So... What did I learn today?

Big_John

Illegitimi non carborundum
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I learned to check under the lift a little better when letting it down.

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This stool has served me well over the years.... Lot's of brake jobs and car waxing... It's a shame it went out this way.

It'll probably get replaced with a Harbor Fright stool.
 
I damaged a little magnetic tray on my lift the other day. I had my pickup on it to change the oil, and with the wider stance, I sat the magnetic tray on the runway. When I put my car back on I ran part of it over. I also have an outlet strip double taped to the far side. One day I was lowering it and it fell off. Luckily I heard it and stopped. May have had a little electricity go through the lift if I didn’t catch it.
 
always close all the vehicles doors when raising or lowering the vehicle. the only object i'll leave under a vehicle when lowering a lift is a drain pan. everything else gets well clear. never hesitate to double check lift contact points when setting up a two post. no matter how long or how many attempts it takes, there's only one acceptable way to lift a vehicle. the safest way possible. what i learned today? there's a calibration process done with a scan tool when replacing the actuator on a cummins turbo.
 
Mrs. Big John came home with a replacement from Harbor Fright. She knew I was going to miss it... I was changing the brakes on my step daughter's (her daughter) POS Kia and sitting on the tire when she came home....
 
always close all the vehicles doors when raising or lowering the vehicle. the only object i'll leave under a vehicle when lowering a lift is a drain pan. everything else gets well clear. never hesitate to double check lift contact points when setting up a two post. no matter how long or how many attempts it takes, there's only one acceptable way to lift a vehicle. the safest way possible. what i learned today? there's a calibration process done with a scan tool when replacing the actuator on a cummins turbo.
Mine is a 4 post.

You know... I'm usually pretty good about this stuff. I drilled it into my kid's heads about jack stands etc. and just being safe working. I just plain missed it and it's taught me to double check like I should have been doing.

Back when my oldest son was selling Fords, he was walking across the service area and this fell down right behind him. The mechanic said they were having problems with the lift, but my son and I both think he just screwed up and didn't account for the weight of the lift gate.

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he just screwed up
no doubt. he's basically the captain of the ship. he's responsible for it. with a two post, the operator always has to be conscious of weight distribution. i had to replace a broken axle in wrangler for a friend recently. necessitated removing both rear wheels. vehicle had ridiculously heavy oversized tires. to maintain balance i removed the front wheels first. that four post you have is very nice as i've said previously. don't know if you have roll around jacks for it. if not, you really should consider getting them.
 
no doubt. he's basically the captain of the ship. he's responsible for it. with a two post, the operator always has to be conscious of weight distribution. i had to replace a broken axle in wrangler for a friend recently. necessitated removing both rear wheels. vehicle had ridiculously heavy oversized tires. to maintain balance i removed the front wheels first. that four post you have is very nice as i've said previously. don't know if you have roll around jacks for it. if not, you really should consider getting them.
Yep, I have the roll around jacks. They were great for getting the lift exactly where it needed to be.

The lift might get moved over about a foot this winter. That would give me a little more working room and maybe even let me get the car on top one more notch higher. Right now, it's a good height to work on my old cars. To store them, it has to be a combo of one C-body with the A-body. If I can get both C-bodies on that side, I'd roller skate the A-body towards the wall on the other side of the garage.

That would give me plenty of snow blower room.
 
They were great for getting the lift exactly where it needed to be.
i didn't mean jacks to roll the lift around. i meant jacks that go on the lift to raise the vehicle off the lift. that's a problem with lifts. they become storage places real quick. then when needed for a repair there's so much time spent moving everything. i know from being a serious junk collector.
 
i didn't mean jacks to roll the lift around. i meant jacks that go on the lift to raise the vehicle off the lift. that's a problem with lifts. they become storage places real quick. then when needed for a repair there's so much time spent moving everything. i know from being a serious junk collector.
Oh, OK.

No, I didn't buy the jack. I sometimes wish I had... and I still might.

I did get the rolling jack platform though. I use it from time to time with a bottle jack and jack stands. It was suggested to me that I buy an airbag jack for it and I almost did until I read the reviews.

The lift was bought with both work and storage in mind. During the winter months, a car went up and stayed until spring. With 3 cars and a 2 car garage, it's in use for storage even more.
 
I sometimes wish I had
same here. even second hand. commercial grade equipment lasts a lifetime and can be had for pennies on the dollar. but being a cheap s.o.b., i just purchased a pair of tripod screw jacks that come in very handy for several things including lifting a vehicle away from the drive on. i use them to lift one axle at a time and they've worked very well. position them at catch points under the vehicle, then lower the vehicle on to them until the lift ramps drop away from the wheels. with trucks, i'll pull the wheels, then raise the lift to catch the suspension or use some other secondary blocking for safety.
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my latest idea. they were throwing away an old bed liner at work. i cut the bottom out of it with a skill saw. going to deck screw it to some scrap 2x4s and use it as a drip pan for the drive on.
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