Got my lift! Not happy. Dang!

Ok, I promised pics of the lift with a car on it for lots of folks here, and buddies that don't live on this forum (weirdos). I'd love to do that, but I've run into problems.
It was delivered yesterday. I had about 38 seconds of run time on it before I had a hydro-fluid fountain in the garage. A seal must have rolled because fluid shot out of the vent hole and the cylinder was locked up solid. Well, the company said the warranty does not cover labor so I'd have to fix it myself. I wasn't happy, but didn't push the issue. I replaced the cylinder myself and cleaned up the mess. Not the way you really want to start your post-garage-lift life, but I can deal with it.
So, I go to put the golf up in the air and it won't fit! Below is a pic of the undercarriage, it's hitting in a few places.

I suspected this might happen so I pulled the car up close and pushed it on by hand or at least tried to. Once in a while I do something smart.
The specs show a collapsed height of 4.75", but I measure just a bit more than that.

HUH!? That's a lot man! I have a Golf diesel that has stock suspension and tires and it won't fit.

There are studs that come up from the bottom of the unit that bolt the arms on, you can see these on the left side of the picture below. Those studs stick up almost an inch.

Here's what I'm thinking. When I go to drop off the bad cylinder tomorrow I'm going to show them the pictures and explain that the hoist is NOT as described. I will cut the studs short, bringing the collapsed height to just about 5".....but only if they will say, in writing, that they will allow me to return the lift for a 100% refund if my car still will not fit. If they say no, I'll tell them to come get it and I expect a 100% refund since the product is not as described.

At this point the lift is useless for my car, and I'd expect my 944 as well unless I make ramps/runners that run parallel to the lift to get the car higher. I'm not interested in doing that. If I were trying to lift a low-slung race car I'd not have a problem.
Am I right here? What would you do.

I found some more accurate height measurements in the Bendpak instructions - page 9. They show a 142mm minimum height, which sounds a lot more like what you've found. That's the same lift under different branding, and it shows the same "minimum" on the specs.

I was planning to spend some time with a tape measure to see if any of my cars would fit without preliminary lifting or runners. I suspect not.

Anyhow, for your problem - that sucks. And I think they should take it back if the dimensions are not as given. That's a pretty critical dimension.

There's no way that stud/bolt is installed correctly. Be sure to show them that picture so they either have to admit that it's wrong, or have to try and say with a straight face that it's fine, and that punching holes through car floors is normal... sheez.

kb58 wrote: There's no way that stud/bolt is installed correctly. Be sure to show them that picture so they either have to admit that it's wrong, or have to try with a straight face that it's fine, and that punching holes through car floors is normal... sheez.

I don't even know how else it could go on. I'll take a look tonight though.

Just to lighten the mood

This'll fit mate

To be blunt, is there any chance that you assembled it wrong (I won't tell anyone.) Or is it more-or-less a complete unit that's just bolted to the uprights, and those fasteners were factory-installed?

kb58 wrote: To be blunt, is there any chance that you assembled it wrong (I won't tell anyone.) Or is it more-or-less a complete unit that's just bolted to the uprights, and those fasteners were factory-installed?

Do you have ANY IDEA who you're talking to!?!? There's always a chance I did it wrong haha. It comes assembled with the exception of bolting those arms on. I did it the way the guy told me to, but there's one in the shop (where I got it from) that has one they have been using for years. I'll take a peek tomorrow.

kb58 wrote: There's no way that stud/bolt is installed correctly.

^This^

Double check your assembly. It's not right.

The Bendpak assembly instructions do not show a stud sticking up like that.

These aren't the exact same lifts. The cylinders are attached totally differently, and the arms are connected differently as well. But, there's always the possibility. I'm not going back out there again tonight though. I'm just sick of the stupid thing.
I hope that's it. When I was bolting it on it didn't seem correct, but that's how the dude said to do it....monkey see, monkey do.

Interesting. From the specs, the ratings and even the part numbers there's a strong similarity.

The fact that you have a local shop to support it post-sale will likely make life much easier. Good luck.

That sucks. I don't have any good advice, but I'm sorry you're dealing with that.

Ok, I went out there to have a look-see even though I said I wasn't.
I don't see any other way it can go together. Here's the part in question, this is what's sticking 1" proud

dang auto-focus!

I was told it goes, from under the platform (hole in the rear of the frame), through the lifting arm and the nut and washers go in the tapered hole (front of frame).

Here's the part, next to a finished assembly.

A bit better view. In this pic you can see that the arm doesn't sit totally level, that did concern me a bit, maybe more now.......

I'll know more when I see the lift they've been using for years. Currently though, there's a 70's Blazer on it. From the looks of it, it's been there for many years. They may not have lifted anything with less than 10" of ground clearance.

JoeyM wrote: That sucks. I don't have any good advice, but I'm sorry you're dealing with that.

This.^^^^^ Getting a lift that doesn't work is like things not working on your wedding night. It's just not right and a big let down.

Is the arm upside down??

Forget what I said ... I am not even sure what I am looking at, totally confused.

Slippery wrote: Forget what I said ... I am not even sure what I am looking at, totally confused.

Yeah, me too. The arm wont make a difference, and the stud-think wont fit upside down. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong.

Hope the guy's description was bad & it goes together in a way that works for you and you can laugh about it in a day or two.

is there an exploded assembly diagram?

fasted58 wrote: is there an exploded assembly diagram?

only after he loses his temper

Only thing to add is a wedge washer is used to compensate for an I beam angle and should clamp tight. Dude is giving you bad information

Hmm... The arm attaches different than mine, so can't comment there... Take a wider picture. Kinda hard to see what we're looking at.

Ignored my post, eh?

You WILL need stacked 2x12 runners to drive on so you can use the middle sized risers between the arms and the car. Otherwise the lift will hit the underside of the car, as you can see.

cut a hole in the floor and flush mount it..

Keith Tanner wrote: I found some more accurate height measurements in the Bendpak instructions - page 9. They show a 142mm minimum height, which sounds a lot more like what you've found.

Good catch... I have an earlier version of that document (Rev C from 2009) and it shows 4.75" for that dimension. Looks like the lift grew almost an inch over the years. The old spec and document is still linked by some BendPak dealers.

jv8 wrote:

Keith Tanner wrote: I found some more accurate height measurements in the Bendpak instructions - page 9. They show a 142mm minimum height, which sounds a lot more like what you've found.

Good catch... I have an earlier version of that document (Rev C from 2009) and it shows 4.75" for that dimension. Looks like the lift grew almost an inch over the years. The old spec and document is still linked by some BendPak dealers.

I figured it out, as I was driving to talk to the guys. They confirmed it. In the past it was assembled differently. Basically, there were different bolts and they went in from the top, sitting flush with those arms. That gave you 4.75" collapsed height. They switched to this goofy setup because too many consumers couldn't figure it out I will cut those studs down to get the collapsed height down to 5".
So, in answer to your questions, not many cars will fit on this lift without runners of some sort. I'm going to Home Depot tomorrow to buy some 2"X10' planks to make runners. That'll effectively bring my collapsed height to about 4.25".
For $1500 I can deal with that. I'd have liked that to have been disclosed to me when I bought it, just would have made life easier. The guy said "yeah, everybody cuts those down and puts wood next to it unless they are lifting a truck."

A Max Jax just isn't right for my garage. When I get a car on there I'll take all the pics from underneath and post them.