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Vehicle Lift Safety
Presented By:
Steven Perlstein
“The Automotive Lift Institute (ALI) called on the expertise of the National Safety Council and Health & Associates to develop its Lifting It Right safety manual and its companion “Lifting It Right” video. Both the manual and the video are copyrighted. Reproduction of either if prohibited”.
Where can you obtain training or training materials?
www.autolift.org

Your source for lift safety 
& certification information
Lifts must have an annual inspection by a qualified lift inspector




Replacement lift parts must be original equipment manufacturers parts to maintain ALI/ETL lift certification





Lift accessories must be certified to maintain ALI/ETL lift certification
The Automotive Lift Institute 
has Lifting Point Guides available
ALI 
Safety Tips
Safety WARNING Labels
Automotive Lift Operation
Inspection & Maintenance
Manual
Automotive Lift Installation
& Service Manual
Two Post Lift Safety Decal
Q: Has the tech lowered the lift 
onto the mechanical locks as instructed? "Yes/No"
Q:If yes, how do you verify that 
the lift has been lowered
on to the locks?





A:The weight guage reads "0"
Automotive Lift Institute – Certification Program -The One and Only National Safety Standard for Vehicle Lifts
www.autolift.org

Many Vehicle Lift Installers/Repair Centers Provide Lift Training and Annual Lift inspections
Q:Did your new tech
properly position the lifting arms?
Q: Is he/she an experienced
5 or 15 year ASE certified technician?
What to look for
when buying
a safe lift
Q:Is the lift using cables,
chains, or direct lifting?
Q: At what height do mechanical
locks begin to engage?
Questions To Ask Before You Buy A Two Post Lift:
1)Where is the lift and all components manufactured? 
2)Is the lift ALI/ETL certified to meet the one and only national nationally recognized safety standard? 
3)Does the lift have a 25 year structural and 10 year mechanical warranty?  
4)For stability, how large is the base (footprint) of the lift? 
5)Is the lift footprint made of 3/4" steel plate? 
6)Does the lift offer a limited lifetime cylinder warranty?    
7)Does the lift offer a weight gauge? (To be assured that the vehicle is lowered onto the locks? to use as a diagnostic and sales tool when a vehicle weighs more than it should when selling better brakes, tires, or shocks).
8)Does the lift offer a SPEEDLANE for faster loading and unloading of the vehicle? 
9)Is the column made of 3/4" thick high strength fork lift mast or 1/8" thick bent sheet metal? 
10)Do the carriages ride up and down on double sealed self lubricating ball bearing rollers or plastic slide blocks?  
11)How many anchor bolts are securing the column to the shop floor? 
12)Does the lift have a clear floor and an adjustable height overhead hydraulic line or an overhead piece of sheet metal to limit lifting height (or make the lift too tall to fit in the bay?) 
13)Does the lift use stainless steel hydraulic lines or rubber hydraulic hoses? 
14)Does the lift offer a turf kit adaptor to also service turf maintenance equipment? 
16)5)How low are the swing arms to get under low riding vehicles? 
17)How large are the swing arm bolts (to maintain level swing arms vs. arms that droop)? 
18)Does the lift include truck adaptors or are they optional? 
19)Do the mechanical safety locks start engaging immediately or not until 18 or 24"?  
20)Will the lift fit into a 10'6" ceiling bay and still fully raise a 4' tall car?21)Does the lift rise a full 6' UNDERNEATH the swing arms or 6' when measured to the top of the swing arm? 
22)Does the lift operate with a cable (wire rope), a leaf chain, or on a direct drive lifting system? *
23)Does the lift have both internal and external hydraulic safeties? 
24)How large are the cylinders that power the lift? 
25)Are the arm restraints an all position restraint or a bolted on gear (which “chips” teeth)? 
26)Does the lifting carriage cradle the swing arm or does the arm bolt around the carriage? 
27)If you are standing under a lift do you want a single locking system or a dual locking system
28)If extending the overhead height, how much will it cost for lengthening the steel hydraulic lines, vs. longer steel cables, additional overhead height extenders, additional high pressure hose, longer safety cables and additional installation costs?   
29)If you were going to jump from an airplane, would you want the best parachute made or the cheapest?
Questions To Ask 
Before You Buy A Mobile Column Lift
1)Is the column made from ¾" x 6" thick fork lift mast sections or bent sheet metal?
2)Does the lift fully “sit” on the floor with retractable wheels or are the front wheels always under load & contacting the shop floor?
3)Are the columns & all available options ALI/ETL certified? 
(If not then the lift is no longer certified)
"Key certification considerations: 
Certification extends to options and accessories, 
Use of non-certified options or accessories on a certified lift will void the certification of the lift, ".
(from autolift.org)
4)Does the column offer a weight gauge to weigh vehicles and visually assure the operator that the weight has been lowered onto the mechanical safety locks?
5)Are the communication cables open ended or a closed loop system requiring cables to be driven over?
6)When used in pairs, does the manufacturer offer an option to raise passenger vehicles from the front to rear as well as side to side?
7)Does the lift have adjustable forks to tightly grab the tires or is an optional wheel reducer sleeve needed when raising vehicles with smaller tires?
8)Does the lift have a wing plow adaptor/slide out adaptor available to save labor of removing wing plows or work on specialized wide equipment?
10) Are the high rise jack stands also ETL certified
(to maintain the lifts ALI/ETL certification?)
11)Is a slope indicator available to verify the angle of your shop floor (to avoid using the lifts on an unsafe sloped floor)?
9) For after sale support, where is the lift made?
(U.S.A, China, Holland, France, Germany)
Additional Mobile Column Questions:


13)The steering wheels on the lift; Are they single or dual wheels? Steel or rubber coated (for ease of rolling over shop debris & expansion seams)? Is there a roller bearing in the rear wheels to ease movement or just a bushing? 
14)Has the US Military tested the lift, done a favorable evaluation and assigned the mobile lift a National Stock Number? 
15)Can a set of 6 columns be divided up into 3 sets of 2, or a set of 2 and as set of 4, or is there only one column that acts as the “main” post? 
16) The PLC (Programmable Logic Control) which controls column synchronization: Is the PLC an “off the shelf” Siemens controller available nationwide or a dedicated printed circuit board specific to that brand of lift (very expensive should replacement ever be needed, if still available)? 
17)Are columns available in several capacities? Can different capacities be used for heavy ended or specialized vehicles? 
18)If ever damaged do the communication and electrical cables quickly connect to the column or are they hard wired into the lift? (Requiring longer replacement time or an electrician). 
19) If using the 22” long fork version to raise BOTH rear tires on a vehicle, how much is the column capacity de-rated to? Is it still enough to raise the rear axle if it weighs 25,000 lbs?
Q: Can you exceed the capacity of a two-post lift
 with a vehicle lighter than the lifts capacity?
A:Yes!

16,000 lb capacity/4 swing arms = 4,000 lbs per arm
2 x 4,000 per arm = 8,000 (If your rear axle exceeds 8,000 lbs 
you exceed the rated capacity!)
www.mohawklifts.com
800-833-2006
PO BOX 110
AMSTERDAM, NY 12010
What do  forklift training &
vehicle lift training have in common?
Both require annual training &
training records maintained for
OSHA inspections.
12)How long are the lifting forks? 
(15” for lifting floatation tires or 22” to raise both dual rear tires)
Automotive Lift Institute member manfucturers 
must ship each lift with Lifting Point Guides, Safety Tips 
& Lifting It Right Guide
Speedlane
Thank You!
BOOTH #1001
www.aboutwsca.org
www.autolift.org
•Certification extends to options and accessories, 

•Use of non-certified options or accessories on a certified lift will void the certification of the lift,
Brand Name: MOHAWK 
Lift Model #: MP-18-
JS-000-A-001 JS-4775-18 Jack Stand 18000 lb. 
JS-000-A-004 JS-4775-24 Jack Stand 24000 lb. 
JS-000-A-005 JS-3047-18 Jack Stand 18000 lb. 
JS-000-A-006 JS-3047-24 Jack Stand 24000 lb. 
JS-400-A-002  JS-1830-18 Jack Stand 18000 lb. 
JS-400-A-003 JS-1830-24 Jack Stand 24000 lb.