When you hear funny noises....

[Vegas69]

That right there folks is why you don't disable the safety locks. I recall techs doing that in the shop to save them the hassle on every car. Bad idea!

[Blown353]

I've been looking for one of those bolts, my regular supplier doesn't have that style.




Seriously, good catch. That would have been ugly if it failed while lowering the car and you had the mechanical safeties disengaged.

Had to rebuild a friend's 2 post lift a couple years ago. A couple of the delrin slider blocks inside the post slipped and bound it up, also stretched the synchronizing cable running between each side.

[BMR Sales]

Originally Posted by SSLance

My 4 post is squeaking when I lower it now... I think it'll be alright but will be sure to keep listening closer...

Could be the Ram or the Hose ( Swelling over time )

When I had the Ram replaced, I replaced the Hose as well. When they put the Fluid in, they also put some type of Snake Oil in with it. I squeaked at first, but now is super quiet

[Spiffav8]

Originally Posted by camcojb

don't ignore them. My 4 post lift had started to make a funny popping sound occasionally when being lowered. I decided to check it today and found this...

That could have been crazy expensive on so many levels. Glad you found this before it was an issue. Great lesson we can all learn from.

[Hydratech®]

Jody, that definitely was as close as you could get to a BAD experience. I am glad that you caught it before it caught you - ZOIKS!

That doesn't look like a bolt of strong metallurgy. I don't know how many of these you have in your arrangement, but I'm sure you are going to check them all. Obviously (?), research some upgrades in vastly stronger bolts, as that thing galled and wore like butter. I'm not sure of exactly what bolt size that is, but hop on https://www.mcmaster.com/ or similar and look up the strongest tensile strength bolt of that size and replace it and anymore like it. It looks like you may have to amputate any extra threaded length from any common bolt sizes available to match the short threaded section on your bolt, but that's not a big deal. Make sure the blank shank length is proper, as the threaded area is not meant to be a load bearing area (for those that may not know this). What I do see is a lack of lubrication. When I service my Rotary asymmetrical two post hoist, I use Redline synthetic chassis grease and also the engine builders red Permatex moly lube (think of the break in goo you put on cams and lifters). When and where possible, I also carefully drill a small hole in place so as to be able to install a Zerk fitting that will allow me to grease any points easily without disassembly, but watch out not to possibly drill any heavy load bearing area to make sure you don't create any stress risers. I like to dress machinations up whenever I can, and would suggest you check with ARP to see it they may have a fancy 12 point cool looking ultra strength fastener in that size. I even put aluminum T grip style B & M shifter handles on my manual safety release lever and also the hydraulic release lever - makes people laugh asking how many gears my hoist has LOL.

[BMR Sales]

Originally Posted by Hydratech

Jody, that definitely was as close as you could get to a BAD experience. I am glad that you caught it before it caught you - ZOIKS!

That doesn't look like a bolt of strong metallurgy. I don't know how many of these you have in your arrangement, but I'm sure you are going to check them all. Obviously (?), research some upgrades in vastly stronger bolts, as that thing galled and wore like butter. I'm not sure of exactly what bolt size that is, but hop on https://www.mcmaster.com/ or similar and look up the strongest tensile strength bolt of that size and replace it and anymore like it. It looks like you may have to amputate any extra threaded length from any common bolt sizes available to match the short threaded section on your bolt, but that's not a big deal. Make sure the blank shank length is proper, as the threaded area is not meant to be a load bearing area (for those that may not know this). What I do see is a lack of lubrication. When I service my Rotary asymmetrical two post hoist, I use Redline synthetic chassis grease and also the engine builders red Permatex moly lube (think of the break in goo you put on cams and lifters). When and where possible, I also carefully drill a small hole in place so as to be able to install a Zerk fitting that will allow me to grease any points easily without disassembly, but watch out not to possibly drill any heavy load bearing area to make sure you don't create any stress risers. I like to dress machinations up whenever I can, and would suggest you check with ARP to see it they may have a fancy 12 point cool looking ultra strength fastener in that size. I even put aluminum T grip style B & M shifter handles on my manual safety release lever and also the hydraulic release lever - makes people laugh asking how many gears my hoist has LOL.

on my Rotary 4 Post, there are stickers on all for corners saying not to lubricate. I still give some points a shot of White Lithium

[Hydratech®]

I have experience with just about every hoist out there, and yes, there are some points that are indicated not to lubricate because the lube acts like a dirt magnet. Once the dirt is in the lube, it becomes almost as bad as valve lapping compound (!). On those points, I have become a HUGE fan of WD40's Specialist Dry Lubricant - awesome stuff, as it puts down a dry film of PTFE that doesn't pick up any dust and dirt.



The cool part is that you can just about firehose a point to let it really soak in and penetrate, yet it then dries to the touch. Phenomenal on garage doors too.

I saw one dummy I knew back in the day drop his car right off his two post hoist because he greased the heck out of the swing arm pivot points but had previously removed the ratcheting safety locks off of the arms. If he hadn't have greased the swing arms, friction would have kept them locked under weight. He used a tall screw stand to jack up his rear diff to connect up some new rear shocks, upset the weight balance on the hoist, and the well lubricated swing arms moved and down went the car. I was there to witness it - he jumped back right in the knick of time to save his hide (thank God), but his car landed on it's driver's side wrecked beyond any chance of repair. THAT was scary as hell. We looked at each other in disbelief that it just happened, and I wasn't going to say it, but he did: "Shoulda never removed those pesky safety locks"...

[camcojb]

I have that same type lube.

[camcojb]

Originally Posted by Hydratech

Jody, that definitely was as close as you could get to a BAD experience. I am glad that you caught it before it caught you - ZOIKS!

That doesn't look like a bolt of strong metallurgy. I don't know how many of these you have in your arrangement, but I'm sure you are going to check them all. Obviously (?), research some upgrades in vastly stronger bolts, as that thing galled and wore like butter. I'm not sure of exactly what bolt size that is, but hop on https://www.mcmaster.com/ or similar and look up the strongest tensile strength bolt of that size and replace it and anymore like it. It looks like you may have to amputate any extra threaded length from any common bolt sizes available to match the short threaded section on your bolt, but that's not a big deal. Make sure the blank shank length is proper, as the threaded area is not meant to be a load bearing area (for those that may not know this). What I do see is a lack of lubrication. When I service my Rotary asymmetrical two post hoist, I use Redline synthetic chassis grease and also the engine builders red Permatex moly lube (think of the break in goo you put on cams and lifters). When and where possible, I also carefully drill a small hole in place so as to be able to install a Zerk fitting that will allow me to grease any points easily without disassembly, but watch out not to possibly drill any heavy load bearing area to make sure you don't create any stress risers. I like to dress machinations up whenever I can, and would suggest you check with ARP to see it they may have a fancy 12 point cool looking ultra strength fastener in that size. I even put aluminum T grip style B & M shifter handles on my manual safety release lever and also the hydraulic release lever - makes people laugh asking how many gears my hoist has LOL.

I'm a fan of McMaster Carr for sure. In the size I needed I had to order longer and cut down to get the thread length and overall length correct. Grade 8 is what's needed according to the lift manufacturer, think that's as high as I found with the specs needed.

There are 10 total pulley/bolts and all the others look great. And no evidence of grease used on them either, so I'll be spraying with the dry lube.

[Vegas69]

It may be overkill, but I try to stay away from PTFE or Teflon as much as possible. Factory workers around that stuff in the 80's had a huge cancer spike and women had terrible birth defects. Gloves and ventilation are probably fine, I just wanted to share.