How to protect your auto lift investment.

Purchasing a new lift is a big investment. If you want a quality piece of equipment you’ll need to drop a considerable amount of money, and once you’ve got it in your shop, you’ll want to keep it in mint condition as long as possible. After all, a broken lift can’t generate revenue.

When taking care of your lift, be sure to follow the maintenance procedures recommended by the manufacturer in the owner’s manual. Keep in mind, maintenance and inspection requirements vary for different styles and brands of lifts. In addition, follow the tips below to protect your investment.

Have Your Lift Inspected

All shops should have their vehicle lifts inspected by qualified lift inspectors annually. You spent a lot of money on your lifts; lift inspections protect your investment by ensuring that all the lifts’ safety and performance mechanisms are working properly. The ANSI national standards covering lift operation, maintenance and inspection, and a growing number of state codes and regulations, require annual lift inspections. Plus, documented annual lift inspections can help prevent OSHA citations and fines.

Trust Your Inspector Is Qualified

Our Inspect to Protect™ program puts shop owners in touch with local, factory-trained inspection providers through our exclusive nationwide network. Each of these companies has inspectors on staff who meet all of the requirements for a “qualified auto lift inspector” as outlined by ANSI. Plus, each company is required to attend our annual factory training, maintain insurance coverage and be able to provide customers with lift maintenance, repair and OE replacement parts. The lift inspectors follow our documented processes to inspect each of our lifts.

Insist On OE Replacement Parts

It’s also important to insist on OE replacement parts to ensure proper fit and function on any brand of lift. If you buy a certified lift (one with a gold label), installing aftermarket parts on that lift can invalidate the lift’s certification. Although many people think that buying imitation parts will save them time or money, they often find that these parts cost more or aren’t in stock when you need them. To ensure that you’re buying genuine OE replacement parts, purchase them only from factory-authorized distributors and installers.

General guidelines for daily lift inspections and maintenance are provided in the brochure American National Standard for Automotive Lifts—Safety Requirements for Operation, Inspection and Maintenance available from your local distributor or through the Automotive Lift Institute (ALI) at www.autolift.org.