Racor PHL-1R Pro HeavyLift 4-by-4-Foot Cable-Lifted Storage Rack
by Racor
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List Price: Our Price: $127.00 You Save: $83.00 (40%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $118.00 (click here) Category: Tools See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Racor PHL-1R Pro HeavyLift 4-by-4-Foot Cable-Lifted Storage Rack
Customer Review: Nice but installation instructions come up short.
Summary: 3 Stars
This is a great storage solution for garages with high ceilings. Once installed the heavy lift works very well.
One drawback is that many garages have a double layer of 5/8" drywall on the ceilings as mine did. The mounting lag bolts are only #12(the metric equivilant) screws 2" long which is woefully short if the extra thickness of drywall is considered. The only easily available lagscrews I could find that were longer were 1/4" by 3" long. These were too large in diameter to fit through the #12 mounting slots in the ceiling brackets, so I had to drill new holes which was very labor intensive and cumbersome.
Secondly, The order of operations as described in the installation instructions is not very usefull if you are installing the lift by yourself. It is much easier to loosely mount the center of each ceiling bracket to the ceiling first and then attach the extension arms one at a time. If this is done first as indicated in the instructions, the assemblies are prety heavy, and cumbersome to be holding over your head while up on a ladder, pre-drilling holes through the bracket, and then installing the lag screws. This cost me at least an hour to assemble, and then dis-assemble the brackets just so I could handle the peices.
Thirdly, the instruction have a flat out error when it comes to the order of operations for installing the winding shaft. If you follow the instructions as written, you will again have to dis-assemble what you are instructed to do. The winding shaft must be inserted through both ceiling brackets first, through the gear box brakcet, and back into the bearing bracket. Following this the gear box can be installed.
Lastly, it is very important that the brackets are not installed too far apart. I did not calculate the tolerance available, but ran into a problem when my available ceiling joists were between 49 and 50 inches apart. This rendered my lift incapable of being assembled without modification.
So far I have installed 2 of my 3 lifts, and each lift had one nut which had no threads in it. This left me one nut short for each assembly. If this is a standard piece of hardware for the installation, there were no self tapping screws included for this nut. I ended up needing a different solution for holding the winding crank together.
The drawbacks of this lift are pretty typical of most "low cost" products these days that are being manufactured "off shore". This is a great device with many quality oversights, including the lack of a mastery of the English language.
Customer Review: Great product, great price
Summary: 5 Stars
Certainly worth the money, this HeavyLift arrived very quickly from Amazon. After checking all of the reviews, I determined that users who where shearing the heads off bolts were either not drilling 1/8" pilot holes or not using a bar of soap to rub on the bolt threads before attaching the arms, and I was right.
To avoid shearing/snapping off the heads from the provided bolts, be sure to drill a pilot hole (as the instructions recommend) with a 1/8" bit, at least as deep as the bolts will go. Also, rub the threads of each bolt on a bar of soap to reduce friction and impove your ability to bolt all the way into the studs.
I ordered two of the units and one of them didn't wind very smoothly. My weight wasn't over 250 pounds, so I called Racor. My voicemail wasn't returned from my first call, so I called back a few days later. This time, I got a return call and an offer to send out a replacement gearbox. That was over a week ago, so I'm still expecting it to arrive soon. In the meantime, I've installed both units myself, taking about 3 hours each. Yes, there's a learning curve, and it should've gone up faster the second time, but I became more tired as I had to hold the arms up on each side until I could pre-drill and secure at least two bolts before I could safely let go of the arms.
Like most other reviewers, I find it unfortunate that the gear ratio is so small and you have to crank quite a bit to lower/raise the platform, but it's definately preferred to having to go up and down the attic stairs carrying boxes/ornaments/etc. where once-a-month (or year) is plenty often enough to have to crank the platform up and down for a total of 2 minutes.
Good quality, nothing rusted or dirty - they were shipped in the original Racor box and then packed in a secondary Amazon box. And with the free shipping to my door, it was well worth the price of not having to travel to and from the homecenter with such a heavy, long item.
I didn't consider how having a 4'x4' platform of items in my garage ceiling would cut down the lighting in the garage (my storage lift and items now partially block the lightbulb from lighting a wall or two), so now I'm going to have to devise a new lighting scenario or way to better illuminate the room. But it's definately worth having more storage.
Great product, and when installed with patience and care to hit the stud with each bolt, I find this to be one of the better Amazon values out there.
Customer Review: Did the job...
Summary: 5 Stars
I was looking for a rack to put up in the garage. These looked like they would work well, because they can be raised and lowered. After reading the reviews, I almost changed my mind, as they seemed difficult to install. However, actually they were not that bad to install. I followed some suggestions that I read in the reviews.
First, I bought different mounting hardware. I used 3" #12 self tapping hex head screws that I purchased from Home Depot. I did not get the 5/16 lag bolts, as they were much larger in diameter than the slots on the rails.
Second, I did not assemble the rails before putting them up. I put one half of the rail up and got it straight and true with the beam. Then, I attached the axle holder (without bolting it to the cieling). I attached it with the supplied nuts and bolts. Then, I mounted the second part of the rail to the axel holder. Next, I made sure that the new rail was straight and true with the beam, and then bolted it up. Lastly, I put the two bolts through the axel holder into the beam.
Third, I did not use a stud finder. Well, I tried, but the drywall on the ceiling was over an inch thick (which is why i used 3" bolts to put it up), and the stud finder did not work well enough to be trusted. So, I took out my long skinny phillips screw driver and poked holes in the ceiling to find the edges of the beam. This way I knew exactly where the edges of the beam were and could confidently mount the rails.
I purchased two of the racks. The first one took about three hours to put up. The second, only two. Now, I am not a fast worker and like to take tea breaks when I work, so I figure that these are pretty good times.
As for the racks, I have to get used to stuff hanging over my head. The ceiling is ten feet high, but I got about three feet of storage bins on them, so then are between 6 to 7 feet off the ground. Also, they claim to hod 250 pounds, which is probably true. but, I wonder about the strength of my rafters. I got two racks side-by-side, so I guess at max 250 pounds per rafter. My wife loaded up one of the racks and we have 8 bins on it. Each bin seems to be about 25 pounds or less. But, what if she packed 40 pounds in each bin? There is no way to know for sure. Anyway, it is a little omnimous having them hanging over our heads.
Customer Review: Convenient storage but not trival to install or use
Summary: 4 Stars
I've had two of these for several years and just got another since the price was good. The hardest part about installing them was the hot weather. But I can't blame the manufacturer for that. If you measure properly and make sure that you know where your beams are, then it's a matter of making appropriate sized pilot holes so you can get the bolts in without killing yourself, but assure that they won't come out of the ceiling either.
There have been a few comments about the spacing of your joists. 16 inches has been a standard for a long time, which makes them 48 inches apart with two in between. If they were off, it would be impossible to use standard sheet rock to build your walls, pass building code inspections, and so forth. If your house is old enough that it predates the standard, your house does not have a garage. However, standard construction often includes extra joists to support other things, depending on what's behind the ceiling. So it's possible to find a joist without a corresponding one where expected. But it should also be possible to find joists that are spaced appropriately. Keep in mind that when you pick out a spot for it, you might need to move a bit to be under a joist.
Each support that goes on the ceiling has a keyhole in the middle. So you can install the first bolt by itself, leaving it 1/4 inch away from tight. Then you can take the support with you up the ladder, slide the bolt through the keyhole, and not have to worry about holding things up while installing bolts.
Once things are installed, you might find that the rack is not level. Each corner has nuts that can be adjusted to change the height. However, you are better off checking things with a level, climbing back up the ladder, and repositioning the part of the cable that loops over on top. Then use the nuts and bolts for fine tuning.
The rack is easy to get down with a crank, but when raising it, keep in mind that you are raising everything on it too. You will need less force to move the crank than to lift things by hand, but you make up for it with the distance that your hands travel with all the cranking. The more petite members of society might find it tiring, but others might find it about as much work as they would have expected.
Customer Review: Ok, so far
Summary: 3 Stars
As others have noted, the lag bolts are of poor quality. I spun the heads off of three just snugging them down. I added some washers behind the heads on mine for peace of mind. The bolt heads were just too close for comfort in size to the slots in the frame . 10mm heads and a 9mm hole kind of thing.
The bolt heads are 10mm. Do not let the reference in the instructions to using a 1/8" drill to predrill for the lag bolts lull you into thinking that your Imperial socket set will work. It will not. And, you do need a socket to install the ceiling brackets.
Do not over tighten the J-bolts on the platform. They will just twist the beams if you do. The J-bolts are kind of cute, but a pain to install with the high torque lock nuts provided. Watch your fingers during this step!
Might as well toss the end caps in the trash immediately. That will save you from having to pick up them up in pieces when they shatter when you tap them into position.
The instructions are misleading regarding the installation of the axle. I had to disassemble the axle, push both ends through the holes on the T-brackets, and then rejoin the two halves of the axle. Not a big deal, but not what the instructions said -- at all.
The gear box seems to have a lot of drag also. Raising the platform is slow and takes more muscle than you would think given the gearing.
The lift mechanism also costs about half of a valuable foot of verticle storage space. Because of this I would not recommend these for applications where you do not need the lift feature. For large, bulky, heavy, or frequently used items that you do not want to jockey up and down a ladder they are a good idea.
All that being said, the unit does seem to be solid and sturdy once installed. It also looks like it will perform as advertised. Too bad the manufacturer/marketer could not get a few more of the simple things right.
I'll be putting the second one up today. Hope to get through the second one with just one trip to the Box store -- for some better lag bolts. Like any home improvement project, there is a learning curve.
Amazon has the best price I could find and shipping was prompt and complete. All good on that front!