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If you have a car lift, you know how beneficial it is for car maintenance, storage, and overall safety. Whether in your home garage or auto mechanic’s shop, it’s likely your most valuable tool.

However, while many use the lift to perform vehicle maintenance, they don’t consider the need for regular maintenance on their car lifts.

It’s vital to perform regular lift maintenance, regardless of whether you’re lifting city buses or lifting ATVs. Otherwise, the car lift may malfunction, causing possible damage to the car and injury to you or your employees.

If you have a scissor lift, two-post lift, four-post lift, or in-ground lift, you need to perform routine lift maintenance for your employees’ safety and the vehicle’s protection.

Follow the top 5 maintenance tips below to keep your lift running smoothly. However, not all of these items will apply to your specific lift, so it’s a good idea to check your manufacturer’s manual for specific maintenance requirements.

1. Check the Lift’s Hydraulic System

The first thing you need to do is double-check the weight capacity of the auto lift. Make sure that you or your employees know the weight capacity and that you don’t attempt to lift a vehicle beyond the lift’s capacity.

Checking the hydraulic system includes a few things, such as checking the oil level and inspecting for leaks. If the lift needs additional oil, it’s an excellent time to add it.

In addition, you need to check for oil leaks, especially if you’ve noticed quickly falling oil levels, poor performance, or noticeable oil leakage under the lift.

You can quickly fix oil leaks by tightening fittings and couplings. However, if you have damaged hoses or seals, they will need replacing immediately.

Also, check the valves, hoses, and the hydraulic system’s overall function.

2. Check Chains, Cables, Pulleys, Spindles, and V-belts

When checking your chains and cables, the first thing is to ensure the chains, cables, and pulleys are adequately lubricated or greased.

In addition, you may need to adjust your cables because, over time, cables stretch. The lift may rise unevenly if a cable is not the proper length. Further, stretched cables can cause wear on other moving parts, such as the pulleys and shafts.

Also, once adjusted, ensure that your cables don’t move more than 1/2 an inch for two-post or four-post lifts.

Also, check for excess wear of chains, cables, pulleys, spindles, and v-belts. If anything needs replacing, it’s an excellent time to take care of that. 

You need to replace cables every 4-5 years. First, however, you should have the cable replaced if you see or notice:

• three or more broken wires in one strand
• rusting or corrosion on the wires
• a cable core protruding
• any other abnormality

If abnormalities are found, shut down the lift immediately until the cables are replaced. Do not use your lift with any cables in question.

3. Check Columns, Posts, and Rolling Bridge

It’s essential to check for rust, damage, or wear and tear on your lift, especially the columns, posts, or rolling bridge. 

Make sure to lubricate the necessary points on your columns.

You also want to check the alignment and ensure everything is set up correctly and in line. 

Check for leaks on the rolling bridge and test the locks and rollers.

4. Check Electrical

While it may seem obvious, don’t forget to check the switches on the lift to ensure that they work appropriately and that the terminals are in good shape. 

You’ll also want to check the limit switch for functionality, as a broken switch could allow your vehicle to run through the overhead beam on a two-post lift.

5. Check Overall Lift 

In addition to checking the electrical and hydraulic systems and the columns, cables, and chains, you’ll need to inspect the overall lift. 

Removing accumulated dirt, grease, or grime from your lift is essential to having a safe car lift.

Testing your lift is vital to ensure that all functions (top, bottom, full stop) work. 

Ensure your lift’s decking and covers are secured, if applicable.

A loose anchor bolt could cause tremendous issues with your lift, so it’s imperative to ensure that the anchor bolts and other fasteners are tightened. Also, check the floor around the anchor bolts to see any cracks. If you have cracks near the bolts, you need to have an expert check out your lift immediately. While it may not be an issue, safety is of the utmost importance.

It’s critical to make sure that the swing arm restraints and telescoping stops are in working order, as they prevent the vehicle from rolling off the car lift when it’s lifted.

While you can take care of many maintenance tasks related to your car lift, some things should be left to a professional, including replacing hydraulic hoses, chains, rollers, cables, and sheaves. In addition, rebuilding or replacing hydraulic cylinders, pumps, or motors should be done by an expert.

Maintaining your lift is just as valuable as the lift itself. The lift can malfunction without proper maintenance, causing severe damage to the vehicle and injury to the lift operator.

All lifts are different, however, so not all of these tips will apply to your specific car lift. If you are unsure about maintenance on your lift, it’s a good idea to check your manufacturer’s manual.

Hopefully, this thorough guide has helped you learn how to do lift maintenance. Whether you’re an individual car hobbyist that uses car lifts to maintain and store your vehicle or a mechanic who uses lifts all day, SVI can help you.

We sell everything from new automotive lifts to components such as cables, pulleys, and hydraulic cylinders. So if you are an individual needing help finding the right part for your lift, or a mechanic who needs a rare accessory, we can help!

 Please get in touch with us at (800) 321-8173!

A bead seater, also known as a bead blaster, is an important piece of equipment for any auto shop. It’s important to understand what a bead blaster is, its benefits and why it’s a smart investment.

What is a Tire Changer’s Bead Blaster?

What is a bead seater? It’s a piece of equipment used when repairing or installing tires, typically for cars and light trucks. By providing a high-pressure burst of air into a tire cavity, a bead seater helps to align the beads that are necessary for proper seating of the tire in the wheel assembly.

The bead blaster is necessary when you are repairing old tires or installing new or old ones. When the tire is mounted on the wheel and the beads on the tire do not align with the rim, important steps need to be taken.

The bead seater uses a brief, massive burst of air that seats it in the rim. It can then be inflated to the proper pressure level using the tire valve.

How It Works

Tire changer bead blaster systems are an effective way to ensure the tire and wheel are properly aligned and ready for use. The bead blaster system generated a large amount of high-pressure air. The air is directed into the interior cavity of tubeless tires. Doing so helps to seat the tire in the wheel assembly.

It’s important that the tire bead – the section of the tire that’s reinforced and comes in contact with the rim – is properly aligned. Tire beads are critical to tire performance, by establishing and maintaining the seal between the tire and the rim in order for the tire to hold air.

That’s where the bead blaster comes in. The system allows for proper inflation, especially in tires that have very stiff sidewalls. The beads on these types of tires often will not seat properly when inflating them using a valve stem.

Most bead blaster systems operate in the same way. Compressed air is held in an external tank where it remains until needed. A technician uses a foot pedal to control the system. When depressed partially, air rushes into the tire using a hose that’s attached to the tire’s valve stem. If the pedal is depressed fully, there’s a larger volume of air introduced into the tire from holes in a slide mechanism.

It’s the combination of air, from both the valve stem inflation hose and the compressed air from the bead blaster that seats the beads even among the most difficult tires.

When the blast of compressed air arrives, it creates pressure at the top sideway. The air pressure seats the top beam of the tire to the tire’s rim temporarily.

After that first burst, the technician directs a large amount of compressed air to the bottom sidewall. That burst temporarily aligns the lower bead to the lower rim.

In most cars and light trucks, this process happens quickly, usually less than a second. Meanwhile, the continual flow via the value stem of air keeps the pressure up against both beads. In no time, both beads are seated permanently. At this point, the tire can be inflated to its proper pressure,

Benefits of a Bead Seater

Having a bead seater in your auto shop makes lots of sense. Here are some of the benefits of using a bead seater:

• Saves Time. With a bead seater, you can rapidly inflate new tires and ensure that they are placed properly in the tire rim. In just a few seconds, you’ll have all the tires for a particular repair job completed. Saving time lets you save money, too, spending less time on tire repair and installation jobs
• Improves Customer Service. With a bead blaster, you’ll have more satisfied customers who will have their cars ready quickly. You can be confident that any repairs or installations are done properly, accurately, and with less chance of being returned due to improper installation
• Better Safety. Properly inflated, mounted, and aligned tires are critical for car safety. When using a bead seater, you know that your customers have properly installed tires that will be safe to use on their vehicles. In addition, bead seaters are safe to use, eliminating the risk of workplace accidents that could injure your valuable employees
• Flexibility. With a multipurpose bead seater in your auto shop, you can use one piece of equipment for most cars and light trucks you work on. Having one piece of equipment saves space and the bead blaster can be used in multiple work bays at once.
• Affordability. A bead seater is a low-cost investment in your auto shop that will pay for itself in no time. With excellent performance and time and money savings, a bead seater will pay for itself quickly

Why Do I Need a Bead Seater for my Auto Shop?

A bead blaster is a must for the modern auto shop. The bead blaster helps you stay ahead of the competition by using the most advanced machines to ensure tires are properly inflated. With the right equipment, your customers will be satisfied and come back when they need new tires, tires repaired and other work on their cars.

Replacement Parts for Your Bead Blasters

Bead blasters are important components of today’s auto shops. However, despite being durable and reliable, with repeated use, parts may need to be replaced. When you need to replace a part on your bead blaster, or other essential equipment, turn to SVI International. SVI is the leading provider of shop equipment parts and a leading automotive lift manufacturer.

SVI has three warehouses and 50 different product lines. It can also create custom parts for your auto shop. Founded in 1977, SVI has more than 40,000 repair parts and more than 2,000 distributors. That means you can get any replacement parts for your bead blaster quickly and reliably.

To learn more about how SVI International can deliver the parts you need to keep your auto shop running, contact us today.

Tire changers are an essential piece of equipment for any mechanic shop. They make the tire-changing process significantly faster than just a jack and lug wrench. Because of this efficiency, every mechanic should have one in their shop.

Tire-changing machines come in various styles, dimensions, and costs and the seemingly endless options often make choosing a suitable tire machine challenging.

If you’re opening a new shop and feeling overwhelmed about the equipment necessary to get started, it’s understandable. Hopefully, this guide will help when you’re ready to purchase a new tire machine, so you know what questions to ask and what to consider.

Does the Tire Changer Fit With the Needs of My Garage?

You must consider your shop’s needs before purchasing a new tire changer. For example, not all mechanic shops work on the same types of vehicles; some may need heavy-duty tire changers, while others may need a motorcycle or swing arm tire changer. High-performance tires will require another type of tire machine. The main types of tire machines are listed below, each with the type of shop they are most suited for.

Swing Arm Tire Changers

Swing arm tire changers are referred to as “semi-automatic” and are typically the most affordable tire changers you will find. The arm will need to be physically tightened in place and made to properly fit the size of the wheel you will be changing. However, heavy use can cause operator fatigue because the head assembly needs to be manually moved every time. A swing arm tire changer is a good choice if you don’t have a high-traffic shop.

Tilt-back Tire Changers

Tilt-back tire changers have many advantages over swing-arm tire changers. In a high-volume garage, the tilt-back feature reduces operator fatigue because the head assembly automatically moves (with the mechanic using a pedal) when the wheel assembly is ready to be removed from the turntable. This process is much easier and requires less work than swing-arm tire changes. This type of tire changer is perfect for high-traffic shops and garages.

Touchless/Leverless Tire Changers

A touchless or leverless tire changer is necessary for shops that work on high-performance, low-profile, or run-flat tires. The potential for wheel damage is higher with these types of specialty tires, but the leverless tire changers minimize the risk of damage with a pedal-operated lift and a center post clamp. So if your shop or garage works on any vehicles with specialty tires, this tire changer is for you.

Motorcycle Tire Changers

A motorcycle tire changer is designed for smaller-sized motorcycle wheels. However, they can usually work on ATVs, off-road, and other smaller tires as well. So, consider a motorcycle tire changer if your shop works on smaller vehicles like ATVs and motorcycles.

Heavy Duty Tire Changers

You will need a heavy-duty tire changer if your garage services semi-trucks, buses, or skidders. Remember, though, that it is a much larger piece of equipment because it needs to remove large-diameter tires. So you’ll need to consider the space necessary to house this type of tire changer.

Will it Make Changing a Tire More Efficient?

A tire changer in your shop will make the tire-changing process easier and more efficient. For example, if you have a vehicle with low-profile tires in your shop, you’ll need two technicians on the job every time. The proper equipment (in this case, a leverless tire changer) allows one tech to replace the tires easily, freeing up the second tech to do other jobs.

Tire changers allow mechanics to spend less time doing some of the repetitive tasks of tire changing and give them more time to be productive on more critical issues.

In short, a tire changer can save your shop time and money while increasing efficiency and productivity.

What Features are Included?

Warranty

Even the best equipment needs repair work every once in a while. But is it covered under warranty when your tire changer requires a repair? How long is the warranty? What will it cover? If the manufacturer isn’t upfront about it and the details aren’t readily available, it might be a good time to look at other manufacturers.

Customer Service

It’s important to know that if you have questions about the tire changer, you can easily reach someone in customer service. Often you may only need information on potential tire changer repair parts, but having an expert to speak to is critical.

Most of the best tire changers also have a solid warranty and good customer service, but double-checking before purchasing is a good idea.

How Much is This Going to Cost?

Knowing the cost of a new tire changer is essential, no doubt. But you also need to consider the hidden costs of inefficient tire changing and low production. Then, when you realize how much money you could save with a more efficient machine, you can determine if the investment is worthwhile.

While it’s imperative to consider your budget when choosing what tire changer to purchase, it’s also essential to get one that meets your needs. For example, getting a lower-cost tire changer might be tempting because it fits your budget, but are you sure it will fit your shop’s needs?

At SVI International, we are the lift industry’s leading parts supplier, known for our high-quality, American-made products. With over 40,000 products, we serve as a one-stop shop for equipment parts, lifting equipment, RELS brake lathes, and much more.

Every mechanic needs an automotive repair parts partner, whether you’re a quick lube shop, brake shop, or muffler repair center. So let SVI be your partner!

Auto shop owners across the country trust us – and we would love to talk to you about how we can help meet your auto shop equipment needs. To get in touch with a team member, call (800) 321-8173 or fill out our contact form. We look forward to speaking with you!

Whether you have a quick lube station, body shop, or do full-service auto repair, you know just how essential an air compressor is in your daily routine. Compressed air systems allow for the efficient repair of vehicles and are a valuable asset in all environments. Like most machines, a good air compressor can last many years if you take care of it. This means replacing air compressor parts when worn, cracked, or damaged.

For example, if you are running your air compressor with low oil or not changing the oil often enough, you may end up with a complete system failure. At the very least, you may have unnecessary and costly repairs. These repairs will also cause a loss of revenue because of unplanned downtime.

To avoid downtime and keep your shop running smoothly, it’s imperative to replace your air compressor parts at the manufacturer’s suggested intervals. However, in a high-demand environment, you may need to replace some of the parts more often.

When to Replace Your Air Compressor Parts

Every part of an air compressor serves a specific role. So, if any of those parts malfunction, your air compressor may lack appropriate air pressure or malfunction entirely. But how do you know when to replace your air compressor parts?

Creating a maintenance schedule is the first step in properly maintaining your air compressor. In addition, a maintenance plan will help you avoid downtime, as you can replace worn parts before they cause your air compressor to malfunction.

Panel filters will protect your air compressor’s internal components from dust. Unfortunately, if you don’t replace the filter, it can cause a shortage in the system, resulting in electrical failure. Your air compressor manual should guide you on how often to replace the filter, but visually inspecting it regularly is the most failsafe way.

Air compressors vary by type and manufacturer, but most manufacturers recommend replacing the oil filters every 1,000-2,000 hours. Like changing the oil, replacing the oil filter prevents the oil from contamination. If the oil becomes contaminated, the compressor will not work correctly and could eventually cause damage to the internal parts.

Proper lubrication is essential to avoid strain on the air compressor’s joints. Therefore, replacing the lubricant every 3-6 months is recommended for optimal air compressor operation. Old and stale lubricant can hinder the air compressor’s performance and cause the filter’s blockage.

Rubber donut gaskets prevent oil leaks, so replacing the gaskets annually is recommended. Thankfully, even if you have a blown gasket, it’s an easy fix, and the new gaskets allow the air compressor to build pressure properly.

However, even with regular maintenance, failure can still occur. If the issue is easy to fix and isn’t a more significant problem within the air compressor, it’s best to replace the broken parts instead of the entire unit.

If your air compressor is randomly shutting down, has worn bearings and seals, has air leaks, blown fuses, metal deposits, or has inconsistent pressure, then it’s most likely time to replace some of the air compressor parts.

Benefits of Replacing Your Air Compressor Parts

Replacing your air compressor parts, especially on a routine maintenance schedule, will extend your compressor’s life, increase your shop’s efficiency, and reduce downtime. In addition, it will save you from having to replace the entire compressor before it’s necessary.

If you can stay on top of your air compressor’s maintenance schedule, you will likely have limited downtime (if any) with the compressor. With such a valuable tool in your shop’s equipment, you want to avoid downtime at all costs.

Replacing any broken, damaged, or worn parts will also extend the life of your air compressor if you replace them before significant damage occurs to the compressor. An air compressor is an investment for any shop, and maximizing its life expectancy is ideal.

You need working equipment with limited downtime to keep your shop running efficiently. So, keeping your air compressor operating correctly and replacing parts when necessary will keep your shop working efficiently and your customers happy.

Need Help Finding Air Compressor Replacement Parts?

Carrying extra air compressor parts in your inventory is essential if you find yourself in a bind. In addition to keeping additional oil and oil filters on hand, it’s also a good idea to have valves like an IVC (inlet valve close), IVO (inlet valve open), and check valves. Having replacement parts on hand is essential to keep your shop running smoothly. Excess downtime can cause a loss of revenue and unhappy customers.

If you need help finding air compressor replacement parts, you’ve come to the right place. SVI can help you find everything from valves to throttle controls and more! We have inventory from numerous manufacturers, including Quincy, Jenny and Emglo, Champion, and Rolair. So, whether you’re looking for safety valves, throttle controls, air filter elements, check valves, air/oil separators, you can find them by searching our extensive inventory.

Not only can you use our site to search by air compressor manufacturer, but you can also search by specific air compressor sub-categories, such as air compressor controls, compressor products, and valves. And if you can’t find what you need, our expert customer service team can help.

If you don’t already have an automotive repair parts supplier, SVI would love to work with you. Our extensive inventory of repair parts is unmatched, and with two ready-ship warehouses, we can get you back on your feet quickly!

While you may need air compressor repair parts now, consider SVI for your future equipment repair, from auto lifts and brake lathes to petroleum equipment parts! With over 40,000 products, we can be your one-stop shop for equipment parts.

Contact us today with any questions or search our inventory of air compressor repair parts. We’re here to help!