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: Great product; instructions weak; use a power drill
Summary: 5 Stars
The product itself is great (use this one where you have space for free ascent/descent, use HyLoft to place fixed storage above garage door rails), but the instructions could be better. Use 48" straight edge (I taped two yard-sticks together) to ensure you screw arms exactly parallel to each other (or cable won't roll onto bar properly and platform will rise unevenly), and as close to 48" apart as possible (a 1/2" variation from 48" won't hurt IF exactly parallel [had to separate lift bar to make it fit into shorter space, then reassemble it, because space between joists was <48"]). As advised by prior reviewers, I installed the center first, using straight edge to ensure arms were parallel and all screws would go into joists. I used a 3/8" power drill and metric sockets to drive in lag bolts (saved time and work and reduced stress on lag bolts, so they worked well). Am now buying a third.Customer Review: Cheap drive mechanism / brace - otherwise good
Summary: 4 Stars
Easy to put together and install. My garage ceiling is 11' and it will not come all the way to the floor, but that is okay by me and is easy to load. The brace that hold the drive mechanism flexes a lot when putting the rack up. When I first start it really seems like it is going to break and I have NOT overloaded it at all. With the provided handle it goes up and down VERY SLOWLY, so I tried to use a drill... works, but not very well. The hook on the handle easily hits the mechanism lock and the first time I used a drill it bent the locking mechanism pretty bad. I straightened it back out and no matter how slowly I used the drill the hook kept hitting the lock.
Sounds like I'm not happy, but I really am. I am going to buy 1 or 2 more to store hurricane shutters over my garage door area which will save me tons of space, time, and energy when a big storm approaches.
Customer Review: Nice product with horrible instructions
Summary: 4 Stars
The product is fine once installed, and does what it is intended to do. However, and this is a BIG however, the instructions are terrible. Absolutely no quality control or professional review was done on the instructions. Critical steps are either missing or out of sequence, many small details are missing - this being a major problem since getting a small detail wrong on a project like this can lead to an hour or more of rework. The drawings are primitive and, in some cases, inaccurate. Heck, even the online "how to install" video is worse than worthless. The video is clearly designed to sell the item, not help people install it. You can't zoom in or pause, and it skips over many details, leading to a net waste of valuable Saturday time. Seriously, the instructions resulted in this project literally taking three times longer to install than it could have taken.Customer Review: Good overall product
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a fairly good product, probably best suited for a relatively high garage ceiling (depending upon what you place on it you may find it not at an elevation to your liking).
Pros: Good solid construction. Elevation mechanism works well. Assembly not too teribly hard. Good platform space
Cons: Heavy, I probably should have had help during the installation.
One of the end caps would not fit in the tube due to unfinishing during the manufacturing process.
The cross bar that is responsible for the lowering and raising the platform is securly fitted on one side via the hoist mechanism, but just sits in a larger opening on the other. Because of this, it moves around in the opening. I would like to see a part made to fit the other end rather than the "washer" method of keeping it falling out.
Customer Review: Not bad at all
Summary: 4 Stars
Just completed installation a few minutes ago- I'm a fairly handy guy and it took me about 2 hours to put this up by myself. Contrary to earlier reports, the included bolts seem to be just fine. I installed the system by pre-drilling the holes and using a hand ratchet wrench, and did not experience any of the shearing problems others reported. The operation of the unit is smooth and easy, and they advertise a "new" feature that allows you to use a power drill to raise/lower the platform- works really well.
I would second the commenter who talks about installing the axle differently- you definitely need to hook the cable over BOTH ends of the axle before inserting it in the frame- there is not enough play to slip the cable on the second end after you have secured the other end of the axle.