I’m currently building a DR4B, and I am encountering many problems. my lift keeps leaning, but it isn’t because of weight, since it sometimes leans left, and sometimes leans right. The lift is also generally unstable, and wobbly, despite multiple, tight screws into the base, and support bars wherever I could put them. Are there any particular tips for these kind of issues?
A few pictures would help greatly.
Here are a few things that would help:
-Add cross beams in the shape of an X.
-Use screws and nylocks instead of shafts if you can.
-Make sure the rubber banding is perfect (same # on each side and same stretch distance).
@spartanshl thanks for the tips, I’ll try to get a picture tommorow, but my computer’s photo system is acting janky, so I might not be able to.
You also want to make sure that the base of the DR4b is as sturdy as possible, use some diagonal braces and cross beams to do so. If the base of it is sturdy, it will help the rest of it stabilize. Another thing that I would recommend it to check the friction between each joint and make sure that every joint is similarly tightened so one side does not have to work harder.
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Friction is the main killer for a DR4B… then alignment after that.
I suggest to use a tape measure to measure the distance between the bars of your dr4b at the first towers and make sure its the same for the second tower
The distance from the base column to the first arm can also cause wobbles. Make that as tight and small a space as possible.
Steel on the bottom arm of the DR4B has helped with twist int he past as well.
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thanks for all of the tips! I did some work and got the leaning problem fixed (one side’s motor had stopped working), and am working on stabalization.
Watch the lift in slo-mo video. Watch for one side lagging behind the other. As others has said, alignment/friction is the likely culprit.
One other tip is to make sure your main towers aren’t bending in or out. One time I made an rd4b in a hurry because I had a comp in a couple days and I neglected to stabilize the towers and my lift was absolutely terrible. Any time I lifted up past about the height of 2 cones the lift would lean a LOT.
Another tip would be to NOT use a bunch of idler gears in your gearbox. I made a gearbox with 2 idler gears between the top and bottom stage gears and it resulted in a lot of slop and instability.