Finally... ordered a 4 Post Lift

[brads70]

What the hold up already? I thought by now you would have had half the neighbourhoods cars on it by now with oil changes etc..? 

[roadman5312]

    GRAND OPENING, TOM'S SPEEDY LUBE.  10 MINUTE OIL CHANGES, $19.95.   

[Finoke]

I mounted an electric winch to the wall in front of the lift so I can pull it up easlily by myself and leave tension on it to roll it off slowly

Now that's a good idea!

[CudamanTom]

I mounted an electric winch to the wall in front of the lift so I can pull it up easlily by myself and leave tension on it to roll it off slowly

And that was my exact thinking as well as I have a non running cuda that will be put on the lift as storage till I get to it. 

[CudamanTom]

What the hold up already? I thought by now you would have had half the neighbourhoods cars on it by now with oil changes etc..? 

I know Brad. Right?  Well life is getting in the way a little this week and holding off till the weekend so I can get some help.

The neighbors are calmly waiting though. 

[CudamanTom]

   GRAND OPENING, TOM'S SPEEDY LUBE.  10 MINUTE OIL CHANGES, $19.95.   

TOM'S SPEEDY LUBE AND BAR. Have a beer while you wait. 

[roadman5312]

TOM'S SPEEDY LUBE AND BAR. Have a beer while you wait. 

                    In that case, take your time. In no rush     

[CudamanTom]

Okay guys. Here we go... 

With the help of my brother Dan and next door neighbor Kirk, we put together the lift, loaded a cuda on it, rotated it 90 degrees and parked the other cuda under it.

First, offloading the lift.
I used my engine hoist to take off the first runner which weighs about 450 lbs. It includes the cylinder and massive cables. The point for center of balance is 6' from the cylinder end of the runner. Then we manhandled the posts, then used the engine hoist for the second runner (weighs a couple hundred pounds at least). So if you don't have a tractor or forklift, an engine hoist works great.



We sat the first runner on car dollies and it rolled great into the shop. The other runner we used a transmission lift and floor jack to move in the shop.







We had to pull both cudas out to make room. Sorry, they are dusty and didn't have time to clean them.



Back to the lift.
We flipped the runners to be bottom side down. It took all three of us to flip them. Then we used the engine hoist to lift the runner with the cylinder and cable  on one end and a floor jack on the other end. Then we used the floor jack for the other runner on both ends. We did the same end on each runner first, then did the other end.









Then we assembled the caster kits.





Then we filled the tank with 3 gallons of AW/ISO 32 hydraulic fluid.



The lift is assembled and working.






Next I will show loading, and rotating. (can put so many pics in one post).

[CudamanTom]

Now here is something we overlooked in the directions. I don't think it was even mentioned. There is a bracket to install on each end to hold in the ramp and a metal plate to keep a vehicle from rolling off. So we had to remove the large bolts for the runners and install them.







Okay, I had the idea to rotate the lift 90 degrees. So we moved it to check clearance. It worked great. But how will it be with a car on it? We will see.



So here we go. Put a cuda on the lift.







Rotate it.



Lift it.



Rotating the lift with a car on it wasn't too bad. It took three of us with the tight fit I had to work with. But it worked really good.
I need to cut a wood beam up top for the cuda to go higher and will do that next week hopefully. This will give me clearance to walk under the lift without ducking my head.
For now, it's high enough for parking another cuda under it.
So here we go. 







Just what I wanted and how I planned it to work out. 

[CudamanTom]

And I just realized, I'm not in any pictures posted yet. So... to prove I helped. here I am.

I'm the guy in the white hair with beard by the way. 





Thank you and hope you enjoyed. Also hope this might help others in questions and what not.

Tom

[MirageCuda]

   Great job putting it together.

[Racer57]

Where the Y of the caster comes up to meet the frame(pic 1) and raise everything, does it hit the corner of the panel (pic 2)?  Mine will if you don't watch out for it. First time it did and then popped to the side it scared the hell outta me !!  When I get time, I'm going to cut the part of the panel that hits.

[Finoke]

Nice Job  Enjoy 

[roadman5312]

Great work Tom.     I noticed in a few pics you had some of my favorite helpers there, BUSCH LIGHT.   

[CudamanTom]

Thanks guys.

It was lots of fun putting this together. 

Racer, I didn't have any issues with the "Y" part of the caster bracket hitting the runner plates. They raised up to the cross beam without hitting them.

And yes Mark, a couple beers (helpers) were a part of the process. 
But in moderation. It was serious business with something like this and the safety in mind.