69L71

Looks like there has been a rash of bad luck experiences lately, from car wrecks to ilnesses. Well now you can add me to the mix...

Yesterday one of the 4 columns of my 4-post life collapsed. The locks wouldn't engage on the one post, and while I moved it up and down to get it locked, the cable lost tension and came off its pulley. The continued movement to get it locked sheared the pully. Normally this wouldn't be TOO big a deal because the failure would just result in all the posts locking, even if not at the exact same height. In my case one didn't.






Thankfully no one was hurt and everything is insured. The 96 has a flesh wound but nothing too serious. The extent of the damage to the 69 is still undetermined but I can see that the surround panel buckled and everything up to the headlight doors is busted up pretty good. I'll know more once I get the car down and out of the garage. In fact, as I type this I'm waiting for a tow truck (or two) to show up so hopefully I can get the car back to earth.

A day in the life.... Oh well.....


Note from Monday: Here's a link to more pics now that the thing is back on the ground:
Lift Collapse Pics - Click here.


[Modified by 69L71, 9:26 AM 3/18/2002]

Eddie 70

Thankfully no one was hurt. Really makes me think twice about buying one of these things. Have you contacted the manufacturer? I would probably have a few choice words worked up by now if it were me.

kahuner

That is just an absolute shame! And I thought I had bad luck.

You seem to be taking it better than I would've. I'd have been breathing fire and on the phone with the manufacturer of the lift. :cuss I hope that between your insurance company and the contributions from the lift manufacturer, you recover your total loss! And even at that, nobody needs that type of excitement in their life.

I'm really sorry to hear of your loss. Good luck.

Flareside

OMG!!!!!!!!!! :eek: :eek:

Just be glad you weren't in the middle of that mess! The damage doesn't really look that bad. Hopefully, you can get the C3 down without hurting it too much. How the heck are you going to get it down?

-Joe

427V8

:eek: OMG!
I'd be PISSED!
This is exactly what these things are NOT supposed to do! EVER!

Cooter Tech

That scares me I just bought one and had the dealer set it up. Any one else have any trouble with theirs. Do you know if it was a bad or poorly adjusted lock? The locks are spring loaded and should latch at every stop. Do you know if the spring broke on the latch. It has me worried about the safety of my lift. I also assume that most of the four post lifts are basically the same and are made in Texas with the distributors names on the lifts. One more question, were your pulleys made of steel? Roger L. Gibbons

69L71

Oh, rest assured that the manufacturer and I will get very acqainted about this. I'm not breathing fire at the moment because I'm in one piece and I'm still working on methods to get the damn thing down!

kahuner: I expect to do OK with insurance. I have Hagerty and have heard nothing but great things about them. I'll have Tony's Corvette Shop do the repair estimates (on both cars). He's fair but very thorough. I'll come out of this OK. I'm not sure what I'll wind up doing with the car in the end. As my sig line says, I had it up for sale. I guess I'll have to see the damage before I decide if I repair it or take the cash and sell it as a repair project.

Flareside: I wasn't in the middle of it but I was less than 3 feet away. If the thing would have let loose the other direction I suspect I wouldn't be typing this. I try not to dwell on that fact, however.....

427V8: You're right. Never EVER. I can't imagine the look on the manufacture's face when he sees these pics. My guess is I'll get a call from their lawyer pretty quick. I'm not a big litigation guy, but I bet their folks will NOT want to have to litigate this.

One of the reasons I bought this lift over the others is the more extensive engineering and extra safety features. It really is a nice system. I still need someone to explain why the one column didn't lock. If it would have just engaged on the next lock block it would have only been asymmetric by 3 inches. The car would probably just rolled forward, bumped into the built-in chock, and stopped. That didn't happen and now LOTS of hassles are in the future.

Getting it down? Well, my theory is to stablize the car first. Chain the car to the outside ramp so it can't slide. Then I plan to winch the column off the 96 and GET IT OUT! next we'll probably winch the rear crossbar up and unlock it - then slowly drop it down. I suspect I'll still need to address the 3rd column though. The frame is sitting on the front crossbar so I don't see it getting out until I get the last column down. Hell, once the 96 is out and the rear is down we might just pull the column over and let it drop. We'll see.

I'm taking more pics as I go through this. I need something to do to offset the excitement....

Mr Mojo

Holy Crap Chris!

I'm glad you are OK.. I can't believe this happened.
We all want or buy lifts to be extra safe, but seeing this makes you wonder. I know some guys use them for parking, I guess it's good no other cars were under it.

Kepp us informed on what happens with this.(insurance, etc)

ROD NOCK

Thankfully no one was hurt! I can't believe that one of the posts actually collapsed! One would think that some safetys would be considered and built-in! Could you post who the manuf of your lift was!?
On the same scarry note: I saw a brand new Eldorado come off of a commercial fore/aft hyd post lift! Thankfully no one was hurt in that incident either! The car fell sideways from full lift of 6 ft. The noise of that incident was like nothing else I've ever heard!
Keep us posted! Good Luck -Rod

Paul L

That is frightening! But thank goodness you are OK. Even when one tries to do repairs the safe way....Murphy's Law comes into play. I would think the manufacturer will wish to have a close look at your unit. There may be a flaw that will have to be corrected in others.

paso

Wow I've had one (differant brand) And I can't believe that happened. Picture is worth a 1000 words. But never thought it would be 1000 swear words :D Good thing your okay :)

Paul Borowski

Chris, man that is unreal!!! Good thing you were'nt hurt. Unbelievable!!! I can imagine the faces of the towtruck drivers. They may not be able to do anything for fear they may not get it down safely. I hate to say this, but you may need a FORKLIFT!!!!!!! One other thought, and at all the NCRS meets where we've used those lifts I've seen where if the pavement is uneven one column will have a tendency to not lock!!! I WAS CONSIDERING getting one of these but now????? I've always thought a car up in the air like that is a lot of weight up off the ground!!! No Bumping!!!

Metal Wulf

:sad:

427V8

You know....Before I did ANYTHNG I'd call the mfg and ask them for advice on how to get it down!
If you don't, any further damage is YOUR fault not theirs!!!

ddn

Oh ****!

Blue Bird

HOLLY COW!!! It's hard to believe nobody was injured.
It (was) my intention to get one of these lifts, but now ????

Do us all a favor - Let us know the brand name of the lift,
Mod.# and what they're going to do about it.

I'm very glad to see that you weren't hurt.

Chuck Harmon

I have been thinking about getting one too here in San Jose. Man what would do in an earthquake? Looks like side to side movement would cause it to collapse pretty easily if one post lock failure can do what yours did! I think I may now pass on the idea.

Chuck

VegasJen

HOLY S**T!!! :eek: that is some scary stuff. i've been planning my 'ultimate garage' for a while and haven't been able to decide on lift or grease pit. thanks for helping me with the decision! :sad:

Captain Morgan

:(

I've been thinking about getting a lift for awhile. Building the garage this summer. Still not sure but I know that "stuff happens". I've been considering a two post lift though, I like the idea of lifting by the frame and I used them numerous times while in the Air Force.

Let us know how things turn out.

67HEAVEN

Chris,

Like everyone else here, I'm shocked to see this, God, what an awful thing to happen!

Others have said it......I'll join in. "Glad no one was hurt."

As time passes, and whenever "the boys" get together for some bench racing, NO ONE is ever going to be able to top your story :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

All the best with getting it down and with insurance. :(