Customer Reviews

Racor PHL-1R Pro HeavyLift 4-by-4-Foot Cable-Lifted Storage Rack

5 star:		(115)
4 star:		(93)
3 star:		(28)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

After shopping for a garage ceiling storage system, I purchased this device. I was attracted to the ability to raise and lower the platform to load and unload items. This avoids the obvious pitfalls of using a ladder to hoist large or heavy items up from the ground.

In summary, I am reasonably happy with the overall product with some exceptions mentioned below. However, I will caution potential buyers that the design of this device is unforgiving. Unless your ceiling joists are EXACTLY 48" apart (they can be 1.5" less but not more than 48"), installation will be no where near as easy as the video on the website. You may need to mount this to a rigid board first if your joists are not 48" apart. The axle is not made to be adjustable and I find this to be a major design flaw of the device.

The foundation of the system includes 3 heavy metal grates that are secured to two metal cross beams with J hooks. I had a little trouble aligning the J hooks with the holes on the metal beams. However, by far, the most trouble I had was with securing the system to the ceiling. I really did not want to mount this to a board before securing it to the ceiling for aesthetic reasons. My ceiling joists were about 49" apart (instead of 48") and this created a VERY problematic installation. You need to secure this into wood (and not just the ceiling drywall) and you cannot mount the arms of the device further than 48" apart as the axle will not be long enough. I ended up lengthening the axle by a few inches by screwing both halves of the axle together with only the first set of holes. The two halves of the axle are supposed to come together with one inside the other aligning two sets of holes on each piece. I only went as far as the first set thus making it a little longer. Then I bought some aluminum 1/2 inch metal from a hardware store and reinforced the axle by screwing it to two sides of the axle. Keep in mind that the axle is not completely load-bearing so as long as it is rigid and reinforced, the system will work fine (see my uploaded picture of the lengthened and reinforced axle).

Problems continued when I used the included hardware lag bolts to screw the arms into the ceiling joists. Using a drill, I pre-drilled the holes as instructed and used a socket wrench to screw the lag bolts to the joists. I torqued 4 of the heads off of the cheap lag bolts. Do yourself a favor and go buy some better lag bolts at a hardware store before installing this device. The included lag bolts are totally inferior. After finishing the installation, it worked as described and I loaded it with a few hundred pounds of things I had previously kept on my garage floor. I will also mention that using the included crank device to raise and lower the platform, while not overly difficult, is a good work out.

Overall, I would recommend this product IF you know your joists are no further than 48" apart (or you are comfortable mounting it to a board first) and you go buy some decent lag bolts before trying to secure it to the ceiling.

I just finished my install today. Plan on at least 4 hours for this project. The joist do not have to be EXACTLY 48" as other reivews stated. That is the MOST the distance can be. You can be as close as 46 1/2. There is play in the bar that attaches the two ends.

Here's my contribution to make this easy and keep it a one person job. Get a 4 foot piece of 1 1/4 lattic piece of trim. You can find it at any big box hardware store. This will be used as your template when drilling holes.

I have a finished ceiling Before getting started, I used the 4' lattice to outline the joist. Instead of using a stud finder, which doesn't always work, I just use a finish nail to find the edges of the joist which are 1 1/2" wide. I marked the joist at one end and measured 48" down then found the edges of the joist. I put the lattice between these marks on both ends, then traced the lattice with a pencil

In step 7, you notice the only indicate 7 bolts to be installed, but 9 in step 8. You have to remove the nylon rings in order to reach all 9 bolts, but this isn't mentioned. With the nylong rings off and the arm sitting on top of the lattice piece of wood, mark all the slots in the middle with a pencil. Make sure to mark the center of the T-bracket, too. This is critical for hanging the arms by yourself.

Since the pre-drill hole size is 1/8, make the template holes one size larger at 3/16 with a drill. With the template, use a wood screw in the center template hole to temporarily attach to the joist so you have both hands free to line up the lattic to the trace marks I mentioned before. Now drill the pre-drill holes with the 1/8 bit.

The manual doesn't mention this but there are those keyhole type of holes in the middle part of the arm. BEFORE you grab the arm in step 7, but the first lag bolt in the middle pre-driller hole, leaving about 1 1/2 inch. Now pick up the arm and angle it over the lag bolt in the middle. It takes a little wiggling, but it will eventually slide in. Now tighten the lag bolt, but not 100% Now the joist is hanging hands free from one lag bolt. Now, you are free to mount the other lag bolts by yourself.

The stock lag bolts are junk. I shredded two when installing. I did install the stock lags so I could line up the two arm properly, but came back later with high quality lags of qty. 12 5/16" with a 3 1/2 length lag bolts. Trying to enlarge this existing gaps don't work very well. What I recommend is drilling BETWEEN the existing slots. First use a smaller bit to get thru the metal easier and create a pre-drill hole. I think I used a 3/16". Then I used a slightly larger bit like a 7/16" to cut a hole to allow it pass thru the new hole in the metal. Make sure you use eye protection and cover your forearms. The metal shaving are burning hot! Don't attach the 5/16" lags until Step 9 alignment is done.

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.

If you want to make this product work without fail or doubt purchase two 2x6x12 (I hung side by side heavy lifts), find center of boards and pre-drill either a 5/16 or 3/8 inch hole and measure out 16 inches from center which is where your studs will be. Then use either the 5/16 or 3/8 size 5 1/2 or 6 inch steel lag screws. Secure the 2x6x12 into the ceiling with lag screws and then use the smaller screws provided to add some "extra insurance". I ended up with 8 lag screws into the 2x6x12. I also had to drill (3) 5/6 inch or 3/8 inch (which ever size lag screw you choose)holes into each pulley/arm assembly to get the lag srew through the metal arm assembly (there are slots where the manufacturer wants you to put the small screws through and into the joists). I mounted the center of the board lag into the stud and then measure out 16 inches on each side and drilled my 5/16 inch hole for another lag. So, with some real simple modification you can make this a great item, otherwise I wouldn't hang my coat on the heavy lift with the screws they supplied. I couldn't believe it when I read in the instructions to "wait one hour" to make sure it was going to hold. I assure you that if you attach with the screws provided it will fall to the floor if you hang 250 pounds from it. By using long lag screws that are hefty in size you are really adding some strength to it. I would recommend using some lock tite on the nuts just to keep you from having to "check" the nuts and bolts. The crank works great. To give you an idea of the strength you gain by using the large lag screws, I hung a small sears craftsman pushmower, a gas powered edger, a bag with logging chains, four gas cans, a weedeater, gas powered blower, and a chainsaw (all on one heavy lift). I probably could have added more but didn't have anything else to add. If you secure it "right" you won't have to do something stupid like pick all you crap off of the garage floor because you used the rediculous screws they send with the kit. Otherwise, pretty cool item.

Great design, very cheap hardware. I read several Amazon reviews before installing, so I saved myself some trouble by buying good hardware prior to installing. The lag bolts were junk, so I replaced them with 5/16" x 3 1/2" lag bolts. Had to drill out the slots on the arm assemblies to accomodate the bigger lag bolts; would have been easier to drill if they were holes, not slots.

Step 10 of the instructions says use locknuts to assemble the winding axle-- there are no locknuts in the box. In fact, there are no lock washers either. Probably would be a good idea, given the constant load and the vibrations from the garage door opener. I recommend putting lock-tite on the threads of bolts. I put lock washers on the bolts that fasten the grate to the cables.

One of my bolt heads shore clean off while assembling. Same junk hardware.

Between step 12 and 13 of assembly-- don't put the fender washer on yet... it will be impossible to put the cable ring on the gear drive end of the axle. Instead, install both ends, complete with the cable rings, then go back and install the fender washers on the ends of the axle.

Another tip when choosing the location on your ceiling: don't put the gear drive end of the assembly up close to a wall-- you won't be able to fit your body between the lift and the wall. Instead, put the gear drive on the open side.

The heavy lift works well. I would suggest using a 2 x 4 accross the joists for installation vs what the manual suggests simply because the joists will never be parallel enough to make sure the arms are square. Once I found the joists, it went up easy and works well. It would be better if they gave you a couple of more feet of cable. If you have higher than an 8' ceiling, it does not come close to touching the ground. Overall, I am satisfied with it and would recommend it.

Bought lift to store overhead a motorcycle cargo trailer, approx weight 170lbs. Initial install was pretty straight forward, except ceiling being 9.5 feet high, cables too short, so bought new cables. Now AOK, I thought.
Two sides of the heavy wire "platform" has rectangular tubing for rigiditity, two sides do not, so it sagged a lot. Bought 1/2" ID plumbing pipe 4' long and used U-bolts to attach to other two sides of "platform". Now AOK, I thought. Lifted trailer part way up to ceiling, look up and noticed the "T" brackets which hold the crank shaft have twisted 45 degrees. As lowering lift back to floor, gear box has significant click and the lift platform "drops" about 1/8" with each turn when the click occurs. Call Racor, they send new gear box and "T" bracket (very quick service by Racor by the way, well pleased with their response.)
Now, I get in attic and add additional bracing between ceiling joist in area of where the "T" bracket is located. Drilled additional holes in "T" bracket for more lag bolts to be screwed into the added bracing in the attic. NOW AOK...with some re-engineering it does what I wanted to accomplish. As stated in other post, it is a slow lifting process, so not something you would want to use frequently. For my money, even with the re-work, it is worth what I paid.
A friend bought one also at the same time for his trailer, we know exactly what to do now at the beginning of the install to make it work the first time.

Like others, I read most of the reviews here before ordering and installing this product. That was time well spent. I had no problems with the installation other than with the lag screws.

I bought 4 of these for my garage and installed them all myself. After following the instructions (mostly) for the first one, I found lots of small ways to make the installation easier when working by yourself.

First, the lag screws. Many other people recommended getting better ones from your local hardware store. I found that didn't help much. I still broke a number of them. That probably relates more to the 40 year old wood in my house than anything else. It can't hurt to get your own screws, but pre-drilling holes and being careful probably help just as much.

The first thing the instruction say is to assemble the grid. Bah. Who needs a four foot square grid in the way while you're putting the rest of the lift together? Put that off till last. It will make things much easier.

Next is finding the joists. Definitely need to do that. But then they have you put the arms together before putting them up on the ceiling. Again, bah. That's a lot of weight to hold up over your head, particularly when you're working alone. Instead, do some marking on the ceiling. Find the joists, then measure out the 48 inch length of the arm assembly. Figure out where you want the arms. Now find the center of that - 24 inches from either end. Mark the center. Then take the center piece up and hold it to the ceiling. Mark the holes with a pencil so you know where to pre-drill. Set the t-bracket aside and drill the marked holes. Now you can run your lag screws through the t-bracket and into the pre-drilled holes. But don't tighten them up. Leave them a bit loose - perhaps a 1/4 inch from tight.

Now take one of the arms. Before you start, take off the pulley at the end. You need that out of the way so you can get at the last hole. Take the arm along with one attaching screw, washers, and nut. Put the arm on the t-bracket, using the bottom hole only for the moment. You can swing the arm up to the ceiling and mark the holes for pre-drilling. Let the arm swing back down and hang from the t-bracket while you drill. Swing the arm back up and loosely attach it with the lag screws. Again, leave the screws a bit loose. Repeat for the arm on the opposite side. Now, with everything a bit loose, put the final two screws and nuts in that attach the arm to the t-bracket. Snug those up, then snug up all of the lag screws. Re-attach the pulleys. I liked to take a file to the pulleys to clean up the last bit of excess metal from the molding process.

The assembly process for the other arm is identical. To make sure it's up square, first find the center of the joist you are going to attach it to. Then use a bit of high school geometry. Make a guess as to the center of the second arm, then measure from the each end of arm that's already attached to your guess about the center. Adjust along the center of the joist until the measurements are equal. That will be the center for the second arm. Make sure the center hole on the t-bracket is along this center line and the arms will be square and parallel - as long as your ceiling joists are parallel, that is!

The winding axle goes quicker if you put both cables on at the same time. Put them on, put the square end of the winding axle as far through it's end as you need, then put the round end in it's bearing. Attach the bolt and washer in the round end, and the axle will stay up while you fiddle with the gear assembly.

Put the cables through the pulleys, then do a quick measurement to make sure they are hanging down to about the same level. If you ceiling is sloped - as mine is - you'll need to pull a fair amount through to the uphill end to roughly level things out.

Now, back to that grid. Don't assemble the whole thing first. That's the hard way to do things. First, the instructions don't mention it, but there is a top and bottom to the grids. Look closely at the grids and you'll see that there are five sets of wires running the long way. One side will have all of the wires on top of the cross ways wires. That side is the top. Next, one of the grid pieces has four flat pieces attached on the long sides. That one is the center piece. Those flat pieces slip into the adjoining grid pieces. Finally, the other two pieces have four wires close together on one side and only two on the other. The two wire side goes next to the center piece and the four wire side is the edge.

Attach the rectangular beams to the cable ends hanging from the ceiling. I prefer to put the beams under each arm rather than perpendicular to the arms. Make sure the smaller holes in the beam are to the outside of the grid area. Adjust each beam so that it's roughly level, sliding some cable through the nylon retainers on the winding axle if necessary. Now attach one grid piece to the beams. You'll see that having the beam hanging from the ceiling makes this pretty easy. You can get at both sides of the beam very easily this way. Don't tighten the nuts completely yet. You'll need some play as you assemble up the grid. Loosely attach the other two grid pieces, making sure you have the right side up and each grid piece in the right place. Once all of the j bolts and lock nuts are loosely in place, go back around and tighten them all up.

Finally, level up the grid. You can just eyeball it if you like, or measure from the floor (if it's reasonably level) to the grid. Adjust the corners up and down until it's level. I found it easiest to leave the top nut all the way to the top of the eye bolt until you're done leveling the grid. Or you can use a level if you want. You'll have to go around a couple of times, adjusting corners up and down until you are level. Don't go overboard, as the cable will probably stretch a bit after the assembly has been hanging a while.

If you're putting the lift over a garage door, make sure you have some way of knowing when the lift is high enough to open the door. I hung a washer on a string that just clears the open door. I put it right next to the lift so I can see when the lift is above the washer.

A couple of final points. When working on a ladder, make sure you are leaning forward over the ladder rather than backwards away from the ladder. Not only is it safer, it's a lot easier on your back. And get an old margarine tub or small tupperware-type container to hold the screws, nuts and bolts. Its a whole lot better then chasing them all over the floor. A tool belt will help hold all the things you need while you're up on the ladder. A cordless drill will speed things up with the lag bolts into the ceiling. Get a bit that holds a socket to make driving those nasty things easier. All of the bolts and nuts that come with the kit are metric, so put away your SAE sized tools. You'll need 8, 10, 12, and 13 mm sizes, if I remember things correctly. I used some oversized fender washers under the lag screws to help spread the load out a bit.

Hope some of these tips help you all out a bit.

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.

The storage unit was exactly as advertised, fairly easy to assemble and attach to the garage ceiling. However, the lag bolts intended to secure the assembly to the ceiling were "soft," made of poor quality steel and I had to replace them because the heads twisted off in the joists even with a pilot hole drilled. Also, the lifting mechanism (gear box) worm screw was stripped and as a result it was impossible to crank the storage up or down. This may have been a returned unit to the retailer given the condition of the box upon arrival. I contacted the original equipment manufacturer and they replaced the gear box without cost within a week. The lift is now installed and works as advertised - albeit the 4 star rating comes from all the self help required completing the task.