Auto Hoist

[TOM REED]

I have been in and around automotive industry for nearly 43 yrs, towing for many, I have seen vehicles that have fallen off hoists and frame racks many times, even fished highway tractors out of alignment pits and frame racks, I will say that many have been off high dollar hoists. NOT ONE WAS CAUSED BY MALFUNCTION OF THE HOIST!!!! In every instance these were caused by inexperienced operators or overloading. Hoists are not rocket sciece as long as they are not grossly overloaded they will not fail. tom

I would not worry about these hoists.

[stevec]

(10-15-2012, 02:41 PM)TOM REED Wrote: I have been in and around automotive industry for nearly 43 yrs, towing for many, I have seen vehicles that have fallen off hoists and frame racks many times, even fished highway tractors out of alignment pits and frame racks, I will say that many have been off high dollar hoists. NOT ONE WAS CAUSED BY MALFUNCTION OF THE HOIST!!!! In every instance these were caused by inexperienced operators or overloading. Hoists are not rocket sciece as long as they are not grossly overloaded they will not fail. tom

I would not worry about these hoists.

Amen

[f350ca]

Thanks for the input Tom. May not be overloading it but as for experience? How does that go "what goes up must come down".
Haven't taken the time to call them yet, need to find out if they have a show room, want to see it before I bring it home.
The one thing that concerns me is the size of the base plate where it bolts to the floor. With this type of hoist, verses the ones that have a beam across the top, all the load is transferred to the concrete anchors.
A friend had this style hoist, but a LOT more expensive installed in his small shop. Mind he regularly lifts 3/4 ton pickups. The anchors pulled loose on his. The company said it was the concrete so he chiselled out the floor and poured a block where the hoist sits. They came loose again, the manufacturer then made the base plate larger but never gusseted it. The plate flexed and the anchors came loose again. On the last go around they epoxied the anchors into the concrete and the problem seems to have gone away.
I have 6 inch thick floor with high strength concrete (forget the compressive strength right now) with fibreglass chop. So the base should be good. But I do have radiant heat pipes to avoid.
Just did a rough calculation.
For a 4000 pound vehicle if the frame is 4 feet wide the load would transfer about 5000 pounds pull to the outside anchors. They have 3 across the outside so about 1700 pound per anchor. Is that a reasonable tension on a 3/4 inch anchor?

[TOM REED]

Properly placed on the hoist the vehicle should be near balanced from front to back, the hoist anchors have most the most force directed down to the base plates. Usually there is a plate or formed channel from one side to the other. Most of them if the vehicle is placed on the hoist properly could lift the vehicle without being fastened to the floor. The anchors are mainly for extra stability when wrenching on vehicles or for improperly balanced vehicles. Your friend that had the anchors pull out as you said was regularly lifting 3/4 ton trucks, I will bet some even with service bodies. Anchors for this type of hoist should alway either cemented in to the floor or epoxied just for safety sake. I started using hoists of this type as well as beam type hoists since I" was 15 yrs old and never dropped a vehicle. I have seen vehicles that were pkaced incorrectly or grossly overloaded bend in the middle giving 2 ft ground clearance in the middle and 6 inches at the bumpers, this looked quite comical. These were pickup trucks where the frame bent.

tom

[stevec]

(10-15-2012, 08:15 PM)TOM REED Wrote: Most of them if the vehicle is placed on the hoist properly could lift the vehicle without being fastened to the floor. The anchors are mainly for extra stability when wrenching on vehicles or for improperly balanced vehicles.
tom

Amen Tom, my Hoffman could lift a vehicle without being fastened to the floor. Don't ask how I know.
However, I did anchor it just to be safe.

[f350ca]

The style Im looking at and Wayne has rely on the anchors. There's no structure between the posts. The metal you see on the floor is only a cover for the equalizing cables. The narrower the vehicle the more load on the anchors. Mind you the narrower the vehicle the lighter it is.
Tom I'll have to check with Wayne on the rating of his hoist but think its 10 or 12000 pound, Supposedly a commercial unit. Don't think he ever went over the rating. These things are hydraulic, the relief valve should be set so you can't over load them you'd think. Especially in the day of law suites. What kind of epoxy do you use on anchors, anything specail?

[TOM REED]

I have not anchored any but mos specialty stores would have suitable epoxy. tom

[f350ca]

Made the 12 hour round trip to the big smoke (Toronto) to get the hoist today. Was a good but manageable load for the little truck. 1450 lbs they claim. Nice having a clean shop, had room to get the truck in when I got home.



Now in true handy man fashion the first thing I plan on doing is shortening the columns a couple of inches, good by warranty. They stand 2 inches too tall to let the overhead crane travel over them.

[Mayhem]

I guess it didn't come with the car as advertised!

I look forward to seeing you void the warranty and get it set up

[EdK]

The color blends right in with the truck. I had to look hard to see the pieces in the bed.

Ed