Nearly five years ago, the powerTV garage launched operations to support the company’s numerous project cars in the ever growing stable. The garage was a little rough, as any start up garage is, and we were space limited. There were a couple bright spots in this humble but auspicious beginning. We had enlisted the help of another company with California roots, BendPak.

BendPak saw promise in our young company and educated us on getting started with shop equipment. We ended up with a partner that had 46 years of experience in industrial shop equipment and a world wide reputation in the automotive industry as one of the leaders in the field.

The following four years saw our BendPak 2 post above ground lift (XP-10ACX) and BendPak 2 stage Tri Max2 Air Compressor (LS580V-501) serve our needs, without fail, throughout all of our in-house project car upgrades and car builds. From the most extreme chassis cutting and notching projects to simple oil changes, our BendPak lift and compressor responded to every call to service.

Our new BendPak shop equipment arrived in the bed of a truck at our shop's roll up door.

It wasn’t long before our company and project car stable grew to the point where we needed more space and equipment. To be honest, our project cars were packed in our existing space like sardines. Before long, we spread out to the neighboring shop spaces to house our growing project car inventory and found ourself in need of more shop equipment. Given our satisfaction with the equipment that we had been using, there was only one place to go when it came time to add more equipment…BendPak.

Another Two Post Above Ground Lift

With the addition of another full sized shop space, another BendPak above ground two post lift was high on the list of needs. The XP-10ACX Asymmetric two post lift, which supports 10,000 pounds without a struggle fits the bill for anything that we could fit through the shop doors.

The BendPak two post lift was unloaded, assembled and installed within two hours. Shortly thereafter, we had a car in place and ready to be lifted.

Features of the BendPak above ground two post XP-10ACX lift:

• 10,000-lb. lifting capacity
• Padded overhead safety shutoff bar
• Exclusive Tru-Metric arm design provides more versatile arm positioning
• 30° rotated single-piece columns
• Single-point safety release
• Wide or narrow drive-thru configuration
• Drop-end arms provide a lower pad height
• Dual hydraulic direct-drive cylinders
• Oversized 53″ tall carriage for superior strength and durability
• Electric / hydraulic power system
• Large, 17″ x 19″ A36 steel base plate
• Self-lubricating dura-glide UHMW polyethylene bearing system
• Safety locks in each column spaced every 3″
• Automatic arm restraints
• Heavy-duty 3/8″ aircraft-quality equalizer cables
• Oversized cable sheave diameter reduces cable fatigue
• 8-piece truck and van adapter set comes standard
• Triple-telescoping and low-profile arm options available
• Versatile drop-in contact pads with stackable adapters

Quick Specs:

• Lifting capacity: 10,000 lbs.
• Max capacity: front axel: 5,000 lbs., rear axel: 5,000 lbs.
• Overall height: 145″
• Overall width (outside of base plate): 145″
• Width (outside of columns): 139″
• Floor to overhead switch: 141″
• Inside columns: 112″
• Front arm min reach: 25-1/2″
• Front arm max reach: 49-1/2″
• Rear arm min reach: 40-1/2″
• Rear arm max reach: 58″
• Min pad height: 4″
• Rise: 69″
• Lift height max (pad only): 73″
• Lift height max (6″ adapter): 79″
• Drive-thru clearance: 102″
• Motor: 220 VAC / 60 Hz / 1 Ph
• Time to full rise: 45 sec

The addition of the second lift in our second set of shop bays guaranteed that repositioning cars in the shop area when overhead work needed to be performed, would be kept to a minimum. Repositioning cars that are in various states of the rebuilding process is not only a pain in the backside but can do damage to a chassis that isn’t rebuilt completely when moved. Adding a second lift cured a lot of potential problems.

The crew hoisted our new Ranger tire changer off of the truck into it's final resting place.

Tire Changer

Getting tires changed has been a real source of aggravation for our shop manager. Because we didn’t have the equipment to change tires in-house, we were forced to use local establishments that were not used to the specialized and frequently larger wheels that we use. Aluminum drag racing wheels can get damaged easily by commercial tire changers that don’t deal with these type of rims very often. We’ve had it happen, and too often. The best solution was to in-house the tire changing operation.

BendPak had us covered with wheel service equipment too. In 1997, Bendpak launched a new division of automotive equipment under the Banner of Ranger Products. From that time, Ranger Products have developed a solid reputation with their wheel service products.

We ended up with a state of the art and rugged Ranger R26AT tire changer. Low profile tires can be pretty stubborn to mount  but the Ranger tire changer has a dual bead lifting discs and an adjustable table that makes changing larger tires or low profile tires safe and hassle free.

We really liked the “Wheel Guard” wheel clamp that helps prevent damage to the high end wheels we will be using. Another plus is the tilt back tower that tilts back to allow more clearance for wider rims.

Features of the Ranger R26AT Tire Changer:

• 26″ outside clamp
• Bead hold down device
• Oversize lube bucket storage
• Dual-setting bead breaker
• Power-assistant tower
• Tilt-back tower design
• Air-lock mounting tool holder
• Inflation gauge with integrated air dump valve
• Inflation pressure regulator / limiter
• Inflation restraint device
• Water filter
• Oiler / lubricator
• Air regulator
• Breaker bar
• Tool tray / bin storage
• Includes brush
• Lower-bead left and right lifting rollers
• Single bead lifting roller on the left
• Upper-bead assist roller
• Traveling drop-center hold down device
• Powerful high-torque motor
• Lower bead helper discs
• Large storage trays
• Powerful “Turbo Blast” bead sealer

The Ranger dynamic wheel balancer was next off the truck.

Quick Specs:

• Drive system type: electric / air
• Motor: 2 Hp / 110 – 220 VAC / 50 – 60 Hz
• Air requirement: 110 – 175 psi / 8 – 12 bar
• Wheel clamping method: 4 internal / external clamps
• Tool holder: air-lock mounting
• Table clamping system: dual pneumatic cylinders
• Bead breaking system: pneumatic blade
• Power assist towers: single
• Motorcycle turntable clamps: optional
• Internal rim clamping capacity: 14-1/2″ – 28″
• External rim clamping capacity: 12-1/2″ – 26″
• Turntable width capacity: 5″ – 22″
• Bead breaker width capacity: 3″ – 15″
• Maximum tire diameter: 47″
• Shipping weight: 1,068 lbs.

Tire Balancer

Balanced tires mean the difference between a good driving experience and quick times and a teeth shattering, spine compressing ride. It’s a given that when you do your own tire changing, you must balance the tire and wheel. Ranger’s DST-2420 dynamic wheel balancer helps ensure that the wheel assembly has a uniform distribution of weight around the center of rotation. Balancing is not simply for comfort, it also helps the life of the tires, bearings, shocks and other suspension components. With the top notch suspension components that we are using on our project cars, it is vital that we get as accurate as possible so that our evaluation of suspension components are not skewed by out of balance tires.

The Ranger dynamic balancer is accurate to within hundredths of an ounce, so that ensures that we will be able to isolate any vibrations to road or equipment and not the tires. Like most precision measuring devices these days, the Ranger Balancer uses digital technology for reliability and accuracy.

Features of the Ranger DST-2420 Dynamic Wheel Balancer:

• Dynamic, Static, and Performance Alloy settings
• A multi-user save function holds presets to increase productivity
• An ergonomic control board and easy-to-read LED display has vibrant visual cues and keypad to improve efficiency and proper balancing techniques for faster floor-to-floor times
• A simultaneous retrieval of static, dynamic and ALU1ALU2ALU3 data, identifies weight placement configurations for a variety of wheel styles and designs with the simple push of a button
• Automatic rolling wheel parameter setting feature saves valuable time and minimizes errors
• Low RPM balancing speed and rapid six-second cycle time
• Automatic braking
• Gram/ounce selection and millimeter/inch selection
• Automatic round-off with top-dead-center weight position indicator
• Tiered weight placement indicators help identify out-of-sight position weight placement such as split-weight or hidden “behind-the-spoke” techniques
• Manual or automatic start when hood is lowered.
• Self calibration function
• High-volume top weight tray and side shelf storage gives you room to inventory a wide variety of wheel weights and tools
• Precision-machined, hardened-steel 36-mm shaft.
• Quick-release hub nut for dramatically reduced set-up times
• Side-position brake hold wheels at precisely 12-o’clock for proper weight placement.
• Side cone storage pegs keeps accessories readily available
• New “open-side” hood design allows for a broader coverage of tire shapes and sizes

Quick Specs:

• Motor: 1.5 hp / 110V/220V 50/60HZ 1Ph.
• Working temperature: 27F – 82F
• Drive system: belt drive
• Cycle time: 6 – 9 seconds (avg.)
• Balancing modes: dynamic / static / 3-alloy
• Top positioning weight locator: standard
• Inside & outside measuring: standard
• Millimeter / inches selection: standard
• Ounce / gram selection: standard
• Wheel offset distance setting: manual
• Self-calibration function: standard
• Auto start when hood is lowered: standard
• Wheel spin braking: automatic / electronic
• Wheel holding manual brake pedal: standard
• Centering cones included: 3 standard / 1 truck
• Truck cone / spacer ring adapter set: included standard
• Wheel calipers: standard
• Rear cone mount spring: standard
• No-mar rear cone mount pressure cup: standard
• Quick-release & mount hub nut: standard
• Maximum tire diameter: 47″
• Max tire weight: 145 pounds
• Max. wheel diameter: 10″ – 24″
• Wheel width capacity: 2″ – 18″
• Balancing increments: 0.25 or 0.01 oz
• Balancing speed: 180 rpm
• Accuracy: +/- 1 gram / .035 oz
• Resolution (round off mode): 0.01 ounce, 1.4°
• Shipping weight: 398 lbs.

Ready for some wheel service!

What’s Next?

We received our new shop equipment and eagerly awaited the installers to assemble and mount the equipment in the shop. This was a job that we felt was best left to the pros. As the crew put together the lift and staged the tire changer and balancer in the corner of the shop, we began to take in the lay of the land. Everything we needed to do our job safely and efficiently was all under one roof.

As we took at look at the area the reality of the situation began to creep into our thoughts. When we pick up two more project cars, we’ll be bursting at the seems again and will have to take over more space in the building. Another set of bays means more shop equipment. We’re kinda looking forward to that.