Tracker Lift (aka Backpacker Lift) the Best Choice for a Van or SUV

Well actually the best choice if you don't need the rear seat.  The Tracker gives you the advantages of both a crane type like the Trunk Lift or Equalizer and the Rack and Roll.  It has a platform that you drive your scooter or powerchair onto, like the Rack and Roll, but instead of hanging behind your van, the platform and scooter or powerchair are lifted up and  pulled inside the vehicle, out of the weather, out of the way when backing up and less vulnerable should your car be hit from behind. Over the years I have known of a couple veterans who were rearended and their scooters and lifts were destroyed.

The Tracker has all the features you need in a scooter lift. It offers an exclusive high threshold kit that allows it to be installed in vehicles with raised cargo opening thresholds without altering the vehicle, i.e. Dodge Grand Caravan.  There is also a false bottom kit that allows it to be installed in those vans that have seats that go down into the floor instead of being removed.  The Tracker platform has two options in docking systems, the Dock 'N' Lock  positive self-guiding docking system for powerchairs, or the more generic strapping system for scooters or powerchairs. This provides some flexibility in docking your power chair or scooter.  Once secured to the platform, the Tracker easily lifts and stows your scooter or power chair inside the cargo area of your vehicle for clean and safe transportation to wherever you're going. Two other options are a wireless remote and battery pack for power instead of having it hard wired to your vehicle.   Also the Tracker is ATRS Ready, which I'll talk about in another post.

                                                              Vehicle Requirements:

The Tracker inside van lift fits in the cargo area of most mini vans, and should always be installed by a qualified installer to ensure proper installation and to avoid possible damage. Please refer to the following dimensional requirements to ensure proper lift application:

Minimum Cargo Area Height (A): 37.25"
Minimum Cargo Area Width (E): 45"
Minimum Cargo Area Depth (B): 45"
Maximum Threshold Height (C): 3.75" High Threshold Kit
Maximum Vehicle Cargo Height (D): 27.5" with Threshold Kit, 29.5" w/o Threshold Kit

Specifications:

Recommended Maximum Lifting Capacity: 350 pounds
Platform Overall Width: 44"
Platform Depth: 27"
Maximum Lifting Height: 28"
Actuation: 12 VDC motors powered by vehicle battery or mobile power pack (optional)
Weight of Lift: 181 pounds

The Tracker XT Lift for Full Size SUVs is slightly different.  With the added functionality of a retracting column, the Tracker XT can raise your POV up to cargo heights of 36" - fitting the largest of SUVs on the market.
The Tracker XT inside  lift fits in the cargo area of most full size SUVs. Any Tracker should be installed by a qualified installer to ensure proper installation and to avoid possible damage to your vehicle. Please refer to the following dimensional requirements to ensure proper lift application:


Minimum Cargo Area Height (A): 37.25"
Minimum Cargo Area Width (E): 45"
Minimum Cargo Area Depth (B): 45"
Maximum Vehicle Cargo Height (D): 36"

Specifications :
Recommended Maximum Lifting Capacity: 350 pounds

Platform Depth: 27"
Platform Overall Width: 44"
Maximum Lifting Height: 36"
Actuation: 12 VDC motors powered by vehicle battery
Weight of Lift: 192 pounds

Here is a comparison of the two lifts showing the differences:
                                                            Tracker   Tracker XT


• Maximum Lifting Capacity           350 lbs.    350 lbs.

• Lift Platform Dimensions             44” x 27” 44” x 27”

• Minimum Cargo Area Height       37.25”       34”

Required (See Diagram A)     • Minimum Cargo Area Width 45” 45”

(See Diagram E)                       • Minimum Cargo Area Depth 45” 45”

Hatch Threshold to 2nd Row of Seats    (See Diagram B)

• Maximum Threshold Height        3.75”          2”

High Threshold Configuration  (See Diagram C)

• Maximum Vehicle Cargo Height 27.5”          36”

With Threshold Plate                (See Diagram D)

• Maximum Vehicle Cargo Height  29.5”        36”

With Threshold Plate Removed  (See Diagram D)

• Cargo Floor to Top of Platform 5” 3”

A minus F = Maximum Height of Power Chair

Lifts - How You Take Your Scooter or Powerchair With You - Intro

A question that comes up all the time and is easy to answer. Of course it depends on what you drive, whether it's a small car or big one, a van or pickup, maybe even a motorhome or converted bus.
Believe it or not I have worked with the VA to get scooters to Vets who were driving those, two motorhomes, and one bus that the vet had done himself. He said he had about $300k in it, and I'd have to say if not a palace on wheels, it was close. As good or better than that of any rock/country stars or Amway upline no matter how many Diamonds they have...you people in Amway will understand. For those not in Amway, uplines, Direct Distributors and above, put another way the ones making money, love those huge converted buses to travel around in, to conventions and visiting their downlines...just like Country and Rock music stars.  Looking at the other side, when still selling in home, I had an appointment with a guy in Rome, I think. He had three young kids, bought a scooter a Rascal 245 three wheeler as I remember. What was his car? A Ford Festiva. It's the smallest car I ever got a scooter in. Is there a smaller car out there, if there is not by much. But I did get it in. The front, and rear sections in the trunk, the seat, batteries, handlebar and front basket in the back seat. He and the wife had to decide if they were taking the scooter or their kids.  Too small for a Rack and Roll lift, the trunk already full, so lifts were out of the picture. So, what did he do?  He went to Cole Muffler and got a class I hitch installed, then bought a small trailer with a lid, like you'd use with a lawn tractor or snowmobile, and would just drive the scooter in, drop the lid, keeping it clean, and take everybody and the scooter. In addition it worked great if he was staying home because the wife could leave the trailer and there was nothing hanging off the car.
Anyway, lets get to lifts. There are several different types. Inside lifts are the Trunk Lift, the Equalizer 2 & 3, and Tailgater Lifts, and the Tracker Lift. Outside lifts are the Outside Trunk Lift, and the Rack and Roll Lift class II and III. I'm going to do each lift as a post to keep this from going on forever.

Lee Murray

A Great Day Delivering Scooters That Ended Horribly

I started the day yesterday normally enough. I left about 10am and headed to Fort Edward to deliver a veteran's 300 scooter and Tracker lift to Mario at Adaptive Equipment. I haven't talked about lifts much yet, but will. The tracker is the best choice for a van.  Mario owns one of the best service centers that works with the Albany VA, covering from Plattsburg down to Albany, possibly more. Well, I got there about 2:30p, it's a lllllllooooong drive. That's when he says that the VA told him that I should take the 300 to the vet instead of leaving it with him per their instructions on the PO.  My next stop was to deliver a 300 to a vet in Saranac, actually in Danamora, just around the corner from the prison. The 300 that Mario was now not taking went to a vet in North Bangor (NY),  which was figuratively just a hop skip and a jump west of the first one, seriously 60-70 miles west, in the Adirondaks.  So I left Mario about 2:45 and jumped on 81 north, going to Saranac, got to this guys house about 5:30 or so, and delivered his scooter.  I may never have explained that like most sales jobs, a sale isn't complete until the equipment is delivered, and signed paperwork sent to the home office. Also, part of what we do that proves so valuable to the VA's is a fairly comprehensive training that helps the vets use their "chairs" better. We also fill out a checklist they sign that shows they received that training. Anyway after awhile I'm back on the road, and get to the last guy's house in North Bangor around 7p. We get him trained and the paperwork signed. Then I helped him get it into a very cluttered garage and finally headed home. Down Rte 11 to Malone, then down Rte 30 to Rte 28, to Rte 12 into Utica. This sounds easy but takes up about four good sized pages of the map  book, and amounts to something like 200-250 miles. Finally I get to Utica, it's around 11p, I think. Starving, I stopped at Wendy's, and picked up a triple bacon cheeseburger, not the Baconater (?) which is excellent, but I think called the Bacon Special, similar but less bacon and lettuce  etc., more normal. Soon back on the road, I'm headed south on Rte 12, go through Waterville, and now only 12-13 miles from home, where I plan to have a much anticipated Pepsi and enjoy my Wendy's cheeseburger.  I'm going along about 55-60, and go through a wide spot on the road called North Brookfield.  Just driving when suddenly, BANG...WHAM!!!! The van is making this horrendous noise and jumping and veering all over the road, both lanes shoulder to shoulder. I literally thought it was going to flip over. I was surprised, puzzled, scared, outraged, unknowing all at once. I'd seen NOTHING, but something had happened, what it was I didn't have a clue.  I slipped it in neutral to try to bring the van under control and finally coasted to the shoulder after a wild ride of about a half mile. Smoke was pouring out of the passenger side wheel well, like a house afire. To give you an idea of the ride, the Equalizer lift I still had in back had flopped onto it's side, and they aren't light. Still not knowing what had happened, knowing that I must have hit something, but I hadn't seen anything, nothing, nothing at all, I couldn't understand what. Then I got a flashlight and got out of the van. The front drivers side corner was bashed in, the bumper was pushed down and against the tire, explaining the smoke.   I checked the steering wheel would't turn at all now, how I'd steered it bringing it under control, God only knows. Suddenly I saw it, on the bumper, and on the inner fender that was know resting on top of the tire. Deer hair, long winter deer hair. I must have hit a deer. I took the flaslight and walked a half mile or so back down 12 to North Brookfield, oh forgot to mention that I'd called AAA and arranged for a tow after looking at the van, anyway I'm walking along looking for a dead deer. I wanted to kick the dead corpse a few times for trying to kill me. But...nothing. No deer corpse, no skid marks, nothing. Apparently he'd (or she'd) bounced off and run away into the woods that line that part of Rte 12. A lady stopped and insisted on giving me a ride back to my van. She was very nice. She did tell me about a semi, that in that same general area was swarmed by 10 or 12 deer, and he veered off the road into a field and flipped over. She said they helped him but I don't remember if she said he was hurt or not.  So anyway, I sat in my van and waited, about half a dozen cars and trucks (semi's mostly), zoomed past. The deer had done his (or her) work that night already. Finally the tow truck, from Von Bank's  in Earlville, showed up right when AAA had said, about 1am.  He got out and looked at my van, said, "hit a deer huh?"  Literally, first words out of his mouth. I commented that it's hard to believe a deer could push the bumper back like that. He said it was far from the worst he's seen, far from the worst. Then we decided that he'd have to pull the bumper away from the tire to move the van. He put the hook that they use to winch the car onto the flatbed on the bumper and I held it until it was tight and wouldn't slip and he pulled the bumper out. When he stopped it was pretty much right where it had started from. He unscrewed the one screw still holding the deer hair covered inner fender, and I tossed it onto the passenger side in the van, he checked the steering and said it looked like I could probably drive it home if I wanted to. So I took off and he followed until I turned onto Larkin Rd. When I turned the wheels I could hear grinding but figured it was a piece of plastic that had been sticking out. Finally, got home, parked, said screw it, went in and had my long awaited Pepsi and a COLD bacon cheeseburger. There's nothing quite as bad as a cold burger as I discovered. So went a great day that ended horribly.  I woke up around 11am today, had a shower and called the insurance company who were very nice and got right on it....

Lee Murray