Serious Safety Issue - Please Read

[Bill Wells]

black jack..if your auto lifter is like my two hoists (rotary lift 2 poster and stinger 4 poster) then you were NOT up high enough (18" you said) to be on any safety stops. if so , then you were trusting hydraulic pressure to hold your 5400 pound vehicle in a static position all by hydraulic pressure alone. no way. those things can lose pressure just like hydraulic floor jacks. if ya can't get up to a safety stop, then ya bettter have jack stands underneath whatever you are lifting. the same may be said about the pulleys or cables, good enough for lifting or lowering but not for extended full weight force when not on a safety stop and relaxed. in your case, the pulleys broke, but it could have been hydraulic pressure letting loose too. i just checked my two hoists, metal pulleys only, no plastic. do not trust those hoists when the item lifted is not on the safety stops. in my 18 years of calling on car dealers, 1,000 in that time, i have seen some horrific accidents of cars being dropped off a hoist or hoist letting go with car and hoist crashing down ,usually operator error, or hydraulic pressure loss, or snapped cable usually at the swage end. you sir are a luck dude ! glad you are ok ! just my $.02 worth. bill.