GarageSmart Lift - What adjustments have people made for balance?

[5PC24]

Got my lifters installed today and when first trying to lift the rear top I had two issues:
1 - The rear straps, when tightened, ended up exactly wrong with the buckle right over the rear window hatch weather stripping. I was able to lift up front of the frame a bit more (it naturally hangs lower than back) to help with this but the buckles were still pretty close.

2 - With that adjusted, when I started to lift I noticed the assembly was front heavy, with a noticeable nose-down attitude as the lift started. I ended up only going up about a foot before putting it back down as the imbalance concerned me.

Has anyone had to adjust which holes are used in the front to back arms to shorten or lengthen the frame?
Can someone share pics showing how the frame sits relative to your top as you have it tensioned just ready to lift top off vehicle?

Any other tips? Thanks in advance!

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[JWBroncoATL]

Their customer support is pretty good

 

[dmhalka]

I had a terrible experience with their customer support.....I literally took them days to respond to me over questions I had about their product. I couldn't imagine what it would be like after they have your money.

Their customer support is pretty good

 

[JWBroncoATL]

I had a terrible experience with their customer support.....I literally took them days to respond to me over questions I had about their product. I couldn't imagine what it would be like after they have your money.

Yikes. That is not good to hear. I went back and forth asking a series of questions with them via

[email protected]

And they were very responsive and super helpful few weeks ago.

I have purchased mine but not installed it yet (Bronco arrives in a few weeks). Hopefully you can get this sorted out.

Following this thread to see if there is anything to learn before I do the install.

 

[dmhalka]

Yikes. That is not good to hear. I went back and forth asking a series of questions with them via

And they were very responsive and super helpful few weeks ago.

I have purchased mine but not installed it yet (Bronco arrives in a few weeks). Hopefully you can get this sorted out.

Following this thread to see if there is anything to learn before I do the install.

I went so far as to actually find their founder on LinkedIn and sent him a message about my concerns. He didn't even bother to respond to me. So, I never ended up buying the product. I was too concerned that I'd be left holding the bag if I needed help during installation and set up, or if it should ever fail. The fact that there's no way to talk to someone live seems super shady. Especially for a product with that price tag.... And waiting over 24 hours for a response isn't acceptable if you are trying to troubleshoot have a back and forth exchange. That could take days...... I'll keep this thread and watch as well to see what other have to say, but for now it's a pass for me. Which is a shame, because the product looks awesome.

 

[STX Bronco]

Got my lifters installed today and when first trying to lift the rear top I had two issues:
1 - The rear straps, when tightened, ended up exactly wrong with the buckle right over the rear window hatch weather stripping. I was able to lift up front of the frame a bit more (it naturally hangs lower than back) to help with this but the buckles were still pretty close.

2 - With that adjusted, when I started to lift I noticed the assembly was front heavy, with a noticeable nose-down attitude as the lift started. I ended up only going up about a foot before putting it back down as the imbalance concerned me.

Has anyone had to adjust which holes are used in the front to back arms to shorten or lengthen the frame?
Can someone share pics showing how the frame sits relative to your top as you have it tensioned just ready to lift top off vehicle?

Any other tips? Thanks in advance!

So it’s pretty easy to go back and balance it, just use the holes to move the pulleys assembly backward or forward to gain your balance. I put down a 2x4 on the floor and lowered the top all the way down and just moved the pulley where I wanted it and lifted it a foot to see how my balance was. I put down the 2x4 so the top wasn’t resting on the guide pins. I ended up spreading out the bars to try to keep it as upward as possible and cut a pool noodle for the front two straps so the weather stripping doesn’t get warped. I have really liked the lift, I can take off my top in about 15 mins by myself. Hope this helps.

Their customer is good too, one of my buddies had one of the motors go and and they sent him a new one right away and was pretty painless.

 

[mbdlds]

The top balances using the suggested holes when the front top pieces are stored in the hanging bag below (at least for the 4 door). If you keep the front pieces on the ground, it leans as you describe in my experience. I like being able to have the top, middle, and rear all up and out of the way, which is one of the main reasons I got this lift.

 

[5PC24]

The top balances using the suggested holes when the front top pieces are stored in the hanging bag below (at least for the 4 door). If you keep the front pieces on the ground, it leans as you describe in my experience. I like being able to have the top, middle, and rear all up and out of the way, which is one of the main reasons I got this lift.

Thank you for that explanation! I was keeping the front pieces out for my first lifts to make sure all was good. With the extra bracing on the Raptor I figured it'd be even more things to keep an eye on when guiding the top up. Will try it again with front sections in place.

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