Shops that take steps to make their technicians’ jobs easier and faster aren’t just doing a good deed – they are making a solid business investment. Take a look at these 10 lift accessories that will help your techs – and your shop – do more work faster, more efficiently and more safely.
1. They show where to go
When approaching most lifts, there’s no “center point of reference” to make it easy to correctly position the vehicle. Now there is. Rotary Lift offers the Spotline laser vehicle spotting guide that provides the fastest and easiest way to spot a vehicle by shining a green line down the center of the lift approach path. The technician simply positions the vehicle with the line down the center of the dashboard and pulls forward — no guessing and no re-tries needed. The faster the vehicle is in the air, the faster your techs can get to work.
2. They lighten the load
Physically carrying tires is heavy, strenuous work. A mobile wheel lift takes this load off technicians, allowing them to remove and position any size wheel or tire weighing up to 500 pounds with no strain, no fuss. It helps techs increase production while reducing the risk of injury.
3. They light the way
Visibility alert: technicians don’t do their best work in the dark, and a vehicle up on a lift is often partially blocking the overhead lights. To really shine a light on even hard-to-reach problem areas, consider investing in cordless supplemental lighting. The Rotary Lift Tech Light series offers several options of LED lights that can be adapted to meet a variety of service bay needs. These slim one-inch diameter versatile lights are available as a hand-held wand, or in multi-light solutions for mobile column, two-post and runway-style lifts.
4. They protect against dings
Door dings add time, cost and embarrassment to a job. The best offense against dings is a good defense. Rotary Lift’s Door Defender Guards are low-profile solid rubber barriers designed to fit over the two-post lift carriage. They pad the lift where door edges can hit it, allowing techs to easily enter and exit a vehicle without worrying about door dings.
5. They prevent backaches
After removing a wheel for brake work or tire rotation, if you don’t have to lower it to the floor, you don’t experience the backache of picking it up again. That’s the principle behind the Wheel Wing accessory. Technicians can store the removed wheel on a lift arm, at the same height as the raised vehicle – avoiding back strain and other possible injuries from picking wheels up off the floor.
6. They protect technicians (and shops)
Before any under-vehicle service can be performed, the lift should be lowered securely onto its mechanical locks to prevent accidents as well as costly citations and fines from agencies like OSHA and CCOHS. Rotary Lift’s exclusive LockLight system provides an instant green light confirmation when a lift is properly lowered to its mechanical locks. Available as a kit, it retrofits to most surface and in-ground lifts that use electric/hydraulic power units.
7. They expand productivity
Rolling jacks increase the service opportunities of your drive-on lifts by lifting front, rear or all wheels off the runways for brake, tire, suspension and wheel alignment work– the majority of work most technicians perform in a general repair shop. They make these additional “wheels free” service opportunities easy by engaging a vehicle’s axles to lift front, rear or all wheels off the runways.
8. They are like an extra set of hands
After removing the fasteners at one end of longer components like mufflers, techs often need an extra set of hands to hold up that end while the other end is unfastened. There’s no need for the tech to call in reinforcements when an auxiliary jack stand can hold up its end of the action.
9. They help keep tools handy
Running back and forth to the tool box can waste a lot of time in a tech’s work day. On two-post lifts, adding a tool holder keeps air guns, torque sticks and other tools within easy reach, yet out of the way.
10. They put power sources close at hand
The farther from the work area, the more time techs lose plugging into electric outlets and air connections. An air/utility box mounts easily on any column on a two- or four-post lift, providing techs with quick access to these utilities. As an added benefit, the filter/regulator/lubricator on a Rotary Lift Air/Utility Box helps extend the life of air tools by reducing contaminants and moisture in the system. Two 110 volt electric outlets are included on the box for multiple access to power for lights, vacuums, etc.
