Harbor Freight Lift 1000 lb Lift - Fatal Flaw - Read This

[phillip0123]

Of the two harbor freight # 68892 or 69904 which is the best?

[Placerville]

#69904, which is the older model that has the right-angled top rail (not bottom) and a heavier support bar. But, if you can't find one, buy one on sale and have the modifications done as I had on mine.







Repainted, it looks great.

[Roady]

So, why is it not yellow?

[Placerville]

So, why is it not yellow?

Hmmmmm.....

[Irwipi]

[quote="Placerville"]#69904, which is the older model that has the right-angled top rail (not bottom) and a heavier support bar. But, if you can't find one, buy one on sale and have the modifications done as I had on mine.


Hello everyone, newbie here hoping to share and gain some info! I too have been eyeballing the HF lift and came across info on other sites that may shed light (as well as raise more questions) on the issues/models of the HF lift.

Placerville: I purchased the 69904 model and was told it's the newest design and the lower C channel was changed to angle iron to cut the production cost....the only trade off I see is an improved pump on the 69904. Based on my research the older model 68892 were all built with C channel bottom rails and the new 69904 model is set to replace it. This information could very well be wrong as it's what I've gathered through web research and we all know how reliable that is...lol

The pump design and size of the 69904 seems WAY better and bulkier than the older 68892 but the bottom rails on mine are definitely the weaker angle iron design.....oddly, the parts manual that came with the lift as well as the online manual clearly shows the 68892 lift on the cover but the parts break down inside shows they were built with angle iron bottom rails. In checking all of my local stores, every 69904 I found had angle iron bottom rails...............can anyone confirm they have or have seen a 69904 with a C channel lower frame?

It's easy to tell the two models apart:
68892: Both the lift pump pedal and lowering pedal are run through holes in the side of the bottom frame rail.
69904: The lowering pedal is run through a small hole in the bottom frame rail while the lift pump pedal shaft is bolted to the underside of the frame rail, almost in direct contact with the floor.

Another difference I noticed, which may only be specific to my lift and the few I've seen in stores: The diamond plate on the top of my 69904 lift is one piece of metal where as all of the 68892 lift tops I've seen are two pieces welded together at the top of the tire drop-through panel. No strength difference between the two of course, but, the one piece top on my 69904 looks much better than the 68892 which looks like it's been scabbed together with scraps.

Looking forward to everyone's feedback, I'm still on the lookout for a 69904 with the C channel frame so I can exchange mine before the 90 day trial runs out.

[Scooter]

To me it looks like the "safety" bar is tubular with plastic caps, I didn't read the whole post, maybe that was mentioned already.

[scootsx2]

The safety bar on mine is solid.

[Irwipi]

The safety bar that came with my 69904 lift is a solid 7/8" diameter rod....which I've replaced with a piece of hardened 1" diameter bar from an old weight set. The safety bars on the 68892 models I've seen in several of the local stores came with solid bars that were 3/4" diameter.

I've found a few mentions on other forums of owners having pump failures on the 68892 models and repair/replacement parts were either on a 4-8 week backorder or were no longer available (it's assumable that's based on when the posts were made or possibly bad communication through HF)....granted there were only a few complaints of this issue, most everyone else with the 68892 raves of it's reliability. I only mention the pump as the size of the pump and the way it's mounted on the 69904 looks much beefier....and perhaps with it being the newer design, parts will be more readily available.

As of now, my mindset on addressing the weak lower frame of the 69904 is to remove the bottom rails completely and replace them with C channel...basically rebuilding it the way it SHOULD have been to begin with. (if I'm unable to find one that came that way for exchange)

[jzink0883]

I ride a Sportster ('15 XL1200CP). I joined NGW because I followed a link in a discussion about Harbor Freight lift tables at xlforum.net to a post at m109riders.com that linked to this thread at ngwclub.com.

After a lot of research last year, I bought a HF lift table. I thought I might be able to add some info to the discussion about the differences between the 68892 and 69904 lift tables from HF.

HF lists two item numbers for motorcycle lift tables on their website: 68892 and 69904.

Determinations:
68892:
- max lift:29.5" min height: 7" weight:317# shipping weight:339#
- the top of the bottom rails is a flat "L"
- owner's manual: http://manuals.harborfreight.com/manual ... /68892.pdf
- Pump and its pivot brace are a one piece assembly (see #01a below)
- Shafts for the pump and release levers are closer to the chock end of the lift
- The parts diagram shows the loading ramp posts having pins and washers (see #04 & #23 below)




69904:
- max lift:33.0" min height: 8.125" weight:270# shipping weight:315#
- the top of the bottom rails is an "edge"
- owner's manual: http://manuals.harborfreight.com/manual ... /69904.pdf
- The pump pivots on ears on a fixed square brace (see #25 & #14 below)
- Shafts for the pump and release levers are closer to the ramp end of the lift
- The parts diagram does not show pins and washers for the loading ramp posts
The picture on the cover of the manual shows the the wrong lift
--- The picture is of a 68892 lift
- The HF website pictures shows the wrong lift.
--- The picture is of a 68892 lift
--- The website picture is reversed
----- The picture incorrectly shows the levers on the right side of the lift
----- The levers are actually on the left side of the lift

[desertrefugee]

Thanks for weighing in. I've had my 68892 for about five years with no issues whatsoever. There's always a bike on it. I have been in at least three commercial shops (parts/restoration/service type shops) that each use one or more of these lifts. Every one of them has had nothing but good things to say. The only negative one of them provided was that there are only two positions that "lock in". He said it'd be nice to be able to fine tune the height sometimes. If they're good enough for commercial use, I'm not worried about mine.

[mikenixon]

Anyone remember what these lifts are copies of? Pretty fair copies too.

[desertrefugee]

I am not. For sure, the Chinese copied pretty much everything they market here. But, can we assume that the "copied" example retails at double what the HF version goes for... on sale? (I think I paid $279 on sale).

[desertrefugee]

(Placerville doesn't haunt this joint these days - and we're all a bit poorer for that).

[rcmatt007]

sadly he had that bout of cancer in his throat that laid him up for a year (plus) and then he sold his yellow wing. I agree, he was a great contributor

[leggman]

Just plain and simple bad engineering. Way too much leverage on the bar. Too close to the hinge point. Definitely needs an upgrade.