When a dealership service manager in northeast Iowa calls us needing forward automotive lift parts, it’s almost always the same job: a truck or SUV up on a two-post drive-on lift for suspension work or a full shock replacement, and something on the lift itself needs attention before the tech can safely get under the vehicle. We’re Auto Lift Services, based in Ames, and we install, service, and stock parts for Forward lifts alongside Rotary and Challenger equipment across the state. If your shop is working toward or maintaining ALI Gold certification, the lift itself is part of that inspection, and worn arm pins or a stretched cable aren’t something you can wait six weeks to fix.
Give us the model and part number, or a photo of the part. We’ll confirm fit and ship it, usually the same day it’s in stock.
Why Suspension and Shock Bays Are Hardest on a Lift
A suspension and shock replacement bay puts more cyclical stress on a lift than almost any other job in the shop. The vehicle goes up, comes back down partway so a tech can cycle the suspension, goes back up, comes down again. Every one of those cycles works the arm pins, the locking pins, and on a two-post unit, the cables and pulleys that keep both sides moving in sync. We’ve seen dealership lifts that see this kind of repeated cycling wear through pins and bushings noticeably faster than a lift used mostly for oil changes and tire rotations.
That’s exactly the kind of use pattern we hear about from service managers in towns like Storm Lake, Coon Rapids, and the smaller Ford and Chevrolet stores scattered across northeast Iowa. The lift runs hard, five or six days a week, and when a pin starts to slop around in its bore or a cable starts fraying, it shows up as a noise or a slight lean before it shows up as a failure. Catching that early and getting the correct forward automotive lift parts ordered is cheaper and safer than waiting for something to let go mid-job.
Forward Automotive Lift Parts We Stock and Source
We keep common wear items for Forward two-post and four-post lifts on hand or a short order away, because most of the calls we get aren’t emergencies until the part actually fails. Cross beam pins, cable pins, runway pins, arm restriction pins, and the pulleys and rollers that ride against them are the parts that see the most action on a lift running a heavy suspension and shock schedule. We also handle cylinder seals and hydraulic hose for Forward inground and above-ground models when a shop is dealing with a slow drift or a leak.
Cables are another common request, especially the runway-side cables on two-post lifts that stretch or fray over years of use. When we quote forward automotive lift parts for a dealership, we ask for the model number and, if possible, a picture of the worn part next to a tape measure, because pin diameters and lengths vary enough between model years that guessing wrong means a second shipment and a second delay. We’d rather spend two extra minutes on the phone confirming dimensions than have a tech standing around waiting on the right part.
ALI Gold Certification and What It Means for Your Lift Fleet
ALI Gold certification isn’t just a plaque on the wall. It requires ongoing inspection of lifting equipment, and worn pins, cracked welds, frayed cables, or a locking mechanism that doesn’t engage cleanly are exactly the kind of findings that put a shop’s status at risk. We’ve talked with more than one dealership service manager in northeast Iowa who scheduled a lift inspection specifically because a certification renewal was coming up, and found issues that had been quietly getting worse for months.
The practical upside is that once you know what a Gold-level inspection actually checks, it’s easier to stay ahead of it. Arm pins and locking pins get measured for wear, cables get checked for fraying and proper tension, and the safety locks that hold a vehicle at height get tested for consistent engagement. If your northeast Iowa store is due for inspection, get the wear parts ordered before the inspector shows up rather than after. We can usually turn around a parts order fast enough to have your lift back in spec before the appointment.
Getting the Dimensions Right the First Time
Forward has produced several generations of two-post and four-post lifts, and pin diameters, arm lengths, and cable specs are not universal across them. A cross beam pin on an older Forward two-post can differ by a few thousandths of an inch from a newer model, and that’s enough to make a part bind or rattle if it’s wrong. When we quote a job, we typically ask for the serial tag information along with the part description, because the serial tag usually narrows down the production run and saves a round of back-and-forth.
We also lean on photos heavily. A tech holding a worn cable pin next to a tape measure, or a close-up of a stamped part number on a pulley bracket, tells us more in thirty seconds than a verbal description usually does. For cables specifically, we ask for the length end to end and the pulley diameter if it’s visible, since a cable that’s a few inches short will bind the lift instead of letting it travel its full range. Getting these details right the first time means one shipment instead of two, and one delay instead of a repeat visit from your technician trying to force a part that’s close but not correct.
Freight, Lead Time, and Getting Parts to Rural Iowa Shops
A lot of the dealerships we work with aren’t in Des Moines or Cedar Rapids, they’re in smaller towns spread across the northern and eastern parts of the state, and freight timing matters. Common pins, small hardware, and cable assemblies for popular Forward models usually ship within a day or two once we’ve confirmed the fit. Larger items like full cylinder assemblies or complete arm sets take longer, and we tell shops that up front rather than let them guess at a delivery date.
If a lift is down and a bay is out of commission, we treat that with urgency, because we know what one dead bay means to a dealership’s daily throughput. We’ll tell you honestly whether a part is in our stock, in transit from a distributor, or needs to be special-ordered, and we give a real estimate rather than an optimistic one. Service managers appreciate a straight answer over a vague promise, and that’s the same standard we’d want if the shoe were on the other foot.
Warranty, Rebuilds, and When Repair Beats Replacement
Not every worn part needs a brand-new replacement. Cylinders in particular are often good candidates for a reseal or rebuild rather than a full swap, especially on older Forward lifts where a new cylinder assembly is a much bigger expense than a seal kit and some shop labor. We evaluate this case by case, because a cylinder with scored bore walls needs replacement while one with just worn seals can often run another several years after a rebuild.
Warranty coverage on newer Forward automotive lift parts varies by component and by when the lift was purchased, so we always check serial and purchase information before quoting a repair as billable. If a part fails prematurely and it’s still inside its warranty window, we’d rather get you the covered replacement than sell you a part you shouldn’t have to pay for. That kind of straightforward handling is part of why dealership service managers across northeast Iowa keep calling us back instead of shopping around every time something breaks.
Working With Us on Your Next Order
Ordering forward automotive lift parts doesn’t need to be complicated. Tell us the model, the part you need or a description of the symptom, and whether the shop has a pit, a forklift, or dock access if the order includes anything heavy enough to need special handling. We’ll confirm fit against Forward’s documentation, quote a realistic timeline, and ship as soon as the part is available.
We also do full lift inspections and installs across Iowa, so if your suspension and shock bay lift needs more than a parts swap, we can send a technician out to look at cables, pins, hydraulics, and the locking system together rather than chasing one symptom at a time. For a shop working to hold ALI Gold certification, that kind of full check is often the difference between passing cleanly and scrambling before an inspection deadline.
Our Clients Include: