Rotary showcased a wide range of new heavy-duty lifts and wheel service equipment designed to make it even easier to properly maintain and repair transit buses in booth #3469 at APTA Expo.
This was the transit industry’s first opportunity to check out the following:
Mach Flex powered by RedFire mobile column lifts: The industry’s only wireless remote-controlled mobile column lifts, the Mach Flex powered by RedFire provides unprecedented visibility when lifting long vehicles. Thanks to Mach Flex’s industrial-grade remote control, a single technician can operate the lift while walking around the bus and the bay, keeping an eye out for any obstructions or other issues.
The MCH19 FLEX offers a new, higher lifting capacity of 18,800 pounds per column, enabling a set of eight columns to pick up vehicles weighing up to 150,400 pounds. Mach Flex lifting systems are available in configurations of two, four, six or eight columns.
Mach Flex is the first vehicle lift to have Rotary Lift’s patent-pending LockLight™ technology built right in. LockLight shows technicians, shop managers and anyone else in the shop at a glance whether the lift is resting on its mechanical load-holding locks. If a vehicle is in the air and the Mach Flex lift’s locks are engaged, the built-in green light on top of the columns will illuminate, indicating that it is OK to get to work on the vehicle.
V-REX vertical rise, drive-on platform lift: The V-REX vertical rise, drive-on platform lift is designed to take on the biggest, heaviest vehicles without a whimper. V-REX has the industry’s most rigid and structurally sound lifting platforms to provide peace of mind under even the heaviest loads. Its patent-pending half-scissor legs and mechanical locking system are built to last, with high-strength steel where it counts and fewer wear parts and stress points than others in its category.
V-REX is manufactured with more steel than other vertical rise lifts — as much as 5,000 lbs. more steel per runway — for added strength without excessive cost. Rotary Lift engineers have optimized the steel content in the V-REX’s unique torque box runway design to offer platforms that are wider and stronger than others that may flex and sag under heavy loads. V-REX is available in three heavy-duty rated lifting capacities: 44,000 lbs., 64,000 lbs. and 80,000 lbs.
Patent-pending inground lift installation method: Rotary has developed a patent-pending installation method for heavy-duty inground lifts that drastically reduces installation time, can improve environmental protection and makes it possible to install the lifts in areas that were previously unavailable due to soil or groundwater issues. It can be used for new construction and lift replacements.
Heavy-duty inground lifts are typically installed in concrete vaults that are poured in place using temporary forms for each lift. Even modular lifts with their own containment vessels may be installed in concrete vaults in some areas, such as certain seismic hazard zones. Pouring these huge concrete containments on-site requires considerable investment in highly skilled personnel, time and construction material.
Rotary Lift’s new installation method eliminates the need to pour vaults in place by using precast concrete vaults instead. The precast solution takes less than two days per lift installation instead of seven. It also reduces excavation requirements and improves safety since no one needs to enter the pit at any time during construction. Bad weather can cause major delays to cast-in-place projects, but precast vaults can be installed regardless of weather.
R544 Pro Truck 2D Wheel Balancer: The versatile R544 Pro Truck 2D wheel balancer offers the self-calibration and self-diagnostic features necessary to handle any wheel in a bus garage. It also has specific balancing programs for static, dynamic and light alloy/aluminum wheels. One single spin with low rotation speed provides all the necessary values.
The R544 can raise up to 441 pounds with the integrated wheel lift and features a pneumatic wheel lock. An electro-pneumatic brake keeps the wheel in the unbalance position. The digital caliper with optical scanner provides 2D automatic data input of distance and diameter up to 26 inches.
R501N Speed Changer HD: Rotary introduced a full line of heavy-duty tire changers designed to help technicians quickly change tires on virtually any vehicle in the shop or on the road. The compact R501N Speed Changer HD tire changer enables a technician to dismount and mount a bus tire in just 30 seconds. It is equipped with four rollers positioned on both sides of the wheel in diametrically opposite positions. Its compact design is ideal for truck tires, bus tires and super singles. Maximum tire width is 21 inches and maximum diameter is 52 inches.
