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Cars falling off lifts at the dealership happens all the time. Sucks.
My brother in law had a brand new Chevy 2500 HD pickup that fell off the lift at the Chevy dealership. He dropped it off for an oil change. Hours later he called and said can I pick it up, first they said it was not ready, then he called again and the truth came out. Smashed up the whole rocker panel and side of the truck. Sad thing is the dealership tried to hide the fact that it was smashed up and had to be pushed before the truth came out.
I hope for the owner the dealership makes it right and replaces his C8
You still aren't getting it, look at this picture from the video, the arm supporting the front is almost straight out from the lift and the rear one is at about a 45 degree angle all extended. It puts WAY too much weight away from the center of the lift. Cg is one thing, where it is in relation to the center of the lift is the problem.
No it is not. That stresses the lift and can cause the lift to fail. The lift did not fail, the car was lifted at the wrong lift points. Probably also was positioned wrong on the lift (like you say, I agree) but the lift stayed straight up and did not fail. The car was unbalanced and when the front wheels came off, that was enough to send the front end up. If the lift collapsed (tipped back) I would say that is why the car fell.
No it is not. That stresses the lift and can cause the lift to fail. The lift did not fail, the car was lifted at the wrong lift points. Probably also was positioned wrong on the lift (like you say, I agree) but the lift stayed straight up and did not fail. The car was unbalanced and when the front wheels came off, that was enough to send the front end up. If the lift collapsed (tipped back) I would say that is why the car fell.
If the car was backed in, this would not have happened. How do you know it was on the wrong lift points? Jacking it up like this places enormous loads on the post bolts and activation mechanisms. Placed like this, the car is not level which further aggravates loading. These things wear out. Poor designs like this wear out quicker. The longer the extension of the arm, the less the load it can take. Load tables are provided with the lift. In this case, the rear of the car may be as much as 3" lower than it should be because of adverse loading. The car slipped as a result or the arm broke or both. The Cg of the car must be between the posts. Asymmetric lifts are simply wrong from a pure physics point of view. In time, you will have an accident. Lift installation quality varies. The laws involving certification are feeble and they never have to be inspected. Arms loaded like this will fail. Most insurance companies won't cover accidents like this on these machines. If you have a car under a car on a 2 poster, neither car is insured if the lift fails. The dude standing under this car is a DF.
If the car was backed in, this would not have happened.
Yes it would've. The tech used the wrong jack points and lifted the car. It did NOT slide off. The front wheels and bumper were removed. That is when the front of the car tilted up and then slid off. The 2 post lift was not compromised and the dealer will continue using it as is. Backing the car on that lift would reduce the strain on the lift posts, but would not prevent the tip of the car. This was NOT an equipment failure, it was a human error.
I don't understand the question. If the car was the other way around in the picture with the goofball, The arm placement as they are world be correct for both a symmetric and asymmetric 2 post lifts. The Cg must be no further from the posts shown on the asymmetric lift dwg. and directly in between the posts on a symmetric unit. The only way you will achieve that would be to back the car in. You would then be able to open the doors. An asymmetric 2 poster is a very dumb idea.
Exactly. It was at the rear lifting pads. CG was in front of the rear lifting pads, when weight was taken off the front CG shifted to behind the rear lift pads and the car 'tipped and fell off. Anyone can do this in their garage.
Exactly. It was at the rear lifting pads. CG was in front of the rear lifting pads, when weight was taken off the front CG shifted to behind the rear lift pads and the car 'tipped and fell off. Anyone can do this in their garage.
I'd still like to know what really happened - like from a witness, or second hand from a witness - not from one of us keyboard warrior know-it-alls. But your explanation, and others have said the same, is what makes most sense to me. If that is the case the main contributor of the failure was not supporting the vehicle using a jack stand when removing equipment.
I'm still curious what those small jack stands and the wheel chock were for in the picture. Did they get put there after the accident?
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Originally Posted by etekberg
I'd still like to know what really happened - like from a witness, or second hand from a witness - not from one of us keyboard warrior know-it-alls. But your explanation, and others have said the same, is what makes most sense to me. If that is the case the main contributor of the failure was not supporting the vehicle using a jack stand when removing equipment.
The owner of the car confirmed on Facebook that the car was improperly lifted.
06-01-2020, 07:34 PM
