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

[Recycled Roadkill]

I'm anticipating that they'll not let it post.

I'm anticipating that you'll be proven correct.
I'm looking forward to seeing what you get as a replacement. Hopefully they dug out one of the older models as a replacement.

[CBX n GL man]

Not likely that they will reimburse you for modifying a new purchase even if it is to make it safer. They rather just refund. Later.

[terry_208]

I just noticed the numbers in the latest HF add mailed to the house. The lift has both numbers with a slash between them.

[joedrum]

total death trap ...why in the heck are you trying to replace such junk as this ...at least a refund on the money wont kill you ...seems to be killing them to do it ..

[Recycled Roadkill]

Joe, tell us how you really feel about this.

[Placerville]

Update:

I got a call today from the Manager of the HF store where my buddy and I bought our lifts. He said he just received 6 new ones and to come down and replace mine. Unlike the on-line HF Tech Support folks, this guy couldn't have been more helpful.

Upon our arrival, he already had one of the lifts out of it's crate for us to inspect. I noted that it was a #69904, designed exactly like our current lifts and had the same undersized bar. Bummer! All of the other lifts were the same stock number as well. I went over the problem with him (mentioned that HF pulled my negative review of the lift from their Web site) and said that we were going to take both lifts to a welding shop to have a support piece welded to the frame and also purchase beefier support rods. In response, he offered to refund both of us $125 each to pay for our trouble, the welding and the purchase of the support bars. Bonus! While we were there, we each bought new wheel chocks for our lifts as the ones that come standard didn't fit our needs.

When I get the welding done (next Tuesday) I'll post some photos of the upgrades and replacement bar.

[Recycled Roadkill]

[CYBORG]

i like the way the manager thinks. i wish he was running the store near me.

[CBX n GL man]

Good for you. How common is a refund like that at a retail store. Later.

[Neil]

This entire thread was very interesting to read, the ending was pretty good. Good for you to keep at them.

[MikeO]

And when you get all done with this you still got a lift that's inefficient to do the job safely as I said before the lift is not long enough to get the rear wheel off with out jacking the bike up to remove the panel to drop the wheel down for removal the center stand is on the panel it's 1 thing after another but with your determination you will make it work. E
enjoy I got the same lift and it's for sale it's more trouble than it's worth

[Fred Camper]

Ah, they must have read this post, your review is now posted Placerville.

[tlbranth]

And when you get all done with this you still got a lift that's inefficient to do the job safely as I said before the lift is not long enough to get the rear wheel off with out jacking the bike up to remove the panel to drop the wheel down for removal the center stand is on the panel it's 1 thing after another but with your determination you will make it work. E
enjoy I got the same lift and it's for sale it's more trouble than it's worth

All true. I had to extend the front of my lift to not block the wheel removal panel.
But regarding the lift Placerville received: it isn't safe as sold. Why isn't it being removed from sale? The next guy might be wearing his GL1500 for a necklace.

[Placerville]

Ah ha. And, so it is. Thanks Fred!

And, tlbranth, I couldn't agree with you more. I'm stunned that they haven't stopped the sale of these in light of the documentation I provided. When all of this is over, I'm going to send a letter with all of the HF Tech Support responses, photos etc., to the CEO of HF. If I were him, I'd be very concerned that these lifts were not pulled from the ordering process as soon as this surfaced. So, on another note....

Today, I had the welding done on both ($80 each) and purchased new 1" cold-rolled steel bars to replace the ineffective bars that came with the lift. $14 each. So far, the 'We're sorry' refund issued by the HF Manager for our expense has covered the parts and labor. HF Tech. Support has (finally) responded to me via email with the following:

"The size of your bar is smaller than what was initially tested with this product’s test report. The problem has been forwarded to the appropriate department. I have not heard back from my advisor regarding a solution. You had stated in your original email that you were planning on having this issue resolved with a local welder. If you would like some form of credit or reimbursement for this issue, please include the ticket number, store number and date of purchase from your receipt so that we can verify your purchase and use the warranty to provide a resolution."

So, I provided that information for both lifts and I'm waiting to see what form of reimbursement or credit they provide. It will be interesting to see exactly how they handle this. On one side of it, they could say, "The store gave you a partial refund for your trouble and that's it." But, on the other hand, they may extend a generous offer to compensate me/us for our time, trouble and bringing this to their attention. Time will tell.

Here's some photos of the 'corrective' welding done for us today. Nice job, don't you think? I didn't realize these lifts were powder coated until I picked them up today. With regular paint, the area around the welds would have been a mess. But, the powder coating held up to the heat. I'll clean everything up, add some primer and touch it up with some red paint. Note the 'cross brace' between the two support bars and the additional piece of stock to add more support to the area that comes in contact with the bar.

[CYBORG]

maybe they will have a fire sale on the bad ones in stock, and we can use this as a repair thread when we buy one for ten cents on the dollar