AutoShopOwner - Automotive Management Network: Rotary Lift Part Failure - AutoShopOwner - Automotive Management Network

Ever had anything like this happen?

xrac, on 21 February 2010 - 08:00 AM, said:

Here is what caused it.

xrac, on 21 February 2010 - 02:11 PM, said:

I have six Rotary lifts. Can you let me know what model this is. Did you get any feedback from Rotary?

I have never heard of this before and always considered Rotary top of the line.

Joe Marconi, on 21 February 2010 - 09:29 AM, said:

These are the asymetrical 9,000 lb or so two posts. The part pictured broke while the vehicle was up in the air and stationary. My guy had just gotten out from under it. It was definitely a part failure. Rotary was very interested and I sent pictures and a local guy came out but they never said or did anything. The truck was barely damaged and my total cost was only about $2,000 so it wasn't worth pursuing further from a legal stand point. All my lifts are Rotary.

It's a little scary. Will Rotary help with the costs and damages?

I am going to show this to my staff and techs at tomorrows meeting.

Do think a periodic inspection would have picked this up or is just a fluke failure?

Joe Marconi, on 21 February 2010 - 01:01 PM, said:

I do not know if it was cracked and we could have picked it up before hand or not. I really doubt it. The really hilarious part was this happend in the afternoon of a day they were were going to have our first and to this point only women's seminar at our shop. About 45 minutes after we got this truck down and got things under control we hosted 37 women at our shop for refreshments and a one and one-half hour seminar on how to care for their vehicles and not to be taken advantage of.

xrac, on 21 February 2010 - 08:20 PM, said:

I'm glad you mentioned the women’s clinic. In April we will give our first ever women’s clinic. Can you give me some pointers on what you did and how it went? Also, if you have an outline of the seminar I would really appreciate it. Any tips would help.

(BTW: I didn’t mean to want to minimize the lift incident)

Joe Marconi, on 21 February 2010 - 04:32 PM, said:

We ask vendors for door prizes to give away. We had stuff like hats, T-shirts, flashlights, jumper cables, road side emergency kits, etc. We registered all of the women and drew names through the evening plus we had give aways for everyone who came. My wife made hot spiced apple cider and we served cider, cookies, and coffee. We had four people speak during the event: myself, my service manager, a technician, and the main vendor who donated. We talked about basic stuff, needed maintenance, and how to keep from getting ripped off. We also took them out in the shop and showed them how to check the oil and fluids, how to check tire pressures, and how to changing a tire. We used an SUV that had to have a tired lowered down and told them hey needed to find the location of these on their vehciles. It was all very basic stuff but presented in a friendly entertaining manner. There was no selling. We had a great evening and everyone loved it and we picked up business from it. We intended to do 3-4 per year but we dropped the ball and haven't done one since. I don't really have an outline or anything.

Wow. I have a lift pretty similar to that one. Of course, mine is less than 3 yrs old but I will closely inspect those tomorrow. I don't use the flip up feet very often but that is good to know.

CARMandP, on 21 February 2010 - 08:35 PM, said:

This happened about five years ago and that lift was only 6 years old. As far as we could tell it was simply a manufacturers defect. If there had been a significant lose I think we could have easily won a settlement with an attorney who litigated that product liability cases. Maybe I should have done something anyway just on principle. The biggest problem with the two posts are 3/4-1 ton pickups with longer wheel bases. This was a 3/4 ton.

xrac, on 22 February 2010 - 12:40 AM, said:

Thanks, very helpful information. Please keep us updated on the lift issue. I hope this is an isolated incident.

When I saw this I was very thankful no one was injured when we had our lift failure.

Quote

xrac, on 27 May 2010 - 08:02 PM, said:

'
That is sad. Sometime mechanics get too comfortable or just make stupid mistakes. When I worked at the Ford Dealer in the 1970's, we had 2 cars fall off the lifts, all due to human error,

Joe Marconi, on 27 May 2010 - 03:45 PM, said:

If it's ok, I'm going to post a couple of these pictures on my gallery page on my website. Gonzo

Gonzo, on 08 June 2010 - 08:19 AM, said:

It is o.k. with me!

xrac, on 22 February 2010 - 06:32 AM, said:

My biggest disappointment was that I never heard anything back from Rotary about the failure.

xrac, on 08 June 2010 - 12:06 PM, said:

Looks to me like who ever put it on the lift had it way to far forward for an "A" symetric lift.

I guessed it could have slipped to that point. But, I doubt it.... I always make it a habit to "jiggle" the car when it's on the first ladder lock. If it sounds funny, wiggles to much, or even seems off balance... it's sure to be worse when it's up in the air.