I've had my Bendpak HD-9XW four post lift for awhile now, but hadn't installed any bridge jack or jacking tray setup to allow me to get the wheels off my car/truck while on the lift.
I was swapping winter wheels/tires recently on my wife's car - one at a time - using my trusty floor jack and thought it would be nice to be able to take all four wheels off at once during wheel and/or tire changes (not to mention suspension/brake service). Aha, an excuse to splurge on a couple Bendpak RJ-45 air actuated hydraulic bridge jacks.
These formerly were 'sliding' bridge jacks - on a blocks of plastic/poly. They are now 'rolling' bridge jacks and use a concave wheel that rolls on the top edge of the four post's bridge jack channel. The wheels do not roll 'inside' the channel, thereby eliminating the need to keep them operating-room clean.
After reading on another Forum thread regarding the use of RJ-45's with low ground clearance auto's, I emailed Jeff Kritzer at Bendpak directly. He alleviated my concerns and informed me that the current RJ-45 configuration - coupled with my relatively new HD-9, allow the bridge jack to sit as low as possible relative to the ramps.
The net result provided a very low 2.75" drive over height (no pads) and 3" clearance requirement with pads. My GT is lowered about 1" and the lowest point off the ground is 3.5". I must be doing something right
My HD-9XW is setup on the wide setting - that is 44 3/8" between the ramps. The RJ-45 adjusts to allow for use on both the narrow or wide settings.
I bought the bridge jacks here - easy as pie, shipped free directly from Bendpak. http://www.bestbuyautoequipment.com/BendPak-RJ-45-4-500-Lbs-Rolling-Bridge-Jack-p/rj-45.htm
I had the jacks shipped to my office, then had our local courier bring them over to the garage with a lift-gate equipped truck. These weigh nearly 300lbs each. Some guys move them around on furniture dollies. I didn't have those, so I used my engine hoist and a spare tire lying around to prop up the jack for placement on the four post.
Conveniently, the four corner safety bolts that retain the RJ-45's width-adjustable arms (those that rest on the lip of the four post) matched up perfectly with some axle straps I had lying around and made short work of lifting these little beasts.
Very simple to get working. Operated fine on both my mini Craftsman compressor or the big Quincy.
No time to jack anything up, but I tried both my GT and my Z06 on it with no clearance issues. The Z06 was the guinea pig with the bridge jacks at opposite ends. No trouble. When I drove the Ford on the lift, I chose to push both bridge jacks to the front 'just in case'. :thumbsup
All in all, very pleased with these.
Blah blah....On to the pics.
I was swapping winter wheels/tires recently on my wife's car - one at a time - using my trusty floor jack and thought it would be nice to be able to take all four wheels off at once during wheel and/or tire changes (not to mention suspension/brake service). Aha, an excuse to splurge on a couple Bendpak RJ-45 air actuated hydraulic bridge jacks.
These formerly were 'sliding' bridge jacks - on a blocks of plastic/poly. They are now 'rolling' bridge jacks and use a concave wheel that rolls on the top edge of the four post's bridge jack channel. The wheels do not roll 'inside' the channel, thereby eliminating the need to keep them operating-room clean.
After reading on another Forum thread regarding the use of RJ-45's with low ground clearance auto's, I emailed Jeff Kritzer at Bendpak directly. He alleviated my concerns and informed me that the current RJ-45 configuration - coupled with my relatively new HD-9, allow the bridge jack to sit as low as possible relative to the ramps.
The net result provided a very low 2.75" drive over height (no pads) and 3" clearance requirement with pads. My GT is lowered about 1" and the lowest point off the ground is 3.5". I must be doing something right
My HD-9XW is setup on the wide setting - that is 44 3/8" between the ramps. The RJ-45 adjusts to allow for use on both the narrow or wide settings.
I bought the bridge jacks here - easy as pie, shipped free directly from Bendpak. http://www.bestbuyautoequipment.com/BendPak-RJ-45-4-500-Lbs-Rolling-Bridge-Jack-p/rj-45.htm
I had the jacks shipped to my office, then had our local courier bring them over to the garage with a lift-gate equipped truck. These weigh nearly 300lbs each. Some guys move them around on furniture dollies. I didn't have those, so I used my engine hoist and a spare tire lying around to prop up the jack for placement on the four post.
Conveniently, the four corner safety bolts that retain the RJ-45's width-adjustable arms (those that rest on the lip of the four post) matched up perfectly with some axle straps I had lying around and made short work of lifting these little beasts.
Very simple to get working. Operated fine on both my mini Craftsman compressor or the big Quincy.
No time to jack anything up, but I tried both my GT and my Z06 on it with no clearance issues. The Z06 was the guinea pig with the bridge jacks at opposite ends. No trouble. When I drove the Ford on the lift, I chose to push both bridge jacks to the front 'just in case'. :thumbsup
All in all, very pleased with these.
Blah blah....On to the pics.
