mechanical locks on my two post again.

 

I have an advantage four post. I am a scaredy cat. So I make sure the lift is sitting on all four mechanical locks before I get under the car. That being said, my days of being able to easily crawl under the car are pretty much done so that lift is a god send.

 

I'd always thought the same thing about Benpak that they were rated one of the better lifts.I have a old western two post finally had to replace both cylinders a couple years ago after having both rebuilt 2 or three times in a couple year span seem good now but I've gotten where I let it down on the locks anytime I'm under it.Glad your Ok.Personally I always liked Rotary put about 20 in a dealership I worked at don't know they're quality now a days.

 

I'd always thought the same thing about Benpak that they were rated one of the better lifts.I have a old western two post finally had to replace both cylinders a couple years ago after having both rebuilt 2 or three times in a couple year span seem good now but I've gotten where I let it down on the locks anytime I'm under it.Glad your Ok.Personally I always liked Rotary put about 20 in a dealership I worked at don't know they're quality now a days.

I agree, always let it rest on the locks. If not, a sudden drop onto the lock COULD make the lock fail.

 

Scary!! Glad your ok!

 

Like some others, I thought that Bendpak was one of the better lifts.

Could someone describe this "air lock" that failed? Does it require shop air pressure to release like a truck parking brake?

 

Like some others, I thought that Bendpak was one of the better lifts.

Could someone describe this "air lock" that failed? Does it require shop air pressure to release like a truck parking brake?

Air pulls the safeties back when you drop the lift down basically. To operate, simply raise the lift from its parked position a few inches, push the pneumatic release button, and then press down and hold the lowering handle. The safety pins open via air. If a air cylinder in this case, sounds like two rear posts at the rear or car, didn't release and the safety stop wasn't engage. I assume that is way chain/cable broke as this was happening over time on those chains, or to much weight on that side (those two posts) as it was all resting on those two post at least the back. Glad he is ok.


Everyone with a lift needs to inspect lifts daily if in a large shop and at least 1-2 weeks at home. I always lower lift back on safety stops. Issues with air release is its hard to tell some times if is on the stops as the pins are in the posts. One way to check is to visually inspect stop pins are engage IE a walk around. Failures happen inspect your equipment and safeties, don't assume everything is working. I always rest my post on the stops. If not you're asking for trouble.

If this was at a business and I worked there I would be pissed at the owners for not inspecting their equipment. The issue with air locks is shown in if they fail the lift will fall. The mech locks one usually you can see the lock is engaged or you have to manually hold it back.

 

I'm not sure what an 'air lock' is, but I don't consider anything other than a strong mechanical STOP to be safe when I'm going under a lift with a car on it.. The tracks on a 4-post lift are nearly as heavy as a car by themselves, so even without a weight on the lift, it's still heavy enough to kill you if it were to fall.

WHAT is an air lock safety mechanism?? Can you or someone explain how that is Safe?

PS. I just read Bo185's explanation of the 'air lock', but it wasn't clear to me that such a lock is SAFE... Make sure your mechanical stops are in place and supporting the lift/vehicle BEFORE you get under it... (With the chinese lifts that most of us have, I even question the mechanical stops sometimes.. HOPING the metal is strong enough and won't fail...! )

 

The air cylinder is not the lock persay its what releases the physical metal lock. So air moves the mechanical lock out from track. So ideally you release pressure and rack stop pins drop in track and release hydro pressure. Then you walk to each post and look at the pins are in. Or air cylinder is released if you can't see pin (depends on design). At the dealerships I been NO one I seen ever looked at the locks. Just put up release pressures and start working. I never trusted them so I would look at each on on the air locks. The other lifts had overhead track stops you could see them rest on the stops when letting pressure off.

This goes back to know how to use any piece of equipment you are using. Know the safety features were and how to use them. Read the actually manual vs someones word alone. As they may have been doing something wrong way and getting by for 40 years and then train you the wrong way or you maybe doing it wrong. This is not meant to hurt feelings or point anyone out its hopefully meant to save a life or someone else's in the worst or a bad injury in the least.

 

Just glad you’re ok. Scary stuff! Ironically, jumping out of airplanes was integral to how I made my living most of my adult life. But lifts and jack stands scare me.
I think it’s because I watched a lot of Road Runner cartoons as a kid and can easily visualize how it could go wrong 😜.
Again- glad you’re able to warn us about it!

 

A photo of an "air lock" would clear some of the confusion.

 

The air cylinder pulls the mechanical lock out of track so lift goes up and down. The spring is what the air cylinder is pulling against to unlock the lift.