The Challenger E12PBW sheave is the direct replacement for the Challenger lift it came off of. This is the genuine Challenger part — same fit and same working specification as the one already on your lift. Ordering the Challenger sheave from us gets you the OEM piece that matches the lift, not an aftermarket knock-off that is close but not the same. Specifications Part number: E12PBW Brand: Challenger Type: Genuine OEM sheave Rust is the quiet killer of lift cable. A shop in a salt-belt climate, or a lift that sat in a damp corner for a few years, loses cable to corrosion long before it ever wears out mechanically. Surface rust you can live with; rust that has eaten into the strands or frozen a sheave bushing you cannot. Once the steel is pitting under the outer wires, the rated strength is already gone. The lock-release cable is the thin cable that pulls all the safety pawls out of the ladders at once so the lift can descend evenly. When it stretches, frays, or a return spring weakens, one lock hangs while the others let go and the lift comes down cocked. It's a small, cheap part doing a safety-critical job, and a lift that won't release evenly is a lift that isn't safe to run. Replacing your sheave Replacing a lift cable is straightforward hand-tool work, but the details decide whether the lift lands level afterward — routing each cable correctly over its sheaves, connecting the hard-to-reach end first, and setting the adjusting nuts so every lock clicks together. Before you cut the old cable off, lay the new one alongside it to confirm the length is right. Because a mis-routed or unequal set makes the lift arrive crooked, the full procedure is worth following start to finish. Full step-by-step: how to replace car lift sheaves. Find the right part for your lift Landed here but not 100% sure it is your part? Grab the model and serial from the data plate and open our Challenger parts lookup for the visual breakdown — the manufacturer-style drawing with every item numbered so you can match yours exactly. Plate missing? our guide to finding your model number helps, and we identify lifts from photos every week if you would rather ask. Signs a cable or sheave is worn out The tell on a cable is usually visual and tactile at once: fraying and popped wires you can see, broken strands you feel as burrs when you wipe it down. Check where the cable turns each sheave, because that's where it works hardest. A groove worn to a sharp V instead of a smooth radius, or a sheave that won't spin freely, means the pulley is chewing the cable — replace both. Parts commonly replaced at the same time Rarely is a tension part a solo job. A worn cable often means the sheaves it rides are grooved, and a failed sheave chews cables — so plan on doing them together. We can pull the matched cable set plus sheaves and pins for your exact lift so nothing gets missed and you are not back in there next month. Safety notes The whole reason a lift has redundant locks is that cables and sheaves are wear items that will eventually fail — your job is to replace them before they get there. Do not run a lift on a cable with broken strands or a sheave with a chipped flange, and never work under a load resting on tension parts you do not trust. Drop it to the locks first. Before you order Get it right the first time: note your lift's model and serial, count the cables in the set, and check the sheaves while you are at it. Ordering matched tension parts together saves a return and a repeat teardown. If you are unsure which length your lift takes, send a photo of the plate. Check your lift's serial before ordering The most common reason a lift part comes back is not a defect — it is a revision mismatch. Manufacturers change sub-parts between production runs while keeping the same lift model name, so "it fits my lift model" is not always enough. The model plate carries the serial number that pins your lift to a specific run, and that is the number that settles which version of this part belongs on your lift. Can't find the plate? Measure the old part — overall length, bolt-hole spacing, thread size on anything threaded — and photograph it from a couple of angles. Send that with your lift's brand and rough age and we will match it against the parts breakdowns we service from every week. Why buy your Challenger sheave from Auto Lift Services We install, inspect, and repair Challenger lifts every week — the E12PBW is a part we handle in the shop, not a random SKU we drop-ship. The phone answers if you have a question mid-install — call 800-674-9302 — and every part ships genuine, no aftermarket substitution unless you ask for it.
