July 2013 : Eagle Equipment

Eagle’s Wheel Balancer Calibration Procedure

Our service department has gotten a few calls lately asking how to calibrate their Eagle wheel balancer. It is important to read the operation manual before you start using any of Eagle Equipment’s service equipment. Eagle’s wheel balancers do not to be calibrated when you receive them. To allow our customers the ability to begin using their machine right away, our balancers are calibrated before they are shipped.

The main reason a balancer needs to be re-calibrated is because it begins to “chase weight”. “Chasing weight” means the balancer continues to ask for more weight once the first weight is applied. At this point, the machine needs to be calibrated.

Below is the Wheel Balancer Calibration instructions for models: EB-1040, EB-1070 and EB-1090. Follow these steps in order to properly calibrate your Eagle Wheel Balancer. Please call 1-800-336-2776 for any assistance. Continue reading Eagle’s Wheel Balancer Calibration Procedure

How-to Replace Your Lift’s Cylinder Seals

Maintaining your Eagle lift is important to insure continued safe operation. One of the most common maintenance tasks is replacing the seals in your lift’s cylinders. Seals wear down over a period of time or work their way loose. This will be evidenced by leaking hydraulic fluid from the cylinders.

Replacing these seals is easy to do. It requires a simple cylinder seal kit and about an hour. Sure, the instructions (you can see those here) may make it sound complicated, but we want to show you how simple it is. If you’re like me, it’s so much easier when you can see what to do, so we had Beau do this quick tutorial on how to replace the seals on your lift’s cylinder!

Asymmetric -VS- Symmetric 2-Post Car Lifts

Which type of two-post car lift is better, asymmetric or symmetric? This is the most asked question. The answer is neither. Your application and your preference will determine the style of two-post lift that will be best for you.

Here are the facts of each style. You decide which one is best for you. If you still have questions, feel free to give us a call!

THE SYMMETRIC LIFT

The very first 2-post lift design was a symmetric design
Columns are straight across from each other
All 4 arms are the same length
Load % is 50/50
Symmetric lifts can be used on an Overhead or Floorplate design.
The symmetric design was made for older, heavier steel vehicles
BEST USES for a symmetric lift – SUV’s, ¾ ton – 1 ton size trucks and commercial vans
On standard cars, the door will be in line with the post, making it difficult to get in and out of the vehicle while it is on the lift, resulting in damaged vehicle doors. Trucks and heavier vehicles, the door is positioned in front of the lift post, making it a better design for these types of vehicles.

Check out Eagle’s Certified Symmetric ALI/ETL Two Post Car Lift.

Below is an example of one our symmetric Eagle Lifts:

Continue reading Asymmetric -VS- Symmetric 2-Post Car Lifts

Eagle Equipment Helps Hurricane Sandy Victim Get Back to Work

ted linder When Hurricane Sandy headed for the East Coast last year, it couldn’t have been recognized that it would become the deadliest and most destructive hurricane of 2012, as well as the second-costliest hurricane in United States history.

From Florida to Maine, the US suffered extensive damage; with the Jersey and New York shorelines getting hit the worst. Many months later the destruction remains. Danger zones, damaged homes and destroyed boardwalks make it hard for people to rebuild their lives and get back in their homes.

Eagle Equipment was honored to help one New York resident start to rebuild his business. Producers of the hit FOX show, Extra!, called Eagle Equipment, of North Carolina, in for help when they were doing a story to help rebuild Ted Linder and his family’s life.

See the clip from Extra!

Ted Linder and his family had extensive water damage to their Rockaway Beach, NY Home as well as his business, Ted’s Auto Repairs, which he has owned for several years.

Sam Champion, of Good Morning America, showed up with the crew at Extra! to fix up his home is just a week’s time, thanks to Paul J. Scariano, Inc. who completed all the construction.

His business suffered a lot of damage, included his ability to preform many car repairs because he was unable to use his car lift, which had become corroded and rusty from the water damage.

“Of course, I am going to rebuild my business,” Linder said. “It’s all I have ever done… and what else do I got to do? I am not going to risk my life, or those of my employees because I have a damaged lift,” Linder continued. “At the same time, how do I get back to work without a way to work on cars?”

“Mr. Linder is an honest, hard-working, man who has just wants to get back to doing what he loves to do, which is to work on cars,” said Eagle Equipment Marketing Director, Kat Mendenhall. “We were honored to have been able to assist in getting Mr. Linder back on track to do what he loves because it is why we’re in the business we’re in. We have to help each other out in tough times. I know that Ted will use this lift, and it will help him grow his business and rebuild his life. When other repair shops in NY and NJ are closing shop, Ted is choosing to rebuild and we want to be a part of that.”

Eagle Equipment sent him the Mobile Man lift, one of their most popular lifts, because of its ability to do many jobs.

“We choose to give Mr. Linder the Eagle Mobile Man lift because of its versatility. It can handle up to 6,600 lbs, can be moved to any part of his shop easily, and allows him to adapt for many different kinds of jobs, allowing him to grow his business,” says Eagle Equipment CEO, Michael Kestler.

Other contributors included The JW Marriott, who gave the Linder family a vacation as well as Ivanka Trump and Macy’s, who stepped up to help rebuild the daughter’s wardrobe.

WHAT IS THE BEST OIL FOR MY EAGLE LIFT?

Just like different sorts of gasoline, transmission fluids and hydraulic oils have different additives, density and purposes for use. Fluids are made for very specific uses and products are made to be used with a specific fluid. When something else is used, the performance is poor and the product is damaged.

In years past, there were lift manufacturers in North America who said that ATF (Automatic Transmission Fluid) could be used in their automotive lifts; some manufacturers still do. Some professional installers, familiar with such manufacturers, tend to assume all lifts take ATF; but they don’t, and never have. Please do not use ATF in your Eagle Automotive Lift.

You wouldn’t use the wrong oil in your engine. You wouldn’t put leaded gas in your unleaded car. Read on to see why you must use AW-32 Hydraulic Oil in your Eagle Equipment Auto Lift.

The AW stands for Anti-Wear. It also protects against Rust & Oxidation, and contains Anti-Foam additives. An oil’s rating refers to its viscosity, which determines its ability to flow at different temperatures. Lower numbers indicate thinner, more easily flowing oils. AW32 is approximately 10-weight oil with the additives and is ideal for all climates. Whether you plan to use your lift on a cold morning or down in Miami, AW32 is universal.

For Eagle Equipment lifts, AW32 is required in all circumstances. We do not recommend the use of automatic transmission fluid (ATF) because its thinner viscosity (5W) can allow the oil to “leak” around hydraulic cylinder seals and will reduce the life of the pump seals. When you use ATF, you can expect your seals to break and your lift to be useless. This is why Eagle Equipment must void your warranty if you put ATF in your Eagle Lift (This is also stated in all Eagle Lift manuals.)

Important to Note: When looking to buy your AW32 Hydraulic Oil just make sure it says “Hydraulic Oil” not “Hydraulic Tractor Oil” or “Hydraulic Fluid” as they are not the same thing! Hydraulic fluid is used in small systems such as car brakes. Hydraulic oil is used in large systems such as lifts.

Do instructions ever seem like another language? Sometimes they are!

Hur man läser och förstår instruktionerna från Eagle Equipment

I spent the better half of last Saturday at the local IKEA store to purchase a bookshelf. IKEA is a Swedish-based company and has become quite popular in America, among other countries. When you shop there, the product labels and descriptions are mostly in Swedish and include a lot of visual instructions. But, you can get cool stuff at incredible prices … and it’s a great experience (complete with the most delicious Swedish meatballs in their cafeteria!)

When I got home and begun to put it together I realized the importance of good instructions for customers who have to set it up, in a language they can understand. To say I was a bit frustrated would be an understatement. The picture-only instructions with warnings written in Swedish were not comprehensible to me. How am I supposed to understand that? So, I did what I think anyone would have done…. I did my best and just hope it doesn’t topple over. Fingers crossed.

I began to look back on the manuals that Eagle Equipment provides our customers and feel like we do an exceptional job of helping you get your equipment up and running, or troubleshooting a problem, if ever one arises. We don’t just leave with you with some fun pictures to look at, but really useful stuff!

Everyday, Eagle Equipment Customer Service gets calls from customers who fail to even acknowledge the instructions. (Perhaps they assume they are similar to the IKEA ones and will be of no help, or perhaps they assume they know what they’re doing … until they don’t.) Either way, here are some examples of recent calls that would have been spared if the manuals were glanced at first. Failure to read the instructions can ruin your brand new machine.

“I’m having trouble calibrating my new Eagle wheel balancer.”
Answer is found on page 5 of the Operation manual: “The wheel balancer comes pre-calibrated from the factory. DO NOT calibrate the unit before using it.”

“My lift is shimmering or shaking when it goes up and down. Yes, I did use ATF.” Answer is found on page 17 of the Installation & Operation manual: “DO NOT USE ATF.”

As we are informed every day, there are professionals out there who have been installing lifts for years, and they know what they’re doing. However, times have changed. Product has changed. Most automotive lifts sold in the American market today are made in China. Some of these are wired differently than others. Some lifts are self-bleeding; some need to be manually bled. Some lifts use ATF; some do not. This is where the Installation and Operation instructions come in handy.

Why calibrate a brand new wheel balancer that doesn’t need it, or ruin the hydraulics of a brand new lift (and thereby voiding your warranty); rather than simply reading the instructions?

If you do know of a way that Eagle Equipment could improve their instructions, please let us know.

P.S.: Please post in the comments if you know what the title to this blog post says in English!

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Month: July 2013