| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| RPL | I know, this probably isn't the correct place but I'm going to ask anyway. A number of members purchased Double Park lifts. I just got around to installing mine. My question is, do your level it end to end as well as side to side? My garage floor is pitched to drain. There is about an inch and a half drop from the front to the rear. If I level the ramps, the locks don't engage at the same time and the ramps end up locking off level but paralel to the floor. Did anyone else purchase the caster kit? Have you used it? Any thoughts? |
| Al's Prowler | Bob, I don't own a Double Park lift but I do have a BackYard Buddy lift, I also have a drop front to rear and I just left it that way with no problems ( five years ). I'm sure you can adjust the ramps using the cable nut, if you want I can drive down and give you a hand with the adjustment. Al |
| Andy R | Bob, I also have the BYBuddy lift and a slanted floor. I just reinstalled it in our new house. I thought about the same thing you did about levelling the ramps. I think it would be safer to have all of the locks engaged at one time, i.e. keep the ramps parallel to the floor. This does mean that it is slightly tilted though. I did lift a car in this position and did not appear to get any additional leaning. I don't think that it moves the center of gravity nearly enough to tip it over. |
| YellowFever | My garage appears to be perfectly level and all locks on my double-park don't seem to engage at exactly the same time. Perhaps by design. Provided you use the wheel roll plates (after you remove the ramps) and make sure your car is in park with brake on, a 1.5 inch slant really would not be that big a deal, IMO.
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| RPL | Thanks for the responses. I'm glad to hear that others have faced the same issue. I installed it with the ramps on the floor. Then leveled it side to side and finally end to end. The issues this way are that the locks do not encounter the safety stops at the same time going up or down and more importantly, one end is suspended by the cables in the down position. For that reason alone, I'm going to readjust the ramps to be level side to side (a minor adjustment) and allow boths ends to rest on the floor in the down position. The safety stops will then be encoutered at the same time. Thanks, I really appreciate the advise based upon your experiemce. |
| YellowFever | Releasing the pressure, all four of mine do not encounter the stops at exactly the same time but, it does finally rest on all four stops. So being perfectly level may not be 100% necessary as mine must be off slightly but, it is using all 4 and completely safe. Also, I have not bolted mine to the garage floor as the four posts and their footprint make doing that an option-IMO. |
| Ray | Bob: Original DoublePark lift was installed at my house and leveled side to side I recall, and tension adjusted at all four corners, but the saftey stops did hit at very slightly different times. When I purchased second new one and had the original one moved to new house, "he" re-leveled/adjusted all four cables and the critical aspect was to get the stops all level to the safety "tangs". Pitch in new garage is inch and a half I think ... Hope this info helps too. BTW ... I LOVE my DoublePark lifts and wouldn't have bought anything else. |
| WildCat | I bought my lift at trade show and Alvin from Cytech installed and leveled. If I remember correctly (it's been 4 years), it should hit all 4 locks at the same time. If your floor has slope then the lift should also have same. If your lift isn't hitting the stops then it needs to be adjusted . I will get my instuctions to double check. I have had to re adjust when I moved it. |
| RPL | Thanks for all of the advise. My garage also slopes an inch and a half from to rear. I went back today and readjusted it so that it has the same front to rear drop as the floor. All four saffety stops hit at the same time and it's level from side to side. I haven't bolted mine down because I purchased the caster set. I moved it around to center it with the garage door and moved it as far forward as possible. It is a foot longer than standard so the cars fit within the ramp length and don't hang over. A word of caution. When I lowered it with the casters in place to relocate it, it started out of the garage. luckily there was a board within arms reach. Would have hated to explain to the insurance guy how the lift took off through the door. |
| Marty Usher | Oh Bob - I really wouldn't want to see that story on the local news. That would be ugly! Especially with the Candy Red on the top. This message has been edited by Marty Usher on 11-18-2002 at 09:18 PM |
| ed monahan | Bob, that had to be a religious moment. WOW. I am glad everything came to a screeching halt. |
| TFischer | quote:
Originally posted by RPL:
A word of caution. When I lowered it with the casters in place to relocate it, it started out of the garage. luckily there was a board within arms reach. Would have hated to explain to the insurance guy how the lift took off through the door.
Oh Man! That gave me a chill when I read that - that would scare you to death!! Glad you weren't hurt! I'd be more afraid of explaining it to CJ though than the insurance man! Those are her babies! (Although I'm sure she would have been more worried about you if you would have been hurt in any way!!)  Tami This message has been edited by TFischer on 11-18-2002 at 09:56 PM |
| WildCat | Bob, I think you got it. Glad you caught the run away lift....LOL I havn't bolted mine down either since I plan on moving it from time to time (4 years 1X).
One thing to be aware of. Lower slowly as you get close to the stops. The lift will tend to WALK as it settles. You might want to put a mark or piece of tape on the corner to see how much it moves when you use it a few times. I use mine to work on the car and lift up and down more than someone using to double park. It has moved maybe an 1" in the last 2 years but it is on fairly level surface. FYI...I was told when lift was installed never let the lift down at full rate and hit the stops or floor. It is OK to lower at full rate until you get close to stop then release the lever so it moves very slowly. I normally hold the safety lever as I lift so it does not beat the paint off the stops. |
