We have discussed the necessity for a loaded vehicle to be properly positioned/balanced on all four arms before lifting. A properly balanced load prevents deflection damage to the arms and/or metal fatigue and distortion to the carriage.
We also want to point out that some customers believe that they can use two arms or four arms in place of a bumper jack to lift one section of a forklift or other vehicle.
The arms are engineered and designed to ONLY lift a balanced load. When you place two arms under a heavy load, the disproportionate heavier weight will cause permanent arm deflection and may damage the carriage.
Another way to damage the lift arms (cause permanent arm deflection) is to lift an unbalanced load, and when lowering...stop the load suddenly. Since the load is not balanced properly, the heavy part of the load will create a much greater downward force on the lift pads and arm/carriage damage may occur.
When you are lowering any vehicle, you should make sure that the vehicle is properly balanced on the lift arms and the lift should be lowered slowly and NOT jerked to a stop.
Common sense is one of the best tools we can recommend to use when operating a lift.