The cable broke on our outdoor pressure washing lift, two months after a complete inspection of all of our lifts! One never knows, accidents happen. Car fortunately has minimal damage. Will post pictures of the lifting and repair later

Rusty outdoor lift...not surprised

Also thats going to be some decent damage..

Engine might need going through as well, Take spark plugs out of the DR side before you crank it, the oil in the cyls might bend the valves.

Really glad no one got trapped under there... You should consider replacing your lifts and putting them all inside..

Looks like one side dropped down. When using properly, the car must be lowered some to park the lift on the stops. Was the car sitting on the stops properly?

yes everything was good, the cable broke

at least it makes it easier to pressure wash, the work must go onClick to view attachment

Glad nobody was under the car!

Yikes! Now I see why some people use under lift jackstands even with a lift.

Really makes me want to bring my car to you.

Let's have a caption contest:

"Here at 914 Headquarters we NEVER let anything slide..."

I’m pretty sure ours lock into place when stationary. Looks like a very old lift.

yes they lock but this happened while the car was going up, cable broke. Really ridiculous because the lift service was just here two months ago!

Accidents happen, we have not had one for 30 years at least. Luckily the car was not damaged too badly, a door and just a bit of fender and quarter damage, and the paint was not that nice anyway, so will be better than before the accident.

That picture is why people dont respect your mind set..
Everything is wrong,, the fact you have the $$ and have misppent ...cables are equallizers and why did the lock dog not engage..you can say nothing , because you know nothing......just another insurance claim kinda day...

I for one am glad he shared the picture, he didn't have to. It is a very good reminder that shit happens no matter who you are. Glad no one was injured. Could-a, should-a, would-a. Just learn from it and be safe.

here is a before and after, accidents happen, just too bad it has to happen to classic Porsches This one was MUCH worseClick to view attachment Click to view attachmentClick to view attachmentClick to view attachment[attachmentid=639
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dude, that is pretty harsh.

I bet if you reached out to any of the lift manufactures the sales of maintenance or wear items do not even come close to the numbers of lifts sold. Unless a government facility* or a company with a very stringent safety program I would say the majority of companies don't fix things until broken.

*we annually inspect all of our lifts and cranes by certified inspectors.

More rust on that lift than on the last 914 I saw at a salvage yard. If I saw equipment like that with leaves and debris on the floor, I think I would look for another shop. Certainly if I needed something done on a vintage Porsche. Even a NARP. And why post a picture of that 356? Are you trying to say the 914 that fell on it's side isn't really that bad?

Thanks for posting the pictures! It's a good reminder that it's an imperfect world we live in and things can and will go wrong. I for one will be checking my jacks and support system tonight, just to make sure nothing has slipped or moved.

It's a drag that it happened, that's for sure. Hurts to look at it all the way from San Diego.

Glad no one was in the way of it falling. I can't recall how many times I've stood close to the lift as it was going up. Gonna take a step back from now on, that's for sure.

A roller in my lift failed a few months ago and we nearly had a car fall as the lift was being lowered. The broken roller allowed one side of the lift to hang up on the safety lock strip inside the upright so only one side continued to come down.
Fortunately Ed noticed that he was starting to see the top of the car a little too soon and stopped.
That took a while to figure out how we could safely lower the car the rest of the way.
It also took me a while to figure out a 2 hour repair method which didn't require disassembly - which would have kept the lift out of service for more than 24 hours.

that was and still is our pressure washing lift, only, it is regularly inspected as we need to have it outside in an area where it can get be properly used and the water and material drained. The pegs catch the car on the way up, but was in-between pegs when the cable popped, just a fluke, but at least the car is not too badly hurt, and only dropped a few feet. I will post pictures soon of the lifting and the repair

That looks bad & I would certainly be pissed if it was mine. Having said that the fact he is posting the picture of it. $hit does happen to us all. The distinction that this is their lift for pressure washing helps a bit as far as how it looks. Still I would spend some time every year keeping the paint up. I would not feel good about my car going up on that lift with that much rust on it. Even if it was serviced by someone else. It doesn't look like it is serviced just from the eye test. While the internals make the most difference. That pic just screams I am an old piece of crap that nobody has serviced in years. Not something I would want my customers to see. Let alone have their car on

Thanks for the post. The next time I raise or lower my car on my lift I will be an extra foot or two away from it after seeing this. Safety First as they say

Oooo that sucks. Looks just like my car too only better looking paint. Glad no one was hurt.

No Governments, no regs. A simple self respect and respect to to the item being put on a an old delapitated , piece if machinerry,,,, the headquarters certianly had $$$ for a new lift,, it's just bad mindset,,, at least it is His 914... And you live in CA. ??
Apparently there methods are self imposed, and not qualified,,, glad no ones hurt , and he has insurance...the answer for everything these days..

One Question ?? Can anyone show me a picture of a more decapitated lift, at a current resto shop , in use....... even if its just a 914..
claiming to be its checked and good to goo...

I would find it hard to believe that the body is straight after a fall like that. The driver's door and long were dropped on the cable protection ramp. Kind of like breaking a tree branch on your knee.

Hmmmm, I wonder what the VIN number is?????

Dave

I’m for sure going to check my cables when I get home but wouldn’t it take a loss of hydraulic pressure to drop only one side and then wouldn’t both drop?

research your lift model and how it functions...... the only answer

I understand Chris's lift failure, but the AA one is strange if everything was actually functioning. I'm confused as to why the safety catches didn't engage. Being between engagement points should just mean it drops a little, not all of the way down. Seems like the dog that engages was rusted up and not springing too well...

Glad no one got hurt-that'd make for a really bad Friday.

Hell I would be talking to the lift inspection company...bunch of clowns.
Many cable lifts in my country have been condemned because of cables ,most owners choose to replace their lifts completely as the cables are so expensive for older ones,my brother was a hoist inspector for a long time,he was called out to the local Honda dealer and found a new Civic destroyed after a cable failure, the ratchet locks hadn't worked in that instance.

we are moving to a bigger shop and just buying all new lifts. Our old ones are still very nice but it was easier to sell than move to the new location.

Undetected corrosion is apparently the cause of this. Corrosion so bad, the cable or cable related component failed with a 2000 lb-ish car.

That is almost our situation too. We are now rebuilding the complete shop and the rest of the building and enlarging the shop, have a purchase order in for six new lifts, (the latest and the greatest) but cannot install until the new roof is done. THAT is one of the reasons I had all of these lifts inspected, and thought that we were ok for a few months until the new ones were ready to be installed.
We are very safe here and have never had an accident believe it or not!
Our new pressure washing area will be covered so that should eliminate most of the weather hitting that area.
These old lifts have a catch peg on only one side so of course the one side held.

The safety peg is only on one side of this old lift.

We just use a big forklift to raise the car for steam pressure wash.

reminds me of another incident, anyone know which ship this is? (a test for you history buffs!! Click to view attachment

It would seem that the responsible thing to do if getting new lifts is to cut up the old lifts to make sure they are not put back into service.

already promised to our scrap guy

Our used lifts are still very good. Its just expensive to take them down, transport and set them up. We get a deal on shipping and setup on the new ones so it's just easier to leave the old ones in place. Also lets us work on cars longer during the transition.

Do we need to know who bought them....

I don't remember the name of the ship but wasn't that one in Chicago?

SS Normandie, 1942, burned and capsized at NYC pier.
Less damage than your Palma green '75

The teeth look like backup plan items. When going up are they not able to engage? Sorry to tilt the thread sideways

good man, some think that it was sabotage. Many called it the most beautiful ocean liner ever built. Those French!

I respect the Dr. for sharing that incident and pictures. I am in the middle of getting a lift installed in my home garage and it never hurts to remind everyone that lifts aren't bullet proof. Hopefully the damage to the 914 was minor.

In my 3+ decades of working in dealerships I've seen around a dozen cars fall from lifts. Some were due to lift failure and others due to operator error. This is the first time I've seen a 914 fall from a lift. Thanks George JK really that sucks..

"Wanting to thoroughly clean the underside of his car, Mel called a buddy to help him flip it over."

Hey George, any update or pictures of the carnage? How bad is the car?