Glad no one was hurt, and thanks for posting. It’s a great reminder that one always has to be aware of safety and thinking of what could happen if something fails. I’ve often though about fabricating some sort of bar to support my scissor lift in case the hydraulics fail. There is a ratcheting safety system on the lift, but it’s a cast piece from China, so I figure another backup would not be a bad idea. I’ve always kept a floor jack under my car when it was raised on jack stands as well.

We purchased a door jamb and a door from parts heaven to match this pristine california car, a new sill from our inventory, and have pulled the car back into shape, will post some pictures monday. Pulled beautifully as 914s always do

The lift company said, "well we do not know what happened to our report, in it it said not to use the lift"


I knew what I wanted to say but as usual held my tongue.

We do too George, always a backup. Real stupid that that lift purchased from the bow dealer ship did not have dual stopping pegs, would have been easy to install when the lift was made.
I sold the lift so I would never have to look at it again, along with another lift in anticipation of purchasing new rotary lifts, they call "the Porsche lifts" Men are working on the building today in anticipation of the new roof extension. We will have a pretty great place here when things are completed, and my completed dream of having a Jay Leno like garage in the back to really display some nice hardware!

I'm lucky that I didn't have a catastrophe. The 1st 18 mo's that I owned my lift, I would leave the car lifted on it for days and even weeks at a time. One night while watching the News I saw a report on an Earthquake. It then dawned on me what could happen in that I live in SoCal. I now lower the car as soon as possible and definitely overnight. If the wheels are off I lower it to inches off the ground. Hindsight is 20/20 and Shit happens! What happened to George happens. I believe he showed "Due Diligence" by having his equipment inspected and the liability should be upon the company that did the inspection. JMHO.

I replaced the cables twice on my two post lift in 10 years of daily use. On my Bend Pack, the cables do not do the lifting, hydraulic rams in each post do that. The cables merely balance the system so the arms go up and down evenly side to side. When a cable breaks, one side will go up or come down faster than the other. I never dropped a car off of the lift when this happened. I was able to carefully lower the car. I had new heavy duty cables made up by an outfit that makes cables for cranes. The cable always failed where it went around the lower pulley. I kept an eye on that after the first one failed and replaced them when they started to fray.

Charlie

It seems it happens to others as well.Click to view attachment Click to view attachment

Isn't that car?

Thankfully no one was injured!

Lift accidents happen more than you would think.

OSHA regs cover Inspections and Training-
Lifts must be inspected annually by a certified tech.
Operators need to have yearly training
Owners should keep a log.

Depending on what state you reside, lifts may be covered under state building codes.

The UK has taken the safe course in regards to 2 post lifts-
"It was agreed with representatives of the MVR industry, through the MVR Forum, that arm locking systems should be fitted to all these lifts. Therefore, any remaining 2-post lifts without arm locking should now have been taken out of use or scrapped." Sensible action.

And they have identified certain Chinese Models-
"Problems with the design, installation, use and maintenance of arm locking mechanisms continue to cause concern in newer machinery. Some new Chinese-manufactured 2-post lifts have been found where the locking mechanism has been poorly manufactured and failed to work from installation or within a short period of use. Further details are available in Sector Information Minute 03/2008/12" "Defective locking devices identified on modern 2-post lifts".

An employee injury could mean OSHA reports, inspectors, fines, lawsuits, and pain and suffering. Logbooks going back yrs. Warning and safety decals in place...etc...

Resources-
https://www.apta.com/mc/annual/previous/201...stein_Steve.pdf

UK -
http://www.hse.gov.uk/mvr/topics/fallofflifts.htm

Sorry that happened!
But more importantly, will you let me into the 356 garage next time I get down there?

That it was!

The lift failure on the Elise was due to the ignorance of the shop and the ignorance of the owner to allow an unknowledgeable shop touch such a car. For a floor jack when inserting a jack stand, there is marked lift spot not far back from the door. However, a two post lift requires removing the engine cover pan to locate the proper aft jack spots. The result is not much different if you did the same on a 911 given their after weight distribution.

As for the 914 lift failure, sorry, I'd never put my car on that lift, or even leave it for service in a shop that looks so ill-maintained.

My lift would not fail in this manner due to a cable breakage or even a hydraulic ram failure. Lifts are inexpensive equipment in the big picture of a shop. Our fab techs spend more on their Snap On toolboxes than what a decent lift costs...

Yes, things happen, but from my experience more frequently from the lack of maintenance, lack of planning, lack of concern, lack of attention to detail, etc. Sorry to be harsh, but I don't see the point of this post with simply blaming it on the maintenance company.

An awful lot of George bashing on here which I am not sure is warranted. This is probably the best thread to remind us to be careful because of possible consequences.. I get very nervous working underneath cars and have been thinking about purchasing a 2 post lift for home and use a safety jack on both front and back of the car to ensure no one gets hurt.

All our 2 post lifts lock into place. You can hear each set of locks engage as the lift rises. We've had 2 minor earthquakes in the last couple years and no cars have come off the lift. We have cars up on lifts overnight for days and weeks and no issues. None of out lifts are outside. We use the forklift to lift cars for steam pressure washing.

I think brand has allot to do with it regarding failure rates. What kind are you using?? I hear allot like the greg smith but those appear to be atlas brand?

We just bought 5 new ones for the new shop but I think our old ones are Atlas. I'll check tomorrow. Greg Smith is 5 miles from the shop, no tax in Delaware, so that does come into play.
I think failures are mostly operator error or old lifts. Our cars, 911's, ect are so light that they should never be coming close to the max of even the cheapest lift.

Thanks.. Not sure what I am going to buy yet..

I think what we all have to do is take tis incident to heart. We get comfortable working on our cars either as a shade tree mechanic or a professional, but this is dangerous work!

When it comes to lifting heavy things there are so many things that can go wrong. Now that e see this everyone should evaluate their lifts to determine if this type of failure can occur based on the design of your lift.

When I worked in my fathers diesel engine shop we handled some truly massive marine and locomotive engines. Even after completing a new lift plan for every move and ensuring that the lifting cables were rated for the load we had problems.

One thing that we implemented was to lift the load a slight distance and wait at least 10-min before proceeding further and spend that time inspecting all of the lift points. Many errors were discovered during this 10-min which saved a lot of money and prevented potential injuries.

Now that I am a shade tree mechanic I still practice a triple support approach when working under a car. It may be on jack stands as the main support. But I have another set under the car but not touch to catch if the first set fails. Also I always use the good old wooden blocks placed under the car so that no matter what happens the car will not make it all the way to the ground.

I didn't read every response but every pretty much every lift, including the lift in the 1st picture has a safety device (this one wasn't working) which will not allow the arms on either side to fall as seen in the picture. I think most modern lifts if not all are safe as long as you use them as intended and the lift operator is aware of the operation of the safety.
What you see in the picture should have never happened. That was avoidable. That'll scare the s#&t out of you! Glad no one was hurt. Great example to learn from someone else's mistake!

I think failures are mostly operator error or old lifts. Our cars, 911's, ect are so light that they should never be coming close to the max of even the cheapest lift.
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Thanks.. Not sure what I am going to buy yet..
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I agree the George bashing is not called for and in poor taste. He posted this as a warning for others.

I would be interested in the cause of failure. I suspect that if used as a pressure washer lift the repeated water and outdoor exposure cold have been a contributing cause. I would want those question answered by the lift inspector who Ok'd the lift as safe. Or maybe by another lift inspector. There was another lift failure video posted of a Chinese lift failing and dropping the car on persons below. Failures can occur regardless as to whose fault it is.

Don't bash the messenger.

I have never ordered a part from that shop and yet I have received one. Even though it was free,. It was the wrong part.
Rust is slow, rust is tenacious, now I see, rust as karma.

Same with my Aamco two post, it's a made in USA, heavy duty, overbuilt, ALI certified lift.
I have a 996 on it right now getting an IMS Solution, my 914 is under it tonight.

My friends shop uses cheap china lifts, compared to mine they are sketchy as hell, especially the safety locks.

Ok George really has no right to be abused....really guys ,talked to my brother re: rachet locks,he said if the failure of one cable happens quickly the lock on that side fails to work and the whole lots tilts over, he mentioned cable lubrication during the the time between inspections was the responsibility of the owner,in our country lifts are locked out until repairs are effected or the new compliance cert is issued...makes sense to me.
I still fail to see a lift outside being exposed to weather and waterblasting would last too long.

Coulda woulda shoulda

Click to view attachment

I don't think that could possibly happen on my lift (Rotary 2 post asymmetrical), spring loaded locks that have a detent every 8" or so.

I did have to put a seal kit in one of the cylinders which wasn't too difficult, just messy