Mohawk Two-Post Lift Project

[Adam W in MN]

Un-fucking-believable.

It is staggering that there are degenerate dirtbags out there like this, probably circling the block looking for pieces of scrap metal or anything they can pilfer. What's to prevent them from steeling manhole covers? Is that next?

[wkohler]

They actually have done that. Now the city has to bolt and weld them down. They would steal storm drain grates too. They would get maybe $50 for them and they cost the city $600. Similar situation here except these parts are not available period.

Of course all I've gotten from my dad is the "well, you shoulda..." And, "why didnya..."

[leadphut]

A colleague has the Costco cctv package that's accessible from his smart phone. $399 - 8 cameras that even work at night

[demetk]

That sucks. Time to install electronic surveillance and then turn back time so you can catch the f-ers.

[wkohler]

Went to 11 scrap yards this morning. No dice. I have a call into the Mohawk dealer to see what we can do.

[Mark 88/M5 Houston]

Sorry to hear this Chris. Any idea if those parts are available or there are drawings to have some fabricated?

[Pattonky]

This Sucks! Several years ago, I had a couple of tires and wheels on the carport. I was cooking out in the backyard. I noticed one was missing. I mentioned it to my wife and she said she had no idea. Went inside ate dinner and watched a little tv. Came back outside and they had stole the other wheel while we were eating and watching a show. Long story cut short, was a neighbor guy cops called but no arrest because wheel in back of pickup truck and guy claimed he didn't put it there. Of course it was covered with a tarp, lol!

Around here we have a lot of copper ground wires in the telephone poles. People go around stealing the ground wires off the poles!

I hope that you are able to recover. I was looking forward to seeing your new setup. I'm hoping and wishing you the best!

[Chimi-Changa]

Ditto Chris,

I thought this bump was going to be a some progress to your cool lift, not a temp setback.
It is bananas that people steal stuff like that, and others. Going through so much, for so little- and with no consideration of anything. Bring on the Karma.

[Jake D]

I have anger.

[wkohler]

Posted the lift on CL today, so hopefully someone will buy it and I can move on to other things.

[winfred]

see if you can find the local guy that services the lifts in the area, it may be worth something as trade towards a complete unit, a old name brand unit for a G is not uncommon around here

[wkohler]

We have a local dealer and I've been dealing with them. Got a $900 offer on the lift tonight and am considering taking it.

[Tammer in Philly]

Yeah. I've got quite a bit of stuff out back, but this is out front. I'd have unloaded in the back, but I didn't have my severely underbuilt pad poured yet, and we had to unload on concrete so in the driveway they went. They fit through the back door of my garage so that's what I need to do now. Hook up the engine hoist and roll them out back on the movers dollies I've got.

They were there when I left at 1 and gone when I came home around 6.

Fuckers.

[vinceg101]

We have a local dealer and I've been dealing with them. Got a $900 offer on the lift tonight and am considering taking it.

I think this is your best option. Take it and invest it into a good 4 post.

Shame about the theft; never underestimate the general douche-baggery of your fellow man. (Also a shame about the lack of moral support as well).

[Devinder]

Been away for a while and wow this happens. You didn't tell me about this on the phone.

Can those pieces be fabricated? Aren't they bent sheet metal to make a channel for the timing chain and hydraulic hoses? Welding shop? Fab shop?

After all this effort, stick to a 2-post lift. I like the design of yours because it has low overhead requirements.

Does your homeowners policy cover theft? Deductible may be less than the price of a new Mohawk lift.

[Devinder]

Been away for a while and wow this happens. You didn't tell me about this on the phone.

Can those pieces be fabricated? Aren't they bent sheet metal to make a channel for the timing chain and hydraulic hoses? Welding shop? Fab shop?

After all this effort, stick to a 2-post lift. I like the design of yours because it has low overhead requirements.

Does your homeowners policy cover theft? Deductible may be less than the price of a new Mohawk lift.

[wkohler]

Been away for a while and wow this happens. You didn't tell me about this on the phone.

Can those pieces be fabricated? Aren't they bent sheet metal to make a channel for the timing chain and hydraulic hoses? Welding shop? Fab shop?

After all this effort, stick to a 2-post lift. I like the design of yours because it has low overhead requirements.

Does your homeowners policy cover theft? Deductible may be less than the price of a new Mohawk lift.

Yeah, somehow I didn't think to mention it when we talked. There were bigger fish in the fryer in that discussion.

I'm definitely sticking with a two-post, and most-likely this lift. I will eventually find a way to have a four-post in the garage, though I like my idea of putting all four wheels on the dollies and putting the cars in the garage sideways. Three will fit like that.

I posted on our local forum for some leads for someone that could fabricate larger items - people know people - and a friend pointed me in a direction which might be fruitful. Either way, I know it won't be cheap, but I think I've come up with a plan that still is functional despite not being exactly like the original, but possibly just as good. I'll never say "better."

One of the downsides to the trough is that it's secured between the posts using anchor bolts. The trough lays between the columns. Then the trough cover sits on top. On top of both, the anchor bolts pass through a couple trapezoidal pieces which end up overlapping the trough cover a couple of inches. It holds it in place, but the cover is heavy. I don't think it's going anywhere on it's own. I never had the trapezoid pieces, but figured I could maybe get them from Mohawk. Nope. Or maybe have some fabricated based on the measurements taken by the other guy with the same lift. The guy who hasn't responded to my message.

This is all well and good, but in the manual, they say that monthly, that trough cover needs to be removed and that the hydraulic line and the chains need to be inspected and the trough cleaned out. Well, that means you are often removing those inner anchor bolts, or at a minimum loosening them to sneak the cover out. I don't like that.

So, my plan involves using the measurements I figured out by working backwards from the overall dimensions. On the base of the lift column, there's a tapered spot in the center. The trough fit in the taper. It wouldn't lay flat on top of the column laying down and where it was resting transferred paint, so that gave me the width, and consequently the depth of where in that spot the trough would sit. Measured from there to the outside edge of the column, multiplied that by two, then subtracted that from the overall length and came up with 111". The column depth is 18.5", so That leaves 106.5" between the columns. I figure that's going to be the length of my new trough cover. The trough is still open on the outside edges as it was before, but I think this will minimize the fabrication effort and provide me with a usable solution.

The column base will limit the fore/aft movement of the trough, but without it being anchored, there is nothing to keep it moving side to side. I thought about using the contraction joints in the concrete for that. The lift will be centered on the pad, so a little ridge or something could be added to the bottom of the trough over each joint, which should hold it securely.

I came up with the idea while I was salvaging copper pipe and wiring from the 'sploded house.

[wkohler]

This is bar-none the worst purchase/decision I've ever made.

[OcCoupe]

This is bar-none the worst purchase/decision I've ever made.

[trevmmeister]

This is bar-none the worst purchase/decision I've ever made.

So... It wasn't just as good an idea?

[Devinder]

[Karl Grau]

Devinder, don't be a tease. What are those parts?

[wkohler]

Well, perhaps maybe I could explain what they are. It might be buried in the ridiculousness I'm sure to write under this line.

Mr. Lift uses two chains that run from the bottom of each carriage to the top of the other and run through a baseplate (stolen) which goes between the two columns. Each chain is run along rollers on bearings at the bottom, then up, over a roller at the top and hooked to the top of the carriage. This is done to "equalize" the lifting of the two carriages. Most modern lifts use steel cables for this. This one uses chains and back around the time this lift was made, Mohawk had already introduced their hydraulic equalization which uses a bunch of different valves and what not to reroute hydraulic fluid through a series of tubes (aka the Internet) to keep everything in the same position relative to each other and not have an obstruction top or bottom (hydraulic line can be routed in the floor or up against the ceiling if that floats your boat). In fact, no current Mohawk lift uses chains or cables or string or noodles to tie anything together, so if you call them and are lucky, you can get the one guy who remembers the days of chain and will happily tell you they have no parts. They were all sold on Storage Wars.

Now that you know how that works...

I was surveying the rest of the parts of the lift strewn about my house and it occurred to me that two pieces were missing (aside from the parts that I already knew were missing). I had two ends for the equalizing chains, but there should be two more.


Oh, well, there you go. I call up the folks at Mohawk and after the "It's a what model? Do you have a serial number? Where did you buy it? Huh? This isn't a Mohawk if it has chains." Then once I talk to someone else, that's how I found out Dave Hester bought it all and then Darrell got mad or something. Yuuup! "We haven't had that chain in 20 years." That's great, except there's a guy in Vermont that has the same damn lift in his basement (!) that bought this part I need from you two years ago and he had it in a couple of days. "Yeah, well, that's two years ago."

I only deal with people who have no interest in dealing with me. I'm really finding this out on this stupid project.

So, I plan to swing by this machine shop to ask about having one of the parts I already have duplicated and then it hits me. Somehow, this has to be adjustable. There has to be a level of adjustability to account for things that can be adjusted away. So, I get on the texting horn to the guy in VT and ask him about the part he bought. Turns out, it's about 6" long and has 4" of threads for her pleasure. I think. I might have read it wrong.

Fast forward to St. Paddy's Day stuff in San Diego and we're sitting there on Darin's porch and somehow started talking about this project. Devinder starts uncontrollably facepalming in a rather violet manner and threatened to show up at my house with a hammer drill and install the lift. The violent facepalms came mostly after I explained the money spent to rebuild something that didn't need rebuilding. I start explaining this missing part and it turns out there are people that make this stuff. Also, apparently, I'm not the only person that has to affix something to a chain to make it lift or drop or move something. We had subsequent discussions after I realized that in a freight elevator. We had a back and forth and I took lots of measurements for my application and apparently the required parts showed up.

The parts in the bags are the new end links for the chains. I was missing two already and I destroyed one trying to remove it from the pictured pin, which was not a fun job, but I got to use a torch, despite it not actually working. I also got to spend two weeks trying to replace a screwdriver at eight different Sears locations.

Basically, the idea is to have something to anchor the chain to, and then have it be adjustable so as to ensure the carriages lift as equally as possible.

[tig]

Yay. I think.

[ElGuappo]

The look on Devinders face was priceless, thats for sure.

[Devinder]

advanced lathe technique